human anatomy The human body is the structure of a human being. It is composed of many different types of cells that together create tissues and subsequently organ systems. They ensure homeostasis and the viability of the human body. It comprises a he ...

, the forehead is an area of the

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

bounded by three features, two of the

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, the ...

and one of the

scalp The scalp is the anatomical area bordered by the human face at the front, and by the neck at the sides and back. Structure The scalp is usually described as having five layers, which can conveniently be remembered as a mnemonic: * S: The ski ...

. The top of the forehead is marked by the hairline, the edge of the area where hair on the scalp grows. The bottom of the forehead is marked by the

supraorbital ridge The brow ridge, or supraorbital ridge known as superciliary arch in medicine, is a bony ridge located above the eye sockets of all primates. In humans, the eyebrows are located on their lower margin. Structure The brow ridge is a nodule or crest ...

, the bone feature of the skull above the eyes. The two sides of the forehead are marked by the temporal ridge, a bone feature that links the supraorbital ridge to the

coronal suture The coronal suture is a dense, fibrous connective tissue joint that separates the two parietal bones from the frontal bone of the skull. Structure The coronal suture lies between the paired parietal bones and the frontal bone of the skull. It r ...

line and beyond. However, the eyebrows do not form part of the forehead. In ''

Terminologia Anatomica ''Terminologia Anatomica'' is the international standard for human anatomical terminology. It is developed by the Federative International Programme on Anatomical Terminology, a program of the International Federation of Associations of Anatomis ...

'', ''sinciput'' is given as the Latin equivalent to "forehead". (Etymology of ''sinciput'': from ''semi-'' "half" + ''caput'' "head".)

Structure

The bone of the forehead is the

squamous part of the frontal bone The squamous part of the frontal bone is the superior (approximately two thirds) portion when viewed in standard anatomical orientation. There are two surfaces of the squamous part of the frontal bone: the external surface, and the internal surfac ...

. The overlying muscles are the

occipitofrontalis The occipitofrontalis muscle (epicranius muscle) is a muscle which covers parts of the skull. It consists of two parts or bellies: the occipital belly, near the occipital bone, and the frontal belly, near the frontal bone. It is supplied by the ...

procerus The procerus muscle (or pyramidalis nasi) is a small pyramidal slip of muscle deep to the superior orbital nerve, artery and vein. ''Procerus'' is Latin, meaning tall or extended. Structure The procerus muscle arises by tendinous fibers from t ...

, and

corrugator supercilii The corrugator supercilii muscle is a small, narrow, pyramidal muscle close to the eye. It arises from the medial end of the superciliary arch, and inserts into the deep surface of the skin of the eyebrow. It draws the eyebrow downward and medi ...

muscles, all of which are controlled by the temporal branch of the

facial nerve The facial nerve, also known as the seventh cranial nerve, cranial nerve VII, or simply CN VII, is a cranial nerve that emerges from the pons of the brainstem, controls the muscles of facial expression, and functions in the conveyance of tas ...

. The sensory nerves of the forehead connect to the ophthalmic branch of the

trigeminal nerve In neuroanatomy, the trigeminal nerve ( lit. ''triplet'' nerve), also known as the fifth cranial nerve, cranial nerve V, or simply CN V, is a cranial nerve responsible for sensation in the face and motor functions such as biting and chewin ...

and to the

cervical plexus The cervical plexus is a plexus of the anterior rami of the first four cervical spinal nerves which arise from C1 to C4 cervical segment in the neck. They are located laterally to the transverse processes between prevertebral muscles from the medi ...

, and lie within the subcutaneous fat. The motor nerves of the forehead connect to the

. The ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve, the supraorbital nerve, divides at the orbital rim into two parts in the forehead. One part, the superficial division, runs over the surface of the occipitofrontalis muscle. This provides sensation for the skin of the forehead, and for the front edge of the scalp. The other part, the deep division, runs into the occipitofrontalis muscle and provides frontoparietal sensation. Blood supply to the forehead is via the left and right superorbital, supertrochealar, and anterior branches of the

superficial temporal artery In human anatomy, the superficial temporal artery is a major artery of the head. It arises from the external carotid artery when it splits into the superficial temporal artery and maxillary artery. Its pulse can be felt above the zygomatic arch ...

Function

Expression

The muscles of the forehead help to form

facial expressions A facial expression is one or more motions or positions of the muscles beneath the skin of the face. According to one set of controversial theories, these movements convey the emotional state of an individual to observers. Facial expressions are ...

. There are four basic motions, which can occur individually or in combination to form different expressions. The occipitofrontalis muscles can raise the

eyebrow An eyebrow is an area of short hairs above each eye that follows the shape of the lower margin of the brow ridges of some mammals. In humans, eyebrows serve two main functions: first, communication through facial expression, and second, preven ...

s, either together or individually, forming expressions of surprise and quizzicality. The corrugator supercilii muscles can pull the eyebrows inwards and down, forming a

frown A frown (also known as a scowl) is a facial expression in which the eyebrows are brought together, and the forehead is wrinkled, usually indicating displeasure, sadness or worry, or less often confusion or concentration. The appearance of a fr ...

. The procerus muscles can pull down the centre portions of the eyebrows.

Wrinkles

The movements of the muscles in the forehead produce characteristic

wrinkle A wrinkle, also known as a rhytid, is a fold, ridge or crease in an otherwise smooth surface, such as on skin or fabric. Skin wrinkles typically appear as a result of ageing processes such as glycation, habitual sleeping positions, loss of ...

s in the skin. The occipitofrontalis muscles produce the transverse wrinkles across the width of the forehead, and the corrugator supercilii muscles produce vertical wrinkles between the eyebrows above the nose. The procerus muscles cause the nose to wrinkle.

Society and culture

physiognomy Physiognomy (from the Greek , , meaning "nature", and , meaning "judge" or "interpreter") is the practice of assessing a person's character or personality from their outer appearance—especially the face. The term can also refer to the general ...

and

phrenology Phrenology () is a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits.Wihe, J. V. (2002). "Science and Pseudoscience: A Primer in Critical Thinking." In ''Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience'', pp. 195–203. C ...

, the shape of the forehead was taken to symbolise intellect and intelligence. "Animals, even the most intelligent of them,", wrote Samuel R. Wells in 1942, "can hardly be said to have any forehead at all, and in natural total idiots it is very diminished".

Pseudo-Aristotle Pseudo-Aristotle is a general cognomen for authors of philosophical or medical treatises who attributed their work to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, or whose work was later attributed to him by others. Such falsely attributed works are known as ps ...

, in ''

Physiognomica ''Physiognomonics'' ( el, Φυσιογνωμονικά; la, Physiognomonica) is an Ancient Greek pseudo-Aristotelian treatise on physiognomy attributed to Aristotle (and part of the Corpus Aristotelicum). Ancient physiognomy before the ''Physi ...

'', stated that the forehead is governed by

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

. A low and little forehead denoted magnanimity, boldness, and confidence; a fleshy and wrinkle-free forehead, litigiousness, vanity, deceit, and contentiousness; a sharp forehead, weakness and fickleness; a wrinkled forehead, great spirit and wit yet poor fortune; a round forehead, virtue and good understanding; a full large forehead, boldness, malice, boundary issues, and high spirit; and a long high forehead, honesty, weakness, simplicity, and poor fortune. In fighting, slamming one's forehead into one's opponent is termed a

headbutt A headbutt is a targeted strike with the head, typically (when intentional) involving the use of robust parts of the headbutter's cranium as the area of impact. The most effective headbutts strike the most sensitive areas of an opponent, such as ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Human head and neck Facial features