Zygomaticus major muscle

Zygomaticus major
	Muscles of the head, face, and neck. Zygomaticus major shown in red.
Details
Origin	anterior of zygomatic
Insertion	modiolus of mouth
Artery	facial artery
Nerve	zygomatic and buccal branches of the facial nerve
Actions	draws angle of mouth upward and laterally
Identifiers
Latin	musculus zygomaticus major
TA	A04.1.03.029
FMA	46810
	Anatomical terms of muscle [edit on Wikidata]

The zygomaticus major is a muscle of the human body. It is a muscle of facial expression which draws the angle of the mouth superiorly and posteriorly to allow one to smile.^[1] Like all muscles of facial expression, the zygomatic major is innervated by the facial nerve (the seventh cranial nerve), more specifically, the buccal and zygomatic branches of the facial nerve.

StructureEdit

The zygomaticus extends from each zygomatic arch (cheekbone) to the corners of the mouth.

FunctionEdit

It raises the corners of the mouth when a person smiles. Usually a single unit, Dimples are caused by variations in form.^[2]^[3] It is thought that dimples are caused by bifid zygomaticus major muscle.^[4]

ImageEdit

Position of zygomaticus major muscle. Animation.
Muscles of the head, face, and neck. Zygomaticus major shown in red.

ReferencesEdit

^ Stel, Mariëlle; van Dijk, Eric; Olivier, Einav (2009). "You Want to Know the Truth? Then Don't Mimic!". Psychological Science. 20 (6): 694. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02350.x.
^ "Dimple Creation – Cute as a button, who pays for a deformity?".
^ "Zygomaticus Major Muscle Function, Origin & Anatomy".
^ Pessa, Joel E.; Zadoo, Vikram P.; Garza, Peter A.; Adrian, Erle K.; Dewitt, Adriane I.; Garza, Jaime R. (1998). "Double or bifid zygomaticus major muscle: Anatomy, incidence, and clinical correlation". Clinical Anatomy. 11 (5): 310–313. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-2353(1998)11:5<310::AID-CA3>3.0.CO;2-T. PMID 9725574.

External linksEdit

[1] Stel, Mariëlle; van Dijk, Eric; Olivier, Einav (2009). "You Want to Know the Truth? Then Don't Mimic!". Psychological Science. 20 (6): 694. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02350.x.

[2] "Dimple Creation – Cute as a button, who pays for a deformity?".

[3] "Zygomaticus Major Muscle Function, Origin & Anatomy".

[4] Pessa, Joel E.; Zadoo, Vikram P.; Garza, Peter A.; Adrian, Erle K.; Dewitt, Adriane I.; Garza, Jaime R. (1998). "Double or bifid zygomaticus major muscle: Anatomy, incidence, and clinical correlation". Clinical Anatomy. 11 (5): 310–313. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-2353(1998)11:5<310::AID-CA3>3.0.CO;2-T. PMID 9725574.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]