Head & neck
Head & neck anatomy
Skull, face, and neck - muscles of mastication and expression, and the cranial nerves.
44 structures
Study guides for this region: How to memorize the cranial nerves.
Muscles
16Anterior scalene
Key neck landmark
MuscleBuccinator
Muscle of the cheek
MuscleDigastric
Two-bellied suprahyoid muscle
MuscleLateral pterygoid
Protrudes the jaw, opens the mouth
MuscleMasseter
Strongest muscle of mastication
MuscleMedial pterygoid
Elevates the jaw
MuscleMylohyoid
Floor of the mouth
MuscleOccipitofrontalis
Raises the eyebrows
MuscleOmohyoid
Infrahyoid strap muscle
MuscleOrbicularis oculi
Closes the eyelids
MuscleOrbicularis oris
Closes and purses the lips
MusclePlatysma
Muscle of facial expression (neck)
MuscleSternocleidomastoid
Key neck landmark
MuscleSternohyoid
Infrahyoid strap muscle
MuscleTemporalis
Elevates and retracts the jaw
MuscleZygomaticus major
Smiling muscle
MuscleBones
11Ethmoid bone
Between the orbits and nose
BoneFrontal bone
Forehead and orbital roofs
BoneHyoid bone
Free-floating bone of the neck
BoneMandible
Lower jaw - only mobile skull bone
BoneMaxilla
Upper jaw
BoneNasal bone
Bridge of the nose
BoneOccipital bone
Back and base of the skull
BoneParietal bone
Roof and sides of the cranium
BoneSphenoid bone
Keystone of the cranial base
BoneTemporal bone
Houses the ear
BoneZygomatic bone
Cheekbone
BoneNerves
12Abducens nerve (CN VI)
Lateral rectus muscle
NerveAccessory nerve (CN XI)
Trapezius and sternocleidomastoid
NerveFacial nerve (CN VII)
Facial expression, taste, tears, saliva
NerveGlossopharyngeal nerve (CN IX)
Posterior tongue, pharynx, parotid
NerveHypoglossal nerve (CN XII)
Motor to the tongue
NerveOculomotor nerve (CN III)
Moves the eye and lifts the lid
NerveOlfactory nerve (CN I)
Sense of smell
NerveOptic nerve (CN II)
Sense of vision
NerveTrigeminal nerve (CN V)
Face sensation and mastication
NerveTrochlear nerve (CN IV)
Superior oblique muscle
NerveVagus nerve (CN X)
Wandering nerve of the viscera
NerveVestibulocochlear nerve (CN VIII)
Hearing and balance
Nerve