Quick Facts
Origin: Pectoral fascia.
Insertion: Inferior border of mandible and adjacent muscles.
Action: Tenses skin of neck; depresses mandible.
Innervation: Cervical branch of facial nerve (CN VII).
Arterial Supply: Submental and suprascapular arteries.
Origin
The platysma is a thin muscle that blends with the fascia covering the deltoid and pectoralis major muscles.
Insertion
The fibers of the platysma muscle attach to the lower border of the mandible and the surrounding muscles, including the depressor anguli oris and depressor labii inferioris muscles.
Key Features & Anatomical Relations
The platysma muscle may also be considered a muscle of the neck since the bulk of the muscle sits there. However, the platysma muscle originates from the second pharyngeal arch during embryonic development and is innervated by the facial nerve; thus, it is categorized as a facial muscle.
Actions
The platysma muscle is involved in multiple actions:
- tenses the skin of the neck;
- draws the lips and angles of the mouth downwards;
- assists in depression of the mandible at the temporomandibular joint (Standring, 2016).
List of Clinical Correlates
- Bell’s palsy
References
Standring, S. (2016) Gray's Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice. Gray's Anatomy Series 41st edn.: Elsevier Limited.
Learn more about this topic from other Elsevier products
Platysma Muscle
These include the platysma muscle, which is a flat muscle originating from the neck and inserting into the chin at the commissures of the mouth and into the anterior one-third of the oblique line of the mandible.
