The facial muscles are a group of striated muscles innervated by the facial nerve

Facial nerve

The facial nerve is the seventh of twelve paired cranial nerves. It emerges from the brainstem between the pons and the medulla, and controls the muscles of facial expression, and functions in the conveyance of taste sensations from the anterior two-thirds of the tongue and oral cavity...

 that, among other things, control facial expression. These muscles are also called mimetic muscles.

Structure

The facial muscles are subcutaneous (just under the skin) muscles that control facial expression. They generally originate on bone, and insert on the skin of the face.

Innervation

The facial muscles are innervated by facial nerve (cranial nerve VII). In contrast, the nearby masticatory muscles are innervated by the mandibular nerve

Mandibular nerve

The mandibular nerve is the largest of the three branches of the trigeminal nerve.-Roots:It is made up of two roots:* a large sensory root proceeding from the inferior angle of the trigeminal ganglion....

, a branch of the trigeminal nerve

Trigeminal nerve

The trigeminal nerve contains both sensory and motor fibres. It is responsible for sensation in the face and certain motor functions such as biting, chewing, and swallowing. Sensory information from the face and body is processed by parallel pathways in the central nervous system...

 (V).

List of muscles

The facial muscles include:

• Occipitofrontalis
• Temporoparietalis muscle
• Procerus
• Nasalis muscle
  Nasalis muscle
  The nasalis is a sphincter-like muscle of the nose whose function is to compress the nasal cartilage.It consists of two parts, transverse and alar:...
  
  
• Depressor septi nasi
• Orbicularis oculi
• Corrugator supercilii
• Depressor supercilii
• Auricular muscles
  Auricular muscles
  The auricular muscles are the three muscles surrounding the auricula or outer ear:* anterior auricular muscle* superior auricular muscle* posterior auricular muscle-Action:...
  
   (anterior, superior, posterior)
• Orbicularis oris
• Depressor anguli oris
• Risorius
  Risorius
  The risorius is a muscle of facial expression which arises in the fascia over the parotid gland and, passing horizontally forward, superficial to the platysma, inserts onto the skin at the angle of the mouth...
  
  
• Zygomaticus major
• Zygomaticus minor
• Levator labii superioris
  Levator labii superioris
  The levator labii superioris is a muscle of the human body used in facial expression. It is a broad sheet, the origin of which extends from the side of the nose to the zygomatic bone....
  
  
• Levator labii superioris alaeque nasi
• Depressor labii inferioris
• Levator anguli oris
  Levator anguli oris
  The levator anguli oris is a facial muscle of the mouth arising from the canine fossa, immediately below the infraorbital foramen....
  
  
• Buccinator
  Buccinator
  The buccinator muscle is a muscle at the side of the face.Buccinator may also refer to:* Buccinator artery * Buccinator lymph node* Buccinator nerve * An ancient Roman buccina player...
  
  
• Mentalis
  Mentalis
  The Mentalis is a paired central muscle of the lower lip, situated at the tip of the chin. It raises and pushes up the lower lip, causing wrinkling of the chin, as in doubt or displeasure...
  
  

The platysma is innervated by the facial nerve. Although it is mostly in the neck, due to its common innervation it can sometimes also be considered a muscle of facial expression.

The stylohyoid muscle

Stylohyoid muscle

The stylohyoid muscle is a slender muscle, lying anterior, and superior of the posterior belly of the digastric muscle. It shares this muscle's innervation by the facial nerve, and functions to draw the hyoid bone backwards and elevate the tongue....

, stapedius

Stapedius

The stapedius is the smallest skeletal muscle in the human body. At just over one millimeter in length, its purpose is to stabilize the smallest bone in the body, the stapes....

 and posterior belly of the digastric muscle

Digastric muscle

The digastric muscle is a small muscle located under the jaw. so digastric muscles are muscle fibers in ligament of treitz ,omohyoid , occipitofrontalis....

 are also innervated by the facial nerve, but are not considered muscles of facial expression.

See also

• Masticatory muscles
• Facial nerve
  Facial nerve
  The facial nerve is the seventh of twelve paired cranial nerves. It emerges from the brainstem between the pons and the medulla, and controls the muscles of facial expression, and functions in the conveyance of taste sensations from the anterior two-thirds of the tongue and oral cavity...
  
  
• Facial Action Coding System
  Facial Action Coding System
  Facial Action Coding System is a system to taxonomize human facial expressions, originally developed by Paul Ekman and Wallace V. Friesen in 1978...
  
  
• Modiolus
  Modiolus
  The Modiolus can refer to:* Modiolus * Modiolus * Modiolus , - a genus of mussels in the Mytilidae...
  
  

External links

• ARTNATOMY: Anatomical Basis of Facial Expression Learning Tool