Poll 3: What position would the palms of your hands is positioned when standing in anatomical position?

Last week’s poll question was: what position would the palms of your hands be positioned when standing in anatomical position? And you guys answered as the following: Prone 11%, Supine 44%, Superior 44%, and Cranial 0%. This is the percentile standing of the answers.

The correct answer to the poll question is spine. Well when looking at the break down supine was tied with superior. If you look back to the last post that I posted last week titled: “What does this word mean??? Human Anatomy Terminology” I had defined superior. So the people who answered superior are unfortunately incorrect.

First you would have to understand what the correct anatomical position is.

Anatomical position is the body has its feet together (or slightly separated), and its arms are rotated outward so that the palms are forward, and the thumbs are pointed away from the body (forearms supine). As well, the arms are usually moved slightly out from the body, so that the hands do not touch the sides. The picture below demonstrates anatomical position.

So from the choices given to you supine would be the correct term to describe the position of the hands when in this position.

Now that you know the best answer to the question, if you have any questions feel free to email me or leave a comment on this post. Until next time answer this week’s poll and thank you for you help in keeping this blog alive. Spread the word to your fellow classmate about this blog that you know are taking an anatomy class or something similar.

What does this word mean??? Human Anatomy Terminology

When taking or learning anatomy in your respective school it be high school, a community college, or even a big universities the terms used to describe relations or to identify locations of structure are the universal across the world. In this post I will list a few simple and widely used terms in anatomy classes and publications.

The human body is split in to 3 main planes. To better understand the terms that I will list its important to fist understand the different planes.

1. Sagittal Plane is an imaginary plane that travels vertically, dividing the body into the left and right potions.

2. Coronal Plane is an imaginary plane that travels horizontally, dividing the body into the front (anterior) and back (posterior) portions.

3. Transverse Plane is an imaginary plane that divides the body into the top (superior) and bottom (inferior) halves. The transverse plane travels perpendicular to the sagittal and coronal planes.

Look at illustrations of the planes below for a possible better understanding.

So, now that we know the different plane we can move on to understanding the words of anatomy. Again these terms are used to describe relations to or identify locations of structure.  So the following are the terms:

1. Superior means towards the head or above the transverse plane.

2. Inferior means away from the head or below the transverse plane.

3. Anterior means the front of the body or of a body part.

4. Posterior means the back of the body or of a body part.

5. Medial means towards the midline or the sagittal plane.

6. Lateral means away from the sideline or the sagittal plane.

7. Proximal means closer to the torso.

8. Distal means away from the torso.

Some example of phrases you might hear or read when in class.

“The hand is distal to the forearm.”

“The medial portion of the frontal bone contains the frontal sinus.”

“The ulna is the medial bone in the forearm.”

I hope that this will help you understand anatomy a bit better by understanding these terms.  If you have any question feel free to email me at love89@uab.edu or post a comment on the blog entry. Until next time keep answering the poll questions and keep looking for further posts. Once again thank you for helping in keeping this blog alive.

Poll 2: What is the "arm bone" called in anatomical terms?

Last Week poll question asked what is the "arm bone" called in anatomical terms. The answer break down for this poll is as the following: Ulna 23%, Humerus 61%, Femur 1%, Scapula 2%, Tibia 0%. This is how you guys answer to the poll last week. 

The right answer to the question was Humerus. The upper appendages or what in laymans terms we consider the arm is actually split in to 2 parts, the arm and the forearm. The arm is located between the shoulder joint and the elbow, and the forearm is located between the elbow and the wrist. Now the arm is made up of one bone which is known as the humerus, and the forearm is made up of 2 bones, the medial of the 2 bones is called the ulna and the lateral of the 2 bones is the radius. 

So knowing this the answer to the question is Humerus, which makes sense now. If you have any question feel free to email me at love89@uab.edu or post a comment on the blog entry. Until next time answer the next poll question and thank you for your help in keeping this blog alive.