From the Latin word meaning ‘to the back’, it is facing away from the main of axis of an organ or organism. Thus, it can designate, for example, the surface of an animal directed away from the substrate or the dorsal column of the spinal cord. In the human forebrain, however, ‘dorsal’ can mean the superior or top. It is used as a directional term in anatomy and physiology. Sometimes referred to as abaxial.
See Caudal, Dorsal commissural interneurons, Dorsal horn, Dorsal plate in limb bud, Dorsal visual pathway, Lumbosacral plexus, Rostral, Ventral