22.3k views
3 votes
A movement which brings a limb - arm or leg - away from the body is ____________________.

User Noah Gary
by
7.4k points

1 Answer

1 vote

Final answer:

Abduction is the movement that brings a limb away from the body, occurring when you lift your arms or legs laterally. This is the term used for both the movement and in the name of muscles that facilitate this movement, such as an abductor muscle.

Step-by-step explanation:

A movement which brings a limb - arm or leg - away from the body is called abduction. This movement in the coronal plane moves a limb laterally away from the body's midline. For example, when you move your arms or legs laterally to lift them straight out to the side, you're performing an abduction. The opposite of this is adduction, which occurs when a limb moves toward the midline of the body.

Specifically, in the limbs, movements such as flexion and extension also occur, where flexion decreases the angle between bones at a joint, and extension increases it. However, when discussing a movement at the shoulder joint that moves the upper limb laterally away from the body, abduction is the correct term. If you were to look for a muscle that

User James The Great
by
7.9k points

Related questions

1 answer
4 votes
197k views