Spinalis thoracis at a glance
- What it is
- The thoracic part of spinalis, the medial column of the erector spinae.
- Location
- Originates from the spinous processes of the upper lumbar and lower thoracic vertebrae and inserts onto the spinous processes of the upper thoracic vertebrae.
- Function
- Extends the thoracic spine and bends it to the same side.
- Body system
- Muscular · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA22779 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Innervation: dorsal rami of thoracic spinal nerves
- It is the only consistently well-developed part of spinalis, the medial column of erector spinae.
Structures next to the spinalis thoracis
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Ninth thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Eighth thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Tenth thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Intervertebral disk of ninth thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Intervertebral disk of eighth thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Longissimus thoracis · muscular
- Hemiazygos vein · cardiovascular
- Intervertebral disk of tenth thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Seventh thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Intervertebral disk of seventh thoracic vertebra · skeletal
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Spinalis thoracis (FMA22779). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §11.2 Naming Skeletal Muscles. Rice University, 2022.
- Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
Related anatomy
Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.