Anatomy · Back & Vertebral Column

The Vertebral Column and Thoracic Cage

The unit question

How can one column be a pillar that carries the body and a rod that bends, and how is a cage of ribs hung on it?

Make a quick prediction

The lumbar vertebrae are far larger than the cervical ones. Before you study them: which region would you expect to be the stiffest?

Start the unit Open the 3D atlas

Study path

Follow the order or jump to the concept you need. Every topic has a Deep Learning and a High-Yield view of the same facts, and ends with a short knowledge check.

0 of 4 topics studied0 of 39 questions correct
  1. 118 minUp nextThe column as a whole: regions, curves and the plan of a vertebraCount the pieces, learn the four curves, and learn the one plan that every vertebra follows. With those three things you can place any vertebra before you know its regional details.Five regions, 24 separate vertebraeFour curves: two you are born with, two you acquireOne plan for every vertebraFinding your way on this specimen
  2. 224 minTelling the regions apart: cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacralEvery vertebra follows the same plan, but each region changes it for its own job. Three questions sort any vertebra: is there a hole in the transverse process, is there a facet for a rib, and how big is the body?Cervical vertebrae: small, mobile, with a hole in each transverse processAtlas and axis: the two vertebrae that carry and turn the headThoracic vertebrae: facets for ribsLumbar vertebrae: built for weight+2
  3. 318 minDiscs, facet joints and ligaments: how the pieces are held togetherTwo neighbouring vertebrae meet at three joints: one disc between the bodies and a pair of small synovial joints between the arches. Ligaments run the length of the column over both.The intervertebral discFacet joints and the intervertebral foramenThe long ligaments (taught in words)When a disc herniates
  4. 422 minThe thoracic cage: sternum, ribs and costal cartilagesTwelve pairs of ribs leave the thoracic vertebrae, curve round the chest and, for most of them, reach the sternum through a bar of cartilage. How each rib ends in front is what classifies it.The sternum: three parts and two landmarksTrue, false and floating ribsThe parts of a rib and how it meets the columnThe cage as a whole+1

Practice

Interactive labPoint to identify on the specimen: vertebrae by number, ribs and the parts of the sternum, left or right, and four landmarks. Each also appears inside the topic where it helps most.High-yield cards28 cards on clues, comparisons and mechanisms worth recalling.Unit reviewBringing it together: a lift, a pop and a pain down the leg, then 10 mixed case-based questions with explanations.Sources and coverageWhat each reference card and scope item covers (18 items), linked to where it is taught and practised, with the source map.

How the ideas connect

6 bridges carry one concept into the next, within this chapter and across chapters. Each is taught where you first need it.

Previous unit1. Skull Sources and coverage and notes