8 Neuroanatomy: Draw It to Know It
Orientational Terminology
Here, we will draw the orientational planes of the ner-
vous system. To begin, draw intersecting horizontal and
vertical lines. Label the left side of the horizontal line as
anterior and right side as posterior. Label the top of the
vertical line as superior and the bottom as inferior.
Th roughout the nervous system, front is always anterior
and behind is always posterior, top is always superior and
bottom is always inferior. Th e anteroposterior and super-
oinferior planes and medial-lateral planes, which we will
introduce later, are static: they do not change orienta-
tion — unlike the rostral-caudal and dorsal-ventral planes,
which we introduce next.
Next, let’s draw a side-on, sagittal view of the oblong
cerebral hemisphere. Label the top of the cerebral hemi-
sphere as dorsal and the bottom as ventral: the dorsal fi n
of a shark is on its back whereas a shark’s underbelly is its
ventral surface. Label the anterior portion of the cerebral
hemisphere as rostral and the posterior portion as caudal.
Rostral relates to the word “beak” and caudal relates to
the word “tail.”
Now, draw a sagittal view of the brainstem at a nega-
tive 80-degree angle to the cerebral hemisphere. During
embryogenesis, human forebrains undergo an 80-degree
fl exion at the junction of the brainstem and the cerebral
hemispheres. Label the posterior aspect of the brainstem
as dorsal and the anterior aspect as ventral. Th en, label
the superior aspect of the brainstem as rostral and the
inferior aspect as caudal.
Next, draw a coronal section through the brain — a
coronal view of the brain bears resemblance to an ornate
crown. Indicate that the top of the brain is dorsal (also
superior) and the bottom is ventral (also inferior). For
this view, we need to additionally introduce the lateral–
medial and left -right planes of orientation. Label the
midline as medial and the outside edges of the hemi-
spheres as lateral. For the left –right planes of orientation
we need to include both the anatomic and radiographic
perspectives. Label the left -hand side of the page as radio-
graphic right and anatomic left and the right-hand side as
radiographic left and anatomic right. Th ese planes refer
to the standardized ways in which coronal radiographic
images and anatomic sections are viewed: in radiographic
images, the head is viewed face-forward and in anatomic
sections, the head is viewed from behind.
Lastly, draw an axial (aka horizontal or transverse) sec-
tion through the brain — the top of the page is the front
of the brain and the bottom is the back. Label the front of
the section as rostral (also anterior) and the back as caudal
(also posterior). Label the left -hand side of the section as
radiographic right and anatomic left and the right-hand
side as radiographic left and anatomic right. Radiographic
axial images are viewed from below (as if the patient’s feet
are coming out at you) whereas anatomic axial sections
are viewed from above (as if the patient’s head is coming
up at you). Label the center of the cerebral hemispheres as
medial and their periphery as lateral.^1 – 8