The hyoglossus is a thin and quadrilateral extrinsic muscle of the

tongue The tongue is a Muscle, muscular organ (anatomy), organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for chewing and swallowing as part of the digestive system, digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper s ...

. It originates from the

hyoid bone The hyoid-bone (lingual-bone or tongue-bone) () is a horseshoe-shaped bone situated in the anterior midline of the neck between the chin and the thyroid-cartilage. At rest, it lies between the base of the mandible and the third cervical verte ...

; it inserts onto the side of the tongue. It is innervated by the hypoglossal nerve (cranial nerve XII). It acts to depress and retract the tongue.

Structure

It forms a part of the floor of

submandibular triangle The submandibular triangle (or submaxillary or digastric triangle) corresponds to the region of the neck immediately beneath the body of the mandible. Boundaries and coverings It is bounded: * ''above'', by the lower border of the body of the man ...

Origin

from the side of the body and from the whole length of the

greater cornu The hyoid-bone (lingual-bone or tongue-bone) () is a horseshoe-shaped bone situated in the anterior midline of the neck between the chin and the thyroid-cartilage. At rest, it lies between the base of the mandible and the third cervical verteb ...

of the

. The fibers arising from the body of the hyoid bone overlap those from the

Insertion

Its fibres pass almost vertically upward to enter the side of the

, inserting between the

styloglossus The styloglossus muscle is a bilaterally paired muscle of the tongue. It originates at the styloid process of the temporal bone. It inserts onto the side of the tongue. It acts to elevate and retract the tongue. It is innervated by the hypogloss ...

and the inferior longitudinal muscle of the tongue.

Relations

Structures that are medial/deep to the hyoglossus are the glossopharyngeal nerve (CN IX), the

stylohyoid ligament The stylohyoid ligament is a ligament that extends between the hyoid bone, and the temporal styloid process (of the temporal bone of the skull). Anatomy Attachments It attaches at the lesser horn of the hyoid bone inferiorly, and (the apex ...

and the

lingual artery The lingual artery arises from the external carotid artery between the superior thyroid artery and facial artery. It can be located easily in the tongue. Structure The lingual artery first branches off from the external carotid artery. It runs ...

and

lingual vein The lingual veins are veins of the tongue with two distinct courses: one group drains into the lingual vein, while another group drains either into the lingual artery, (common) facial vein, or internal jugular vein. Clinical significance The ...

. The lingual vein passes medial to the hyoglossus. The lingual artery passes deep to the hyoglossus. Laterally, in between the hyoglossus muscle and the mylohyoid muscle, lay several important structures (from upper to lower):

sublingual gland The sublingual gland (''glandula sublingualis'') is a seromucous polystomatic exocrine gland. Located underneath the oral diaphragm (''diaphragma oris''), the sublingual gland is the smallest and most diffuse of the three major salivary glands of ...

submandibular duct The submandibular duct (also Wharton's duct or historically submaxillary duct) is one of the salivary excretory ducts. It is about 5 cm long, and its wall is much thinner than that of the parotid duct. It drains saliva from each bilateral submand ...

lingual nerve The lingual nerve carries sensory innervation from the anterior two-thirds of the tongue. It contains fibres from both the mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve (CN V) and from the facial nerve (CN VII). The fibres from the trigeminal nerve ...

vena comitans Vena comitans (Latin for accompanying vein, also known as a satellite vein) refers to a vein that is usually paired, with both veins lying on the sides of an artery. Because they are generally found in pairs, they are often referred to by their ...

of hypoglossal nerve, and the

hypoglossal nerve The hypoglossal nerve, also known as the twelfth cranial nerve, cranial nerve XII, or simply CN XII, is a cranial nerve that innervates all the extrinsic and intrinsic muscles of the tongue except for the palatoglossus, which is innervated b ...

. Note, posteriorly, the

is superior to the submandibular duct and a portion of the submandibular

salivary gland The salivary glands in many vertebrates including mammals are exocrine glands that produce saliva through a system of ducts. Humans have three paired major salivary glands ( parotid, submandibular, and sublingual), as well as hundreds of min ...

protrudes into the space between the hyoglossus and

mylohyoid muscle The mylohyoid muscle or diaphragma oris is a paired muscle of the neck. It runs from the Human mandible, mandible to the hyoid bone, forming the floor of the oral cavity of the human mouth, mouth. It is named after its two attachments near the mo ...

Function

The hyoglossus depresses and retracts the tongue and makes the dorsum more convex.

Additional images

Image:Gray186.png, Hyoid bone. Anterior surface. Enlarged. Image:Gray385.png, Muscles of the neck. Lateral view. Image:Gray513.png, The internal carotid and vertebral arteries. Right side. Image:Gray778.png, Distribution of the maxillary and mandibular nerves, and the submaxillary ganglion. Image:Gray794.png, Hypoglossal nerve, cervical plexus, and their branches. Image:Gray1020.png, Coronal section of

, showing intrinsic muscles. File:Slide3ss.JPG, Hyoglossus muscle

References

External links

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Diagram
{{Authority control Muscles of the head and neck Tongue