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Geniohyoid muscle

Last revised by Craig Hacking on 20 Aug 2024

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Ariyasinghe C, Hacking C, Kang O, et al. Geniohyoid muscle. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 16 Oct 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-38178

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-38178

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/38178

rID:

38178

Article created:

9 Jul 2015, Chamath Ariyasinghe

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Chamath Ariyasinghe had no recorded disclosures.

View Chamath Ariyasinghe's current disclosures

Last revised:

20 Aug 2024, Craig Hacking ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Craig Hacking had the following disclosures:

Philips Australia, Paid speaker at Philips Spectral CT events (ongoing)

These were assessed during peer review and were determined to not be relevant to the changes that were made.

View Craig Hacking's current disclosures

Revisions:

8 times, by 5 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Head & Neck, Musculoskeletal

Sections:

Anatomy

The geniohyoid muscle is one of the suprahyoid muscles of the neck that is innervated by the ventral ramus of C1. Geniohyoid draws the hyoid bone up and forward during mastication and assists the opening of the mandible.

origin: inferior mental spine of the mandible also known as the genial tubercle
insertion: upper border of the body of the hyoid bone
innervation: anterior rami of C1 spinal nerve
action: paired muscle pull the hyoid bone and larynx up and forwards during swallowing; when the hyoid bone is fixed geniohyoid acts to depress the mandible and open the mouth

Gross anatomy

Origin

The geniohyoid is a paired slender ribbon of muscle that originates from the inferior mental spine on the posterior surface of the mandibular symphysis.

Insertion

The geniohyoid muscle inserts on to the anterior and upper surface of the body of the hyoid bone.

Relations

The paired geniohyoid muscles lie adjacent to one another and are immediately superior to the mylohyoid muscle s on the floor of the mouth and inferior to the genioglossus muscles that form the roof of the mouth.

Blood supply

The geniohyoid muscle receives branches from both the lingual and facial arteries.

Innervation

The geniohyoid muscles are innervated by a branch of the ventral ramus of C1 from the cervical plexus which courses with the hypoglossal nerve in to the floor of the mouth. The branch is thus not from the hypoglossal nucleus and is unable to be seen in superficial dissections of the neck due to overlying mylohyoid muscles.

Action

As the geniohyoid muscle contracts it pulls the hyoid bone and with it the attached larynx upwards and forwards during swallowing. Conversely when the hyoid bone is fixed the geniohyoid muscles acts synergistically with the mylohyoid muscles to depress the mandible and pull it inwards thus opening the mouth.

References

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