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Superior oblique: anatomy, location and function

An extraocular muscle that passes through a pulley (trochlea) before reaching the eyeball. Rotates the eye inward (intorsion), depresses the adducted eye and abducts the eye.

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Highlighted in the model: Superior oblique. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The model is an adult male.

Superior oblique at a glance

What it is
An extraocular muscle that passes through a pulley (trochlea) before reaching the eyeball.
Location
Originates from the body of the sphenoid bone above the optic canal and inserts onto the sclera on the posterolateral upper eyeball after passing through the trochlea.
Function
Rotates the eye inward (intorsion), depresses the adducted eye and abducts the eye.
Body system
Muscular · paired (left and right)
FMA ID
FMA49053 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • Innervation: trochlear nerve (CN IV)
  • Blood supply: ophthalmic artery

Clinical relevance

Trochlear nerve palsy causes vertical double vision, especially on looking down.

Structures next to the superior oblique

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Superior oblique (FMA49053). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §11.2 Naming Skeletal Muscles. Rice University, 2022.
  3. 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.