Splenius cervicis at a glance
- What it is
- A strap-like muscle deep to splenius capitis.
- Location
- Originates from the spinous processes of T3 to T6 and inserts onto the posterior tubercles of the transverse processes of C1 to C3.
- Function
- Extends the neck; acting on one side it rotates and bends the neck to the same side.
- Body system
- Muscular · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA22726 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Innervation: dorsal rami of the lower cervical spinal nerves
- It forms the lower lateral part of the splenius sheet and inserts with levator scapulae on the upper cervical transverse processes.
Structures next to the splenius cervicis
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Semispinalis cervicis · muscular
- Longissimus cervicis · muscular
- Rhomboid minor · muscular
- Second thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Superior intercostal vein · cardiovascular
- Third thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- First thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Iliocostalis cervicis · muscular
- Intervertebral disk of second thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Serratus posterior superior · muscular
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Splenius cervicis (FMA22726). 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.