Ligament · Neck

Ligamenta flava

Ligamenta flava

The yellow ligaments: paired short bands joining the laminae of adjacent vertebrae from the axis down to the sacrum, and forming much of the back wall of the spinal canal. They are unlike any other ligament in the body in composition — made largely of elastin rather than collagen, which gives them their colour and means they are under tension even when the spine is at rest. That resting tension is the point. As the spine bends forward they lengthen without slackening, and as it straightens they recoil and take up their own slack rather than folding inward toward the spinal cord behind them.