The anatomy of the human head

When I was 10 or 12 years old, I was a science geek. I was fascinated by human anatomy, the son of a general surgeon. For Christmas one year I got a life sized human head plastic model to assemble. The skills necessary for assembly were far beyond my abilities. So my mother helped me, and together we assembled The Human Head. Now years later, I'm a physician myself, and The Human Head sits on my bookshelf keeping to itself and hardly ever touched. So here's his chance to shine. The following lens is meant to provide a very superficial anatomy lesson, and a chance for my 20+ year old friend The Human Head to have his 15 minutes of fame. I hope that you enjoy!

Here we see the facial muscles. On the forehead are the flat and verticle Frontalis muscles. Around the eyes are the Orbicularis Oculi. On the nose, we see Nasalis, and coming from the corners of the mouth a pair of Zygomaticus Major. Around the mouth is Orbicularis Oris. Going down from the corners of the mouth are Depressor Anguli Oris. These are just a few of the facial muscles that my friend has to share with you.

Here we see the major muscles of the neck and jaw. Working the jaws, we have the Masseter muscles. On either side of the neck are the two Sternocleidomastoid muscles. Rounding out the backside, we have Trapezius. All fun to say!

Here we see the two Cerebral Hemispheres. They are surrounded my a membrane called the Meninges. On the surface of the Left Cerebral Hemisphere, we see branches of the Middle Cerebral Artery.

Here we get a medial view of the Left Cerebral Hemisphere. The outer layer known as Gyra consist of Cerebral Grey Matter. The C-shaped layer beneath is the Corpus Callosum. Just below it, you can just make out the space known as the Left Lateral Ventricle.

The white walnut-sized structure in the center is known as the Pons. It is part of the Brain Stem and associated with automatic functions such as breathing. Behind it is the Cerebellum. It is the part of the brain associated with positioning of the body, balance, etc.

Here we see the underside of the Temporal Bone of the skull which is part of the floor of the skull. The orange funnel/tube is the external ear canal. The brown colored disk within it is the ear drum or Tympanic Membrane. Though difficult to visualize here, behind the Tympanic Membrane are the small bones of the middle ear (the Malleus, the Incus, and the Stapes). Further back is the snail shaped Chochlea (translating vibration into what we hear as sound) and its associated Semicircular Canals (associated with balance).

The Larynx is near the top. It is a somewhat triangular box of cartilage housing the vocal cords and entry to the airway. Below it is the Trachea, also know as the "Wind Pipe". The orange globs at the bottom are the Thyroid Gland.

This cross section shows the outer layer of the tooth known as enamel. Beneath it in pink is the dentin. The center is called pulp, and is made up of nerves and blood vessels. The pulp is obliterated during a "root canal".

The extrensic eye muscles are : Lateral Rectus, Medial Rectus, Superior Rectus, Superior Oblique, Inferior Rectus, and Inferior Oblique. The Rectus Muscles run back within the eye sockets in their respective locations (ie superior top, inferior bottom, medial nasal side, lateral outer side). The Superior Oblique runs from the top through a "pulley" on the nasal side of the socket and then to the back of the socket. The Inferior Oblique runs from the bottom to the nasal side of the eye socket.