Head and neck muscles (chewing, facial, and throat muscles)
Temporoparietalis Muscle
Musculus temporoparietalis
- Origin
- Temporal fascia, above the ear
- Insertion
- Galea aponeurotica, laterally
- Function
- Rudimentary muscle; tightens the skin above the ear and can slightly raise the eyebrow; functionally almost meaningless in humans (a remnant of the extrinsic ear-muscle system in animals)
- Innervation
- Temporal branch of the facial nerve (CN VII)
- Movement & chain
- A rudimentary, functionally negligible movement: pulls the galea aponeurotica slightly laterally-cranially; no involvement in a functional movement chain.
- Palpation
- Palpable as a thin sheet over the temporal fascia superior to the auricle.
- Clinical
- No relevant clinical significance in humans; used as a landmark in temporal surgery (e.g. facelift), where it lies just superficial to the superficial temporal fascia.
- Segmental innervation
- CN VII, motor.
- In clinical practice
- Tenses scalp; basis of the vascularized Temporoparietal Fascia (TPF) flap used for microtia ear reconstruction and cranial defect coverage.
- Region in the model
- Head and neck muscles (chewing, facial, and throat muscles)