Glossary

Author: Glossary

  • Somatic muscle

    Muscle derived from mesodermal somites, including most skeletal muscle.  

  • Serratus anterior muscle

    A muscle of the upper trunk originating on the first eight or nine ribs and inserted on the anterior surface of the vertebral border and inferior angle of the scapula. It keeps the scapula in position close to the chest wall, abducts the scapula, and turns it upward to raise the point of the shoulder.…

  • Rectus abdominis muscle

    A muscle of the abdomen originating on the pubic symphysis and crest and inserted in the cartilage of the fifth through seventh ribs and the xiphoid process of the sternum. It flexes the vertebral column, compresses or flattens the abdomen, and is controlled by the seventh through twelfth intercostal nerves.    

  • Procerus muscle

    A muscle that arises in the skin over the nose and is connected to the forehead. It acts to draw the eyebrows down. Covers the bridge of the nose, lowers the eyebrows, and causes wrinkles across the bridge of the nose.  

  • Preaxial muscle

    A muscle on the anterior or ventral aspect of a limb.  

  • Pectinate muscle

    A ridge of myocardium on the inner wall of either atrium of the heart.  

  • Multipennate muscle

    A muscle with several tendons of origin and several tendons of insertion, in which fibers pass obliquely from a tendon of origin to a tendon of insertion on each side.  

  • Mimetic muscle

    Superficial muscles of the facial region controlling skin movement that produce the facial expressions. Also called muscles of facial expression.  

  • Mastication muscle

    Any of the chewing muscles innervated by the mandibular division of cranial nerve V (the trigeminal nerve). These muscles are the masseter, temporalis, and medial and lateral pterygoids.  

  • Lumbrical muscle

    In the hands and feet, any of the four intrinsic muscles that flex the straightened digits. They originate on the carpal or tarsal bones and attach on the proximal phalanges of digits 2 to 5. They act to flex the metacarpophalangeal joints while extending the interphalangeal joints.