Regions of the Body

Directions of Your Partner

• Everyone face your partner• Identify your partner’s right

hand• Identify the top most part of the

body• Identify the back of your partner• Identify the bottom of your

partner

Directions of Your Partner

• Now have one of the two partners lie down on a flat surface in the room• Repeat the steps from before• Identify your partner’s right hand• Identify the top most part of the

body• Identify the back of your partner• Identify the bottom of your

partner

Directions of Your Partner

• Did some of the things that identified the parts of your partner change?• Did some of the things that

identified the parts of your partner stay the same?

Directions of Your Body

• The position of the body can change some of the terms that we might use to describe static objects• Biologists have given terms to

different anatomical regions that will apply universally the human body• Many of these also apply to

other organisms

Directions of Your Body

• Superficial anatomy involves locating structures on or near the body’s surface• It allows us to identify different

structures based on position and relationship to other structures• Standard anatomical position is

when the body is standing straight up with arms at the sides

Directions of Your Body

• When a body is lying down in the anatomical position they are said to be supine• Their nose would be up in the air

and their back would be on the ground

• When a body is lying down on their stomach in the anatomical position they are said to be prone• Their nose would be on the ground

and back would be in the air

Anatomical Regions

• Different regions of the human body can be used to describe the human body• There are four major quadrants

of the body• These are called abdominopelvic

quadrants • They divide the body into 4 at

the navel

Anatomical Regions

• Many times there needs to be a more descriptive set of terms given for internal organs• There are 9 different

abdominopelvic regions that can show relationships between quadrants, regions and internal organs• They are setup like a tick tac toe

board

Planes and Sections

• Any 3D object exists in a world where there are three different sectional planes• A plane is an axis and a section is

a slice along a line• These three sectional planes

describe what would be the object ability to exist in three different directions

Planes and Sections

• The transverse plane lies at 90 degree angles to the long section of the body• It is also called the horizontal

plane• It divides the body into superior

and inferior portions• A transverse cut leads to a cross

section

Planes and Sections

• The frontal plane is parallel to the long axis of the body• It is often referred to as the

coronal plane• It divides the body in to anterior

and posterior portions• A cut in this manner would

result in a coronal section

Planes and Sections

• The sagittal plane is parallel to the long axis of the body• It divides the body in to left and

right halves• A cut in this manner would

result in a midsagittal section