Portal:Anatomy

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Introduction

Anatomy (from Ancient Greek ἀνατομή (anatomḗ) 'dissection') is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its beginnings in prehistoric times. Anatomy is inherently tied to developmental biology, embryology, comparative anatomy, evolutionary biology, and phylogeny, as these are the processes by which anatomy is generated, both over immediate and long-term timescales. Anatomy and physiology, which study the structure and function of organisms and their parts respectively, make a natural pair of related disciplines, and are often studied together. Human anatomy is one of the essential basic sciences that are applied in medicine, and is often studied alongside physiology.

Anatomy is a complex and dynamic field that is constantly evolving as new discoveries are made. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the use of advanced imaging techniques, such as MRI and CT scans, which allow for more detailed and accurate visualizations of the body's structures.

The discipline of anatomy is divided into macroscopic and microscopic parts. Macroscopic anatomy, or gross anatomy, is the examination of an animal's body parts using unaided eyesight. Gross anatomy also includes the branch of superficial anatomy. Microscopic anatomy involves the use of optical instruments in the study of the tissues of various structures, known as histology, and also in the study of cells. (Full article...)

Selected general anatomy article

Anatomical terminology is a form of scientific terminology used by anatomists, zoologists, and health professionals such as doctors, physicians, and pharmacists.

Anatomical terminology uses many unique terms, suffixes, and prefixes deriving from Ancient Greek and Latin. These terms can be confusing to those unfamiliar with them, but can be more precise, reducing ambiguity and errors. Also, since these anatomical terms are not used in everyday conversation, their meanings are less likely to change, and less likely to be misinterpreted.

To illustrate how inexact day-to-day language can be: a scar "above the wrist" could be located on the forearm two or three inches away from the hand or at the base of the hand; and could be on the palm-side or back-side of the arm. By using precise anatomical terminology such ambiguity is eliminated. (Full article...)

Selected anatomical feature

The left arm of a human male

In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between the elbow and the radiocarpal joint (wrist joint) is known as the forearm or "lower" arm, and the extremity beyond the wrist is the hand.

By anatomical definitions, the bones, ligaments and skeletal muscles of the shoulder girdle, as well as the axilla between them, is considered parts of the upper limb, and thus also components of the arm. The Latin term brachium, which serves as a root word for naming many anatomical structures, may refer to either the upper limb as a whole or to the upper arm on its own. (Full article...)

Selected organ

Brain of a chimpanzee

The brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for special senses such as vision, hearing and olfaction. Being the most specialized organ, it is responsible for receiving information from the sensory nervous system, processing those information (thought, cognition, and intelligence) and the coordination of motor control (muscle activity and endocrine system).

While invertebrate brains arise from paired segmental ganglia (each of which is only responsible for the respective body segment) of the ventral nerve cord, vertebrate brains develop axially from the midline dorsal nerve cord as a vesicular enlargement at the rostral end of the neural tube, with centralized control over all body segments. All vertebrate brains can be embryonically divided into three parts: the forebrain (prosencephalon, subdivided into telencephalon and diencephalon), midbrain (mesencephalon) and hindbrain (rhombencephalon, subdivided into metencephalon and myelencephalon). The spinal cord, which directly interacts with somatic functions below the head, can be considered a caudal extension of the myelencephalon enclosed inside the vertebral column. Together, the brain and spinal cord constitute the central nervous system in all vertebrates. (Full article...)

Selected biography

Portrait by Jan van Calcar

Andries van Wezel (31 December 1514 – 15 October 1564), latinised as Andreas Vesalius (/vɪˈsliəs/), was an anatomist and physician who wrote De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem (On the fabric of the human body in seven books), what is considered to be one of the most influential books on human anatomy and a major advance over the long-dominant work of Galen. Vesalius is often referred to as the founder of modern human anatomy. He was born in Brussels, which was then part of the Habsburg Netherlands. He was a professor at the University of Padua (1537–1542) and later became Imperial physician at the court of Emperor Charles V. (Full article...)

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Categories

Anatomy(27 C, 132 P)
Anatomists(11 C, 13 P)
Anatomical terminology(1 C, 33 P)
Anatomy journals(13 P)
Animal anatomy(24 C, 132 P)
Body Regions(4 C)
Brain anatomy(8 P)
Cell anatomy(9 C, 103 P)
Embryology(11 C, 174 P)
Eye anatomy(4 C, 3 P)
Histology(9 C, 116 P)
History of anatomy(3 C, 60 P)
Human anatomy(21 C, 110 P)
Organs (anatomy)(21 C, 33 P)
Anatomical pathology(3 C, 121 P)
Plant anatomy(7 C, 149 P)
Anatomical preservation(3 C, 17 P)
Sexual anatomy(6 C, 30 P)
Tissues (biology)(9 C, 85 P)
Anatomy stubs(12 C, 268 P)

WikiProjects

Some Wikipedians have formed a project to better organize information in articles related to Anatomy. This page and its subpages contain their suggestions; it is hoped that this project will help to focus the efforts of other Wikipedians. If you would like to help, please swing by the talk page.

new good articles since last newsletter include Thyroid, Hypoglossal nerve, Axillary arch, Human brain, Cerebrospinal fluid, Accessory nerve, Gallbladder, and Interventricular foramina (neuroanatomy)
There is Introduction to Anatomy on Wikipedia published in the Journal of Anatomy [1]
We reach two projects goals of 20 good articles, and less than half of our articles as stubs, in July 2017. Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Anatomy/Archive 11#Congratulations to all
A discussion about two preferred section titles takes place here.

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