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Neural Directions

Explanations > Brain stuff > Neural Directions

Body | Brain sections | See also

There are a number of words used to describe direction in the nervous system.

Body

Take a person standing, side on to you and looking upwards, neck tipped back. The line down through their body is the neuraxis.

• Anterior: near the head.
• Posterior: near the tail.
• Caudal: away from the face, downwards.
• Rostral: toward the face.
• Ventral: towards the front of the body.
• Dorsal: towards the rear of the body.
• Lateral: towards the side of the body.
• Medial: from the sides towards the middle.
• Ipsilateral: on the same side of the body.
• Contralateral: on opposite sides of the body.

Brain sections

There are a number of directions that planes can be 'cut' through the brain:

• Side-to-side vertical plane are coronal sections, cross sections, or frontal sections in the brain.
• Parallel to the ground are transverse sections or horizontal sections.
• Front-to-back vertical plane is sagittal section, when through the middle of the brain, it is midsaggital.

See also

The nervous system

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