Look at your body. You already know some things about your body that I don't have to tell you. You know that you can touch your skin, and that the skin covers the entire surface of your body. Where are your muscles located? Did you say just under (deep to) your skin? Is the statement that (skeletal) muscles are located deep to the skin equally true for the anterior, lateral and posterior surfaces of the trunk of your body? Is this statement true for the extremities (upper and lower) as well?
The concepts "Body Wall" and "Body Cavity" are two of the most important concepts in Anatomy. The region I call the "Body Wall" is more than your skin. Actually, it has several layers, each immediately deep to the layer preceding it.
Superficial to Deep |
|
| Skin | aka Epidermis and Dermis |
| Superficial Fascia | Padding tissue containing fat located deep to the skin |
| Deep Fascia | Tissue that surrounds Skeletal muscle bellies |
| Skeletal muscle | One of three types of muscle tissue |
| Body Cavity | Contains visceral organs |
The thoracic cavity is one of the major spaces of the body that we refer to as a body cavity. In Anatomy, we study any space as if it were a room in a house. Look at the room you are in. Your room has walls--front, back, and sides--a ceiling or roof, and a floor. Your room also "has contents" which is the Anatomy way to say that something is in it--like a TV, your computer and monitor, desk and chairs.
The thoracic cavity is just like your room. We must define the boundaries, often called walls. And we must denote the contents, which for the thoracic cavity reads like a who's who list of visceral organs. Observe the cross section and sagittal section of the thoracic cavity in your textbook as you try to respond to the buttons below.
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