Anatomy study note · Head and neck

Temporalis

A fan-shaped muscle of mastication that fills the temporal fossa above the zygomatic arch.

Key points

• Temporal fossa → coronoid process.
• Deep temporal nerves (V3, anterior division).
• Elevates the mandible; posterior fibres retract it.
• 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 · Clinical notes

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 12, PDF pp. 1510–1512, 1669, 1847
• 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

• Temporomandibular joint
• Tensor veli palatini
• Thalamus
• Thyroarytenoid and vocalis
• Thyrohyoid
• Thyroid cartilage
• Thyroid gland
• Tongue
• Trigeminal nerve
• Trochlear nerve
• Veins of the face and scalp
• Ventricles of the brain

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