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The anterior longitudinal ligament is a ligament that runs down the anterior surface of the spine. It traverses all of the vertebral bodies and intervertebral discs. It is thick on narrow on the body of the vertebrae compared to when it crosses the intervertebral discs, when it is thinner and wider. The functional importance of this is that it needs to resist displacement of the vertebrae which requires strong forces, compared when crossing the IVDs it is required to hold the disc in place, hence wide and thin. Across the cervical and lumbar spines it is thin and wide, compared to the thoracic spine in between which is thicker and narrower. The ligament actually has three layers: superficial, intermediate and deep. The superficial layer traverses 3 – 4 vertebrae, the intermediate layer covers 2 – 3 and the deep layer is only between individual vertebrae.