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Regional anatomy: musculature of the neck

Published on November 30, 2022   22 min

Other Talks in the Series: Introduction to Gross Anatomy for Medicine

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0:00
Greetings. I'm Professor Albert van Schoor from the University of Pretoria in South Africa. Now, I will be guiding you through the muscles found in the neck.
0:10
The neck is considered to be the slender transitional area between the head, thorax, and upper limbs. It extends from the inferior margins of the mandible and base of the skull, superiorly, and the superior margin of the sternum, the length of the clavicles up to the chromium, inferiorly.
0:29
It contains vital neurovascular and visceral structures passing from or into the head, trunk, and limbs. Many of which do not have the same level of protection afforded vital structures of the head or trunk and are, therefore, more vulnerable to injury.
0:47
It is important to understand that the structures, including the muscles of the neck, are surrounded by skin, as well as the cervical subcutaneous tissue that contains the superficial cervical fascia and platysma muscles. The deepest structures are grouped into several compartments surrounded by the deep cervical fascia. These layers of the fascia of the neck are best seen on a cross-section in this example, at the approximate level of the seventh cervical vertebra.
1:18
The platysma muscle lies within the superficial cervical fascia as two broad thin sheets of muscle on the anterior lateral aspect of the neck. It is considered to be part of the muscles of facial expression and is innervated by the cervical branch of the facial nerve. Its proximal attachment includes the deep fascia of the deltoid and pectoralis major muscles. From here the muscle fibers crosses superomedially over the clavicles to attach to the inferior border of the mandible distally; there the fibers blend with the facial muscles.

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