Spine

Spine or Spinal may refer to:

Science

Biology

• Dendritic spine, a specialized postsynaptic protrusion in dendrites implicated in learning and memory through synaptic plasticity
• Thorns, spines, and prickles, needle-like structures in plants
• SPINE (molecular biology), an acronym for Strep-Protein INteraction Experiment, a method for the detection of protein interactions
• Spine (zoology), needle-like structures in animals

Medicine

• Vertebral column, commonly known as the backbone or spine, so named for its spinous processes
  • Lumbar puncture, a colloquial term for a medical procedure, which is referred to as a spinal tap
  • Spinal anaesthesia, a type of regional anaesthetic
  • Spinal adjustment, a specific procedure used by a chiropractor
  • Spinal canal or spinal cavity, a tube shaped space enclosed in and protected by the bony vertebral column
  • Spinal cord, the bundle of nerve cells and nerve fibers within the vertebral column subject to spinal cord injury
  • Spinal nerves which are distal to the dorsal and ventral spinal nerve roots
  • Spine (journal), a bi-weekly peer-reviewed journal of spine surgery, published by Lippincott
  • The Spine Journal, bi-monthly peer-reviewed journal, published by Elsevier
• Processes of bones, including:
  • Ilium: anterior inferior iliac spine (AIIS), anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS), posterior inferior iliac spine, and posterior superior iliac spine
  • Ischial spine
  • Mandible: mental spine
  • Nasal bone:
    • anterior nasal spine
    • posterior nasal spine
  • Spine of scapula
  • Sphenoid bone: spine of sphenoid bone (spina angularis) and ethmoidal spine

Other sciences

• The Spine, a set of national services used by the NHS Care Record Service (an electronic patient record system)
• SPINE (software), an open source Web content management system
• Spine, a JavaScript framework
• In mathematics, the Lebesgue spine

Entertainment

• The Spine, novel by Ladislav Bublík
• The Spine (album), a 2004 They Might Be Giants album, including the songs "Spine" and "Spines"
• The Spine (film), a 2009 animated short by Chris Landreth
• Spinal (Killer Instinct), a fictional character from the video game Killer Instinct
• Spinal Tap (band), a semi-fictional heavy metal band
• Spine, a demon in Blood Beast, 2007 book of the Demonata saga
• the Spine, the mountain chain which follows the west coast in the Inheritance cycle.
• The Spine, a singing automaton in the band Steam Powered Giraffe

Other uses

• In archery, a measure of stiffness of an arrow shaft
• Spine with marrow (hieroglyph), an Egyptian language biliteral sign
• In bookbinding, the closed edge of the book along which the pages are bound
• In politics, a measure of consistency in morality and ideology. For example: "Paul Ryan has no spine."