Flexor digitorum brevis at a glance
- What it is
- A central muscle of the sole.
- Location
- Origin: medial process of the calcaneal tuberosity and plantar aponeurosis. Insertion: sides of the middle phalanges of toes 2–5.
- Function
- Flexes the lateral four toes at the proximal interphalangeal joints.
- Body system
- Muscular · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA37461 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Innervation: medial plantar nerve
- Its tendons split to let the long flexor tendons pass
Structures next to the flexor digitorum brevis
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Fourth lumbrical of foot · muscular
- Third lumbrical of foot · muscular
- Oblique head of adductor hallucis · muscular
- Fourth metatarsal bone · skeletal
- Flexor digiti minimi brevis of foot · muscular
- Second lumbrical of foot · muscular
- Fifth metatarsal bone · skeletal
- Third plantar interosseous of foot · muscular
- First lumbrical of foot · muscular
- Second plantar interosseous of foot · muscular
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Flexor digitorum brevis (FMA37461). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §11.2 Naming Skeletal Muscles. Rice University, 2022.
- Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
Related anatomy
Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.