The anterior portion is the homologue of the rib in the thoracic region, and is therefore named the costal process or costal element.These two parts are joined, outside the foramen, by a bar of bone that exhibits a deep sulcus on its upper surface for the passage of the corresponding spinal nerve. Each process consists of an anterior and a posterior part. The transverse processes are each pierced by the foramen transversarium, which, in the upper six vertebrae, gives passage to the vertebral artery and vein, as well as a plexus of sympathetic nerves.the inferior face forward, downward, and slightly laterally.
the superior face backward, upward, and slightly medially.The articular facets are flat and of an oval form:.The superior and inferior articular processes of cervical vertebrae have fused on either or both sides to form articular pillars, columns of bone that project laterally from the junction of the pedicle and lamina.Because the spinous processes are so short, certain superficial muscles (the trapezius and splenius capitis) attach to the nuchal ligament rather than directly to the vertebrae the nuchal ligament itself attaching to the spinous processes of C2–C7 and to the posterior tubercle of the atlas. The spinous process is short and bifid, the two divisions being often of unequal size.The laminae are narrow and thinner above than below the vertebral foramen is large and of a triangular form.The pedicles are directed laterally and backward, and attach to the body midway between its upper and lower borders, so that the superior vertebral notch is as deep as the inferior, but it is, at the same time, narrower.The lower surface is concave from front to back, convex from side to side, and presents laterally shallow concavities that receive the corresponding projecting lips of the underlying vertebra.The upper surface is concave transversely, and presents a projecting lip on either side.