All Topics  
Hyoid bone

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Hyoid bone
 
 
  Topics Hyoid bone Topic Home

The hyoid bone (lingual bone) (Latin os hyoideum) is a horseshoe shaped bone
Bone

Bones are rigid organ that form part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They function to move, support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red blood cell and white blood cells and store minerals....
 situated in the anterior midline of the neck
Neck

The neck is the part of the body on many limbed vertebrates that distinguishes the head from the torso or trunk. The scientific term signifying "of the neck" is nuchal....
 between the chin
CHIN

CHIN may refer to:* Canadian Heritage Information Network, a government agency in Canada that promotes Canadian culture and heritage on the Internet...
 and the thyroid cartilage
Thyroid cartilage

The thyroid cartilage is the largest of the nine cartilages that make up the laryngeal skeleton, the cartilage structure in and around the Vertebrate trachea that contains the larynx....
. At rest, it lies at the level of the base of the mandible
Mandible

The mandible or inferior maxillary bone forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth in place. It also refers to both the upper and lower sections of the beaks of birds....
 in the front and the third cervical vertebra behind.

It is the only bone in the human skeleton not articulated to any other bone. It is kept suspended in position by muscles and ligaments.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Hyoid bone'
Start a new discussion about 'Hyoid bone'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The hyoid bone (lingual bone) (Latin os hyoideum) is a horseshoe shaped bone
Bone

Bones are rigid organ that form part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They function to move, support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red blood cell and white blood cells and store minerals....
 situated in the anterior midline of the neck
Neck

The neck is the part of the body on many limbed vertebrates that distinguishes the head from the torso or trunk. The scientific term signifying "of the neck" is nuchal....
 between the chin
CHIN

CHIN may refer to:* Canadian Heritage Information Network, a government agency in Canada that promotes Canadian culture and heritage on the Internet...
 and the thyroid cartilage
Thyroid cartilage

The thyroid cartilage is the largest of the nine cartilages that make up the laryngeal skeleton, the cartilage structure in and around the Vertebrate trachea that contains the larynx....
. At rest, it lies at the level of the base of the mandible
Mandible

The mandible or inferior maxillary bone forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth in place. It also refers to both the upper and lower sections of the beaks of birds....
 in the front and the third cervical vertebra behind.

It is the only bone in the human skeleton not articulated to any other bone. It is kept suspended in position by muscles and ligaments. The hyoid bone provides attachment to the muscles of the floor of the mouth and the tongue above, the larynx below, and the epiglottis
Epiglottis

The epiglottis is a flap of elastic cartilage tissue covered with a mucous membrane, attached to the root of the tongue. It projects obliquely upwards behind the tongue and the hyoid bone....
 and pharynx
Pharynx

FunctionsThe pharynx is part of the digestive system and respiratory system of many organisms.Because both food and Earth's atmosphere pass through the pharynx, a flap of connective tissue called the epiglottis closes over the trachea when food is swallowed to prevent choking or Pulmonary aspiration....
 behind.

Segments

The bone consists of a central part, called the body and two pairs of cornua, the greater cornu and the lesser cornu.
  • Body of hyoid
  • Greater cornu
    Greater cornu

    The greater cornua of the hyoid bone project backward from the lateral borders of the body; they are flattened from above downward and diminish in size from before backward; each ends in a Tubercle to which is fixed the lateral hyothyroid ligament....
     (2)
  • Lesser cornu
    Lesser cornu

    The lesser cornua are two small, conical eminences, attached by their bases to the angles of junction between the body and greater cornua of the hyoid bone....
     (2)


Embryology

The second branchial arch
Branchial arch

In the embryogenesis of vertebrate, the pharyngeal arches are anlage for a multitude of structures. They develop during the fourth and fifth week in utero as a series of germ layer#Mesoderm outpouchings on the left and right sides of the developing pharynx....
 gives rise to the lesser cornu of hyoid and the superior part of body of hyoid. Its cartilage of the third branchial arch that forms the greater cornu of hyoid and the lower part of the body of hyoid.

Ossification

The hyoid is ossified
Ossification

Ossification is the process of bone formation, in which connective tissues, such as cartilage are turned to bone or bone-like tissue. The ossified tissue is invaginated with blood vessels....
 from six centers: two for the body, and one for each cornu
Cornu

Cornu is a Latin word for horn.Cornu may also refer to:*Cornu , an ancient musical instrumentPeople:*Marie Alfred Cornu, a physicist for whom the Cornu spiral is named...
. Ossification commences in the greater cornua toward the end of fetal
Fetus

A fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate, after the embryonic stage and before childbirth. The plural is fetuses, or sometimes feti....
 life, in the body shortly afterward, and in the lesser cornua during the first or second year after birth. Till middle age the connection between the body and greater cornu is fibrous.

Muscle attachments

The following muscles are attached to the hyoid:
  • Superior
    • Middle pharyngeal constrictor muscle
      Middle pharyngeal constrictor muscle

      The middle pharyngeal constrictor is a fanshaped muscle, smaller than the Inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscle....
    • Hyoglossus muscle
    • Digastric muscle
      Digastric muscle

      The digastric muscle is a small muscle located under the jaw.It lies below the body of the mandible, and extends, in a curved form, from the mastoid process to the symphysis menti....
    • Stylohyoid muscle
      Stylohyoid muscle

      The Stylohyoid muscle is a slender muscle, lying in front of, and above the posterior belly of the digastric muscle. It shares this muscle's innervation by the facial nerve....
    • Geniohyoid muscle
      Geniohyoid muscle

      The Geniohyoid muscle is a narrow muscle situated superior to the medial border of the mylohyoid muscle....
    • Mylohyoid muscle
      Mylohyoid muscle

      The mylohyoid muscle is a muscle running from the mandible to the hyoid bone, forming the floor of the oral cavity. These muscles are mesodermal in origin....
    • Genioglossus
      Genioglossus

      The genioglossus is a muscle of the human body which runs from the chin to the tongue....
  • Inferior
    • Thyrohyoid muscle
      Thyrohyoid muscle

      The Thyrohyoid muscle is a small, quadrilateral muscle appearing like an upward continuation of the Sternothyreoideus. It belongs to the infrahyoid muscles group....
    • Omohyoid muscle
      Omohyoid muscle

      The omohyoid muscle is a muscle at the front of the neck that consists of two bellies separated by an intermediate tendon. It belongs to the group of infrahyoid muscles....
    • Sternohyoid muscle
      Sternohyoid muscle

      The sternohyoid muscle is a thin, narrow muscle attaching the hyoid bone to the sternum, one of the paired strap muscles of the infrahyoid muscles serving to depress the hyoid bone....


Function

Though the hyoid bone is present in many mammals, its descent in living creatures is unique to Homo sapiens, allowing for the production of a wide range of sounds that other animals cannot produce. It allows a wider range of tongue, pharyngeal and laryngeal movements by bracing these structures alongside each other in order to produce variation. The discovery of a modern-looking hyoid bone of a Neanderthal
Neanderthal

The Neanderthal , or Neandertal, is an extinct member of the Homo genus that is known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia....
 man in the Kebara Cave
Kebara Cave

Kebara Cave is an Israeli limestone cave locality of the Wadi Kebara, situated at 60 - 65 metres above mean sea level on the western escarpment of the Mount Carmel, some 10km north-east of Caesarea Maritima....
 in Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
 led its discoverers to argue that the Neanderthals had a descended larynx
Larynx

The larynx , colloquially known as the voicebox, is an organ in the neck of mammals involved in protection of the vertebrate trachea and sound production....
, and thus human-like speech
Speech

Speech is the human faculty of speaking.It may also refer to:* Public speaking, the process of speaking to a group of people* Manner of articulation, how the body parts involved in making speech are manipulated...
 capabilities. However, other researchers have claimed that the morphology of the hyoid is not indicative of the larynx's position.

Fracture and Applied Anatomy

Due to its position, the hyoid bone is not susceptible to easy fracture. In a suspected case of murder, a fractured hyoid strongly indicates throttling
Throttling

Throttling can refer to:* Dynamic frequency scaling, also known as CPU throttling which is computer hardware speed control* Strangling, used to choke a person....
 or strangulation. However this is not the case in children and adolescents where hyoid bone is still flexible as ossification is yet to be completed.

Etymology

Its name is derived from the Greek word hyoeides meaning "shaped like the letter upsilon" (?).

Additional images


See also

  • Adam's apple
    Adam's apple

    The laryngeal prominence?commonly known as the Adam's Apple?is a feature of the human neck. This lump, or protrusion, is formed by the angle of the thyroid cartilage surrounding the larynx....
  • Bone terminology
    Bone

    Bones are rigid organ that form part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They function to move, support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red blood cell and white blood cells and store minerals....
  • Terms for anatomical location


External links