Introduction: The spine displays coupled motion. In the cervical spine this may be partly attributed to the oncovertberal joints which act as rails to guide vertebral motion. In axial rotation, a vertical distraction is observed and increases until additional structures are engaged to restrain motion. The purpose of this study was to measure and compare distraction under axial rotation between the intact disc and the CerviCore® Intervertebral Disc prosthesis. Material and Methods: Six caprine functional spinal units (FSUs) were embedded in sleeves with a displacement transducer secured laterally across the disc space. The FSU was placed on the load cell of a materials testing machine and a 100N compressive load applied. Through the use of a rotary table, the inferior body was rotated relative to the superior body to angles of 0, 3, 6, and 9 degrees and distraction recorded at each position. The FSU was then implanted with the CerviCore® Intervertebral Disc prosthesis (without removal of the transducer) and the rotation sequence repeated. Statistical comparisons between the intact and implanted conditions were performed using a repeated measures ANOVA and a Tukey post-hoc test for comparisons between angle configurations. Further comparisons between the intact and implanted conditions at specific angle orientations were performed using a paired t-test. Results: No significant differences were found in axial distraction between the intact and CerviCore® implanted conditions regardless of rotation angle applied (P>0.4 for all). With respect to the effects of rotation angle upon distraction, a significant difference between the 0 versus the 6 and 9 degree conditions (P<0.05 for both) was found for the intact condition. In the case of the CerviCore® implanted condition a significant difference was found between the 0 and 9 degree rotation condition (P<0.05). A linear regression of vertical distraction versus applied rotation resulted in a vertical distraction rate that was not significantly different between the intact and implanted conditions (P>0.08). Discussion: No significant differences were detected for distraction heights at angles of 0, 3, 6, and 9 degrees under intact and implanted conditions. Further, a linear regression of measured distraction versus applied rotation angle indicated that the rate of distraction between intact and implanted conditions was not significantly different. Noteworthy is that in the regression analysis, the confidence bands associated with the implanted device are considerably narrower that those for the intact condition, indicating a more predictable response to applied rotation in the case of the implanted condition.