Platysma

The platysma ( Gr. Πλάτυσμα "plate") is a skin muscle ( musculus cutaneus ) of the neck . The muscle lies between the skin and the superficial neck fascia , so it has no direct contact with the skeleton. It can be assigned to the facial muscles .

human

In humans, the platysma arises in the upper thorax and draws to the chin and cheeks .

It is active in the case of startle reactions or tense facial expressions . It bulges the skin and can pull down the lower jaw or sometimes the corner of the mouth. However, only a few people are able to use it consciously. In old people with sagging skin, the medial edge (in the middle) of the platysma on both sides becomes visible as longitudinal folds in the front of the neck. The platysma is innervated by the facial nerve .

Domestic cervical skin muscles

In domestic animals , platysma only occurs in predators ( dogs , cats ) and pigs . Here it does not end at the thorax, but rather runs back and up towards the neck line .

In predators, it is completed by two additional neck skin muscles. The superficial sphincter colli muscle consists of transverse muscle fibers and extends to the entire area between the lower jaw and chest. The muscle is used to tighten the skin on the underside of the neck. The sphincter colli profundus muscle of the carnivores lies below the platysma in the area of the parotid gland ( regio parotidea ).

There is no platysma in ungulates . A skin muscle is only developed in the back of the neck and is known as the cutaneus colli muscle . It consists of sloping muscle fibers that cover the rear part of the throttle groove.

literature

Franz-Viktor Salomon: muscle tissue. In: FV. Salomon, H. Geyer, U. Gille (ed.): Anatomy for veterinary medicine . Enke, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8304-1007-7 , pp. 147-234.