Obliquus capitis superior muscle

Obliquus capitis superior muscle
Skull seen from behind (obliquus capitis superior shown in red)
Obliquus capitis superior (red) and its relationship to other suboccipital muscles.
Details
Origin	Lateral mass of atlas
Insertion	Lateral half of the inferior nuchal line
Nerve	Suboccipital nerve
Actions	Extends head and flex head to the ipsilateral side
Identifiers
Latin	Musculus obliquus capitis superior
TA98	A04.2.02.006
TA2	2251
FMA	32527
Anatomical terms of muscle

The obliquus capitis superior muscle (/əˈblaɪkwəs ˈkæpɪtɪs/) is a small muscle in the upper back part of the neck and is one of the suboccipital muscles and part of the suboccipital triangle. It arises from the lateral mass of the atlas bone. It passes superiorly and posteriorly to insert into the lateral half of the inferior nuchal line on the external surface of the occipital bone. The muscle is innervated by the suboccipital nerve, the dorsal ramus of the first spinal nerve.

It acts at the atlanto-occipital joint to extend the head and flex the head to the ipsilateral side.

Additional images

• 
  Position of obliquus capitis superior (shown in red). Animation.
• 
  Still image. Posterior view.
• 
  Deep muscles of the back (obliquus capitis superior labeled at upper left)
• 
  Occipital bone. Outer surface. Muscle attachments are shown as red circles.
• 
  Base of skull. Inferior surface. Muscle attachments are shown as red circles.

References

This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 402 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Obliquus capitis superior muscles.

• Anatomy figure: 01:07-06 at Human Anatomy Online, SUNY Downstate Medical Center