Anatomy study note · Head and neck

Masseter

A thick quadrilateral muscle of mastication on the outer surface of the ramus of the mandible.

Key points

• Zygomatic arch → lateral surface of ramus.
• Masseteric nerve (V3).
• Elevates the mandible (occlusion).
• Parotid duct crosses it; facial pulse at its anterior border.
• From the first (mandibular) pharyngeal arch → mandibular nerve.
• Skeletal muscle: multinucleated, peripheral nuclei, striated.
• Epimysium → perimysium → endomysium.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Features · Origin · Insertion · Action · Nerve supply · Histology · Development

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 12, PDF pp. 1510, 1669, 1847–1848, 1856
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 9, PDF pp. 120, 122, 125
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 8, PDF pp. 135–144

More from the head and neck

• Maxilla
• Maxillary artery
• Maxillary nerve
• Medial pterygoid
• Medial rectus
• Medulla oblongata
• Midbrain
• Middle cerebral artery
• Muscles of facial expression
• Musculus uvulae
• Mylohyoid
• Nasal bone

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