Anatomical Planes of the Body

You may not think about the planes of your body much, but you have them nonetheless, and if you’re talking anatomy, knowing the names of the planes comes in handy. (Too bad sagittal and tranverse don’t lend themselves to song as easily as rain and Spain do.) The main planes and their subplanes are in the following list:

• Sagittal: Plane that runs down through the body, dividing the body into left and right portions. Subsections of the sagittal plane include:

  • Midsagittal runs through the median plane and divides along the line of symmetry

  • Parasagittal is parallel to midline but does not divide into equal left and right portions.

• Coronal (frontal): Plane that runs perpendicular to the sagittal plane and divides the body into anterior and posterior (front and back) portions.

• Transverse: Horizontal plane that divides the body into upper and lower portions; also called cross-section.