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Pharyngeal Constrictor
The pharyngeal muscles are a group of muscles that form the pharynx, which is posterior to the oral cavity, determining the shape of its lumen, and affecting its sound properties as the primary resonating cavity. The pharyngeal muscles (involuntary skeletal) push food into the esophagus. There are two muscular layers of the pharynx: the outer circular layer and the inner longitudinal layer. The outer circular layer includes: * Superior constrictor muscle * Middle constrictor muscle * Inferior constrictor muscle During swallowing, these muscles constrict to propel a bolus downwards (an involuntary process). The inner longitudinal layer includes: * Stylopharyngeus muscle * Salpingopharyngeus muscle * Palatopharyngeus muscle During swallowing, these muscles act to shorten and widen the pharynx. They are innervated by the pharyngeal branch of the vagus nerve (CN X) with the exception of the stylopharyngeus muscle which is innervated by the glossopharyngeal nerve The glossophar ...
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Pharynx
The pharynx (plural: pharynges) is the part of the throat behind the mouth and nasal cavity, and above the oesophagus and trachea (the tubes going down to the stomach and the lungs). It is found in vertebrates and invertebrates, though its structure varies across species. The pharynx carries food and air to the esophagus and larynx respectively. The flap of cartilage called the epiglottis stops food from entering the larynx. In humans, the pharynx is part of the digestive system and the conducting zone of the respiratory system. (The conducting zone—which also includes the nostrils of the nose, the larynx, trachea, bronchi, and bronchioles—filters, warms and moistens air and conducts it into the lungs). The human pharynx is conventionally divided into three sections: the nasopharynx, oropharynx, and laryngopharynx. It is also important in vocalization. In humans, two sets of pharyngeal muscles form the pharynx and determine the shape of its lumen. They are arranged ...
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Cheek
The cheeks ( la, buccae) constitute the area of the face below the eyes and between the nose and the left or right ear. "Buccal" means relating to the cheek. In humans, the region is innervated by the buccal nerve. The area between the inside of the cheek and the teeth and gums is called the vestibule or buccal pouch or buccal cavity and forms part of the mouth. In other animals the cheeks may also be referred to as jowls. Structure Humans Cheeks are fleshy in humans, the skin being suspended by the chin and the jaws, and forming the lateral wall of the human mouth, visibly touching the cheekbone below the eye. The inside of the cheek is lined with a mucous membrane (buccal mucosa, part of the oral mucosa). During mastication (chewing), the cheeks and tongue between them serve to keep the food between the teeth. Other animals The cheeks are covered externally by hairy skin, and internally by stratified squamous epithelium. This is mostly smooth, but may have caudally dir ...
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Lumen (anatomy)
In biology, a lumen (plural lumina) is the inside space of a tubular structure, such as an artery or intestine. It comes . It can refer to: *The interior of a vessel, such as the central space in an artery, vein or capillary through which blood flows. *The interior of the gastrointestinal tract *The pathways of the bronchi in the lungs *The interior of renal tubules and urinary collecting ducts *The pathways of the female genital tract, starting with a single pathway of the vagina, splitting up in two lumina in the uterus, both of which continue through the Fallopian tubes In cell biology, a lumen is a membrane-defined space that is found inside several organelles, cellular components, or structures: * thylakoid, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, lysosome, mitochondrion, or microtubule Transluminal procedures ''Transluminal procedures'' are procedures occurring through lumina, including: * Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery in the lumina of, for exa ...
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Esophagus
The esophagus ( American English) or oesophagus (British English; both ), non-technically known also as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to the stomach. The esophagus is a fibromuscular tube, about long in adults, that travels behind the trachea and heart, passes through the diaphragm, and empties into the uppermost region of the stomach. During swallowing, the epiglottis tilts backwards to prevent food from going down the larynx and lungs. The word ''oesophagus'' is from Ancient Greek οἰσοφάγος (oisophágos), from οἴσω (oísō), future form of φέρω (phérō, “I carry”) + ἔφαγον (éphagon, “I ate”). The wall of the esophagus from the lumen outwards consists of mucosa, submucosa (connective tissue), layers of muscle fibers between layers of fibrous tissue, and an outer layer of connective tissue. The mucosa is a stratified squamous ...
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Superior Constrictor Muscle
The superior pharyngeal constrictor muscle is a muscle in the pharynx. It is the highest located muscle of the three pharyngeal constrictors. The muscle is a quadrilateral muscle, thinner and paler than the inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscle and middle pharyngeal constrictor muscle. The muscle is divided into four parts: A pterygopharyngeal, buccopharyngeal, mylopharyngeal and a glossopharyngeal part. Origin and insertion The four parts of this muscle arise from: - the lower third of the posterior margin of the medial pterygoid plate and its hamulus (Pterygopharyngeal part) - from the pterygomandibular raphe (Buccopharyngeal part) - from the alveolar process of the mandible above the posterior end of the mylohyoid line (Mylopharyngeal part) - and by a few fibers from the side of the tongue (Glossopharyngeal part) The fibers curve backward to be inserted into the median raphe, being also prolonged by means of an aponeurosis to the pharyngeal spine on the basilar part o ...
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Middle Constrictor Muscle
The middle pharyngeal constrictor is a fan-shaped muscle located in the neck. It is one of three pharyngeal constrictors. Similarly to the superior and inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscles, the middle pharyngeal constrictor is innervated by a branch of the vagus nerve through the pharyngeal plexus. The middle pharyngeal constrictor is smaller than the inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscle. Structure The middle pharyngeal constrictor arises from the whole length of the upper border of the greater cornu of the hyoid bone, from the lesser cornu, and from the stylohyoid ligament. The fibers diverge from their origin: the lower ones descend beneath the constrictor inferior, the middle fibers pass transversely, and the upper fibers ascend and overlap the constrictor superior. It is inserted into the posterior median fibrous raphe, blending in the middle line with the muscle of the opposite side. Function As soon as the bolus of food is received in the pharynx, the elevator m ...
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Inferior Constrictor Muscle
The inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscle is a skeletal muscle of the neck. It is the thickest of the three outer pharyngeal muscles. It arises from the sides of the cricoid cartilage and the thyroid cartilage. It is supplied by the vagus nerve (CN X). It is active during swallowing, and partially during breathing and speech. It may be affected by Zenker's diverticulum. Structure The inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscle is composed of two parts. The first part (and more superior) arises from the thyroid cartilage (thyropharyngeal part), and the second part arises from the cricoid cartilage (cricopharyngeal part). * On the ''thyroid cartilage'', it arises from the oblique line on the side of the lamina, from the surface behind this nearly as far as the posterior border and from the inferior horn of the thyroid cartilage. * From the ''cricoid cartilage'', it arises in the interval between the cricothyroid muscle in front, and the articular facet for the inferior horn of ...
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Swallowing
Swallowing, sometimes called deglutition in scientific contexts, is the process in the human or animal body that allows for a substance to pass from the mouth, to the pharynx, and into the esophagus, while shutting the epiglottis. Swallowing is an important part of eating and drinking. If the process fails and the material (such as food, drink, or medicine) goes through the trachea, then choking or pulmonary aspiration can occur. In the human body the automatic temporary closing of the epiglottis is controlled by the swallowing reflex. The portion of food, drink, or other material that will move through the neck in one swallow is called a bolus. In colloquial English, the term "swallowing" is also used to describe the action of taking in a large mouthful of food without any biting, where the word gulping is more adequate. In humans Swallowing comes so easily to most people that the process rarely prompts much thought. However, from the viewpoints of physiology, of spe ...
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Stylopharyngeus Muscle
The stylopharyngeus is a muscle in the head that stretches between the temporal styloid process and the pharynx. Structure The stylopharyngeus is a long, slender muscle, cylindrical above, flattened below. It arises from the medial side of the base of the temporal styloid process, passes downward along the side of the pharynx between the superior pharyngeal constrictor and the middle pharyngeal constrictor, and spreads out beneath the mucous membrane. Some of its fibers are lost in the constrictor muscles while others, joining the palatopharyngeus muscle, are inserted into the posterior border of the thyroid cartilage. The glossopharyngeal nerve runs on the lateral side of this muscle, and crosses over it to reach the tongue. Nerve supply The stylopharyngeus is the only muscle in the pharynx innervated by the glossopharyngeal nerve (CN IX) via branchial motor neurons with their cell bodies in the rostral part of the nucleus ambiguus. Development Embryological origin is th ...
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Salpingopharyngeus Muscle
The salpingopharyngeus muscle is a muscle of the pharynx. It arises from cartilage around the Eustachian tube, and inserts into the palatopharyngeus muscle by blending with its posterior fasciculus. It raises the pharynx and larynx during deglutition (swallowing) and laterally draws the pharyngeal walls up. It opens the pharyngeal orifice of the Eustachian tube during swallowing allowing for the equalization of pressure between it and the pharynx. Structure The salpingopharyngeus muscle arises from the superior border of the medial cartilage of the Eustachian tube, in the nasal cavity. This makes the posterior welt of the torus tubarius. It passes downward and blends with the posterior fasciculus of the palatopharyngeus muscle. Nerve supply The salpingopharyngeus is supplied by the vagus nerve (CN X) via the pharyngeal plexus. Blood supply The salpingopharyngeus muscle is supplied by the ascending pharyngeal artery. Function The salpingopharyngeus muscle raises th ...
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Palatopharyngeus Muscle
The palatopharyngeus (palatopharyngeal or pharyngopalatinus) muscle is a small muscle in the roof of the mouth. It is a long, fleshy fasciculus, narrower in the middle than at either end, forming, with the mucous membrane covering its surface, the palatopharyngeal arch. Structure It is separated from the palatoglossus muscle by an angular interval, in which the palatine tonsil is lodged. It arises from the soft palate, where it is divided into two fasciculi by the levator veli palatini and musculus uvulae. * The ''posterior fasciculus'' lies in contact with the mucous membrane, and joins with that of the opposite muscle in the middle line. * The ''anterior fasciculus'', the thicker, lies in the soft palate between the levator and tensor veli palatini muscles, and joins in the middle line the corresponding part of the opposite muscle. Passing laterally and downward behind the palatine tonsil, the palatopharyngeus joins the stylopharyngeus and is inserted with that muscle into the ...
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Pharyngeal Branch Of The Vagus Nerve
The pharyngeal branch of the vagus nerve, the principal motor nerve of the pharynx, arises from the upper part of the ganglion nodosum, and consists principally of filaments from the cranial portion of the accessory nerve. It passes across the internal carotid artery to the upper border of the Constrictor pharyngis medius, where it divides into numerous filaments, which join with branches from the glossopharyngeal, sympathetic, and external laryngeal to form the pharyngeal plexus. From the plexus, branches are distributed to the muscles and mucous membrane of the pharynx (except the stylopharyngeus, which is innervated by the glossopharyngeal nerve (CN IX)) and the muscles of the soft palate, except the Tensor veli palatini, which is supplied by the nerve to tensor veli palatini, a branch of the nerve to medial pterygoid (which itself is a branch of the mandibular nerve - CNV/3). A minute filament descends and joins the hypoglossal nerve as it winds around the occipital arter ...
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