Ear muscles

Ear muscles in humans

The ear muscles ( musculi auriculares ) are striated muscles that enable the auricle to move ("ear game"). It belongs to the skin muscles and is innervated by the facial nerve ( cranial nerve VII) .

Comparatively anatomically, four muscle groups can be distinguished in mammals:

• anterior ear muscles ( musculi auriculares rostrales )
• upper auricular muscles ( muscles auriculares dorsales )
• posterior auricular muscles ( muscles auriculares caudales ) and
• lower auricular muscles ( ventral auricular muscles )
  • Styloauricularis muscle
  • Parotidoauricularis muscle .

In a broader sense, the two skeletal muscles in the middle ear - the tensor tympani muscle and the stapedius muscle - can also be counted as part of the ear muscles. The former is not innervated by the facial nerve, but by a branch of the mandibular nerve (tensor nerve tympani).

literature

• Uwe Gille: Ear, Auris. In: FV. Salomon, H. Geyer, U. Gille (ed.): Anatomy for veterinary medicine . Enke, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8304-1007-7 , pp. 612-621.