Temporoparietalis muscle
Musculus temporoparietalis
Temporoparietalis is a thin, variable sheet of scalp muscle lying over the side of the head above and in front of the ear.
At a glance
- English
- Temporoparietalis muscle
- Latin (TA2)
- Musculus temporoparietalis
- System
- Muscle
- Region
- Head
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the temporoparietalis muscle
Temporoparietalis is a small, flat muscle of the scalp found on the side of the head, over the temple and the lower parietal region. It sits between two other scalp muscles: the auricularis superior lies below it, and the edge of the epicranial aponeurosis, the tough sheet that links the frontal and occipital bellies of occipitofrontalis, lies just above. It is one of the facial expression muscles, which develop in the skin and fascia rather than between bones.
The muscle is thin and its size varies a great deal from person to person; in some it is well formed, in others it is barely more than a few scattered fibres. It begins in the temporal fascia and the tissue above and in front of the auricle, and its fibres fan upwards to blend with the lateral margin of the epicranial aponeurosis. It therefore lies in the superficial layer of the scalp, above the much thicker temporalis and its fascia.
When it contracts, temporoparietalis helps to tighten the scalp and draws the skin of the temple slightly upwards. Acting with the auricular muscles it may lift the ear a little, though in most people this movement is weak or absent. Like all the muscles of facial expression it is supplied by the facial nerve, through its temporal branches, and it takes its blood from branches of the superficial temporal artery.
The muscle has little clinical importance on its own, but it lies in the temporoparietal fascia, a thin, well-supplied layer that plastic surgeons value. Flaps of this fascia, carried on the superficial temporal vessels, can be turned down to rebuild the outer ear or to cover defects nearby.
Attachments, action and supply
- Origin
- Temporal fascia and the tissues above and in front of the auricle.
- Insertion
- Lateral border of the epicranial aponeurosis.
- Action
- Tightens the scalp, raises the skin of the temple and may slightly lift the auricle.
- Nerve supply
- Temporal branches of the facial nerve (CN VII).
- Blood supply
- Branches of the superficial temporal artery.
Anthromica
See the temporoparietalis 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.
