Frontalis muscle

Frontalis

Visible at top left colored in red
Details
Latin Venter frontalis musculi occipitofrontalis
Galea aponeurotica
Orbicularis oculi muscle[1]
supraorbital and supratrochlear arteries
Facial nerve
Temporal branch
Actions Raises eyebrows and wrinkles forehead
Identifiers
Gray's p.379
Dorlands
/Elsevier
m_22/12549942
TA A04.1.03.004
FMA 46757
Anatomical terms of muscle

The frontalis muscle (frontal belly) is muscle which covers parts of the skull. Some sources consider the frontalis muscle to a distinct muscle. However, Terminologia Anatomica currently classifies it as part of the occipitofrontalis muscle along with the occipitalis muscle.

In humans, the frontalis muscle only serves for facial expressions.[2]

The frontalis muscle is innervated by the facial nerve[3] and receives blood from the supraorbital and supratrochlear arteries.

Anatomy

The frontalis muscle is thin, of a quadrilateral form, and intimately adherent to the superficial fascia. It is broader than the occipitalis and its fibers are longer and paler in color. It is located on the front of the head.

The muscle has no bony attachments. Its medial fibers are continuous with those of the procerus; its immediate fibers blend with the corrugator and orbicularis oculi muscles, thus attached to the skin of the eyebrows; and its lateral fibers are also blended with the latter muscle over the zygomatic process of the frontal bone.

In the eyebrows, its primary function is to lift them (thus opposing the orbital portion of the orbicularis), especially when looking up. It also acts when a view is too distant or dim.[4]

From these attachments the fibers are directed upward, and join the galea aponeurotica below the coronal suture.

The medial margins of the frontalis muscles are joined together for some distance above the root of the nose; but between the occipitales there is a considerable, though variable, interval, occupied by the galea aponeurotica.

Additional images

See also

References

  1. "Insertion of frontalis muscle relating to blepharoptosis repair". Hwang K, Kim DJ, Hwang SH. J Craniofac Surg. 2005 Nov;16(6):965-7.
  2. Saladin, Kenneth S. (2003). Anatomy & Physiology: The Unity of Form and Function (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill. pp. 286–287.
  3. Drake, Richard L.; Vogl, A. Wayne; Mitchell, Adam W. M. (2010). Gray´s Anatomy for Students (2nd ed.). p. 857. ISBN 978-0-443-06952-9.
  4. "eye, human."Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD 2009

External links

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