Ligament · Neck

Tectorial membrane

Membrana tectoria

A broad strong sheet inside the spinal canal at the very top of the neck, best understood as the last stretch of the posterior longitudinal ligament: the band running down the back of every vertebral body continues upward past the axis, widens, and ends on the floor of the skull just inside the rim of the foramen magnum. On the way it passes behind the dens and roofs over the cruciform, alar and apical ligaments, so it is the first of that group met from behind and the only layer between them and the dura mater covering the spinal cord. It is drawn tight as the head bends forward.