Forehead
Encyclopedia
For the Arsenal striker see Gervinho
Gervinho
Gervais Yao Kouassi , more commonly known as Gervinho, is an Ivorian footballer who plays as a forwardor as a winger for English Premier League club Arsenal.-Youth career:...



In human anatomy
Human anatomy
Human anatomy is primarily the scientific study of the morphology of the human body. Anatomy is subdivided into gross anatomy and microscopic anatomy. Gross anatomy is the study of anatomical structures that can be seen by the naked eye...

, the forehead is the fore part of the head. It is, formally, an area of the head bounded by three features, two of the skull
Human skull
The human skull is a bony structure, skeleton, that is in the human head and which supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones...

 and one of the scalp
Scalp
The scalp is the anatomical area bordered by the face anteriorly and the neck to the sides and posteriorly.-Layers:It is usually described as having five layers, which can conveniently be remembered as a mnemonic:...

. The top of the forehead is marked by the hairline, the edge of the area where hair on the scalp grows. The bottom of the forehead is marked by the supraorbital ridge
Supraorbital ridge
The supraorbital ridge, or brow ridge, refer to a bony ridge located above the eye sockets of all primates. In Homo sapiens sapiens the eyebrows are located on their lower margin.Other terms in use are:* supraorbital arch...

, the bone feature of the skull above the eyes. The two sides of the forehead are marked by the temporal ridge
Temporal line
Crossing the middle of the parietal bone in an arched direction are two curved lines, the superior and inferior temporal lines; the former gives attachment to the temporal fascia, and the latter indicates the upper limit of the muscular origin of the Temporalis.-External links:*...

, a bone feature that links the supraorbital ridge to the coronal suture
Coronal suture
The coronal suture is a dense, fibrous connective tissue joint that separates the frontal and parietal bones of the skull. At birth, the bones of the skull do not meet.-Pathology:...

 line and beyond.

Anatomy

The forehead comprises, and the musculature and skin of the forehead lies above, the portion of the frontal bone
Frontal bone
The frontal bone is a bone in the human skull that resembles a cockleshell in form, and consists of two portions:* a vertical portion, the squama frontalis, corresponding with the region of the forehead....

 of the skull that is known as the squama frontalis
Squama frontalis
There are two surfaces of the squama of the frontal bone: the external surface, and the internal surface.-External surface:The external surface is convex and usually exhibits, in the lower part of the middle line, the remains of the frontal or metopic suture; in infancy this suture divides the bone...

, the plate-like portion of the frontal bone.

The sensory nerves of the forehead connect to the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve
Trigeminal nerve
The trigeminal nerve contains both sensory and motor fibres. It is responsible for sensation in the face and certain motor functions such as biting, chewing, and swallowing. Sensory information from the face and body is processed by parallel pathways in the central nervous system...

 and the cervical plexus
Cervical plexus
The cervical plexus is a plexus of the ventral rami of the first four cervical spinal nerves which are located from C1 to C4 cervical segment in the neck. They are located laterally to the transverse processes between prevertebral muscles from the medial side and vertebral from lateral side...

, and lie within the subcutaneous fat. The motor nerves of the forehead connect to the facial nerve
Facial nerve
The facial nerve is the seventh of twelve paired cranial nerves. It emerges from the brainstem between the pons and the medulla, and controls the muscles of facial expression, and functions in the conveyance of taste sensations from the anterior two-thirds of the tongue and oral cavity...

.

The musculature of the forehead comprises the Occipitofrontalis
Occipitofrontalis muscle
The occipitofrontalis or epicranius is a muscle which covers parts of the skull. It consists of two parts or bellies: The occipital belly, near the occipital bone, and the frontal belly, near the frontal bone....

, Procerus
Procerus muscle
The Procerus is a small pyramidal slip of muscle deep to the superior orbital nerve, artery and vein.-Origin and insertion:It arises by tendinous fibers from the fascia covering the lower part of the nasal bone and upper part of the lateral nasal cartilage....

, and Corrugator supercilii
Corrugator supercilii muscle
The Corrugator supercilii is a small, narrow, pyramidal muscle, placed at the medial end of the eyebrow, beneath the Frontalis and just above Orbicularis oculi....

 muscles, all of which are controlled by the temporal branch of the facial nerve.

Blood supply to the forehead is via the left and right superorbital, supertrochealar, and anterior branches of the temporal artery.

The ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve, the supraorbital nerve, divides at the orbital rim into two parts in the forehead. One part, the superficial division, runs over the surface of the Occipitofrontalis muscle. This provides sensation for the skin of the forehead, and for the front (anterior) edge of the scalp. The other part, the deep division, runs into the Occipitofrontalis muscle and provides frontoparietal sensation.

Physiognomy

In physiognomy
Physiognomy
Physiognomy is the assessment of a person's character or personality from their outer appearance, especially the face...

 and phrenology
Phrenology
Phrenology is a pseudoscience primarily focused on measurements of the human skull, based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or modules...

, the shape of the forehead was taken to symbolise intellect and intelligence. "Animals, even the most intelligent of them,", wrote Samuel R. Wells in 1942, "can hardly be said to have any forehead at all, and in natural total idiots it is very diminished".

pseudo-Aristotle
Pseudo-Aristotle
Pseudo-Aristotle is a general cognomen for authors of philosophical or medical treatises who attributed their work to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, or whose work was later attributed to him by others....

, in Physiognomica
Physiognomica
Physiognomonics is an Ancient Greek treatise on physiognomy casually attributed to Aristotle but now believed to be by an author writing approximately 300 BC.-Ancient physiognomy before the Physiognomonics:...

, stated that the forehead is governed by Mars
Mars (mythology)
Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...

. A low and little forehead denoted magnanimity, boldness, and confidence; a fleshy and wrinkle-free forehead, litigiousness, vanity, deceit, and contentiousness; a sharp forehead, weakness and fickleness; a wrinkled forehead, great spirit and wit yet poor fortune; a round forehead, virtue and good understanding; a full large forehead, boldness, malice, boundary issues, and high spirit; and a long high forehead, honesty, weakness, simplicity, and poor fortune.

Expressions

The muscles of the forehead help to form facial expressions. There are four basic motions, which can occur individually or in combination to form different expressions. The Occipitofrontalis muscles can raise the eyebrows, either together or singly, forming expressions of surprise and quizzicality. The Corrugator supercilii muscles can pull the eyebrows inwards and down, forming a frown. The Procerus muscles can pull down the centre portions of the eyebrows.

Wrinkles

The movements of the muscles in the forehead produce characteristic wrinkle
Wrinkle
A wrinkle is a fold, ridge or crease in the skin. Skin wrinkles typically appear as a result of aging processes such as glycation or, temporarily, as the result of prolonged immersion in water. Wrinkling in the skin is caused by habitual facial expressions, aging, sun damage, smoking, poor...

s in the skin. The Occipitofrontalis muscles produce the transverse wrinkles across the width of the forehead, and the Corrugator supercilii muscles produce vertical wrinkles between the eyebrows above the nose. The Procerus muscles cause the nose to wrinkle.

See also

  • Bindi
    Bindi (decoration)
    A bindi is a forehead decoration worn in South Asia . and Southeast Asia...

  • Head flattening
  • Forehead lift
    Forehead lift
    A forehead lift, also known as a browlift or browplasty, is a cosmetic surgery procedure used to elevate a drooping eyebrow that may obstruct vision and/or to remove the deep “worry” lines that run across the forehead and may portray to others anger, sternness, hostility, fatigue or other...

  • Squama frontalis
    Squama frontalis
    There are two surfaces of the squama of the frontal bone: the external surface, and the internal surface.-External surface:The external surface is convex and usually exhibits, in the lower part of the middle line, the remains of the frontal or metopic suture; in infancy this suture divides the bone...

  • Third eye
    Third eye
    The third eye is a mystical and esoteric concept referring in part to the ajna chakra in certain spiritual traditions. It is also spoken of as the gate that leads within to inner realms and spaces of higher consciousness...

  • Gervinho
    Gervinho
    Gervais Yao Kouassi , more commonly known as Gervinho, is an Ivorian footballer who plays as a forwardor as a winger for English Premier League club Arsenal.-Youth career:...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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