Levator veli palatini

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Levator veli palatini

Dissection of the muscles of the palate from behind. (Caption for Levator veli palatini visible at right, second from the top.)

External and middle ear, opened from the front. Right side. (Levator veli palatini visible at bottom right.)
Latin	musculus levator veli palatini
Gray's	subject #243 1139
Origin:	temporal bone, Eustachian tube
Insertion:	palatine aponeurosis
Artery:	facial artery
Nerve:	vagus
Action:	elevates soft palate
Dorlands/Elsevier	m_22/12549638

The levator veli palatini is a muscle of the human body. During swallowing, it contracts, elevating the soft palate to help prevent food from entering the nasopharynx. It is innervated via the pharyngeal plexus, primarily by the vagus nerve (CN X).

The Levator veli palatini (Levator palati) is a thick, rounded muscle situated lateral to the choanæ.

It arises from the under surface of the apex of the petrous part of the temporal bone and from the medial lamina of the cartilage of the auditory tube.

After passing above the upper concave margin of the Constrictor pharyngis superior it spreads out in the palatine velum, its fibers extending obliquely downward and medialward to the middle line, where they blend with those of the opposite side.

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Left temporal bone. Inferior surface.

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This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.