Anatomical terms of motion Anatomical terms of motion Motion, the process of movement, is described using specific anatomical terms. Motion includes movement of organs, joints, limbs, and specific sections of the body. The terminology used describes this motion according to its direction relative to the anatomical position of the joints. Anatomists use a unified set of terms to describe most of the movements, although other, more specialized terms are necessary for describing the uniqueness of the movements such as those of the hands, feet, and eyes. In general, motion is classified according to the anatomical plane it occurs in. "Flexion" and "extension" are examples
Anatomical plane Anatomical plane An anatomical plane is a hypothetical plane used to transect the human body, in order to describe the location of structures or the direction of movements. In human and animal anatomy, three principal planes are used: There could be any number of sagittal planes; however, there is only one cardinal sagittal plane. The term "cardinal" refers to the one plane that divides the body into equal segments, with exactly one half of the body on either side of the cardinal plane. The term "cardinal plane" appears in some texts as the "principal plane". The terms are interchangeable. The