Stylopharyngeus muscle
Musculus stylopharyngeus
Stylopharyngeus is a long, narrow muscle passing from the styloid process into the wall of the pharynx, where it lifts the throat.
At a glance
- English
- Stylopharyngeus muscle
- Latin (TA2)
- Musculus stylopharyngeus
- System
- Muscle
- Region
- Neck
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the stylopharyngeus muscle
Stylopharyngeus is one of the longitudinal muscles of the pharynx, together with palatopharyngeus and salpingopharyngeus. It is a long, thin strand, round in section above and flatter below. It is the only pharyngeal muscle supplied by the glossopharyngeal nerve, a reminder that it is the sole muscle derived from the third pharyngeal arch.
It arises from the inner side of the styloid process near its base. It runs down and forward beside the pharynx and slips inside it through the gap between the superior and middle constrictors. There it spreads out under the mucous lining. Some fibres blend with the constrictors and with palatopharyngeus, and some reach the back edge of the thyroid cartilage.
Contraction lifts the pharynx and larynx and widens the pharynx from side to side. This makes room for a large bolus and helps it pass during swallowing. Lifting the larynx also tucks the laryngeal inlet up under the epiglottis and tongue base, which protects the airway. The muscle is also active in speech.
The glossopharyngeal nerve curves around the outer side of the muscle and crosses it to reach the tongue, so stylopharyngeus is a guide to finding the nerve. Its motor fibres come from the upper part of the nucleus ambiguus. Injury to the nerve weakens the muscle a little, but swallowing problems from that injury are usually mild because other muscles share the work.
Attachments, action and supply
- Origin
- Inner side of the styloid process near its base.
- Insertion
- Wall of the pharynx between the constrictors, blending with palatopharyngeus; some fibres reach the back edge of the thyroid cartilage.
- Action
- Lifts the pharynx and larynx and widens the pharynx during swallowing and speech.
- Nerve supply
- Glossopharyngeal nerve (CN IX).
- Blood supply
- Ascending pharyngeal artery, with the tonsillar branch of the facial artery.
Anthromica
See the stylopharyngeus muscle where it really sits, with every layer of the body around it.
- Every layer, one body. Peel from muscle to bone, nerve, vessel and organ, and turn it any way.
- English and Latin. Every structure named the way your exam names it.
- Quiz until it sticks. Short drills on the structures you keep missing.
Free to start. No card.
