Superior rectus at a glance
- What it is
- An extraocular muscle on the top of the eyeball.
- Location
- Originates from the common tendinous ring and inserts onto the upper sclera.
- Function
- Elevates the eye, with adduction and intorsion.
- Body system
- Muscular · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA49045 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Innervation: oculomotor nerve (CN III), superior division
- Blood supply: ophthalmic artery
Structures next to the superior rectus
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Superior oblique · muscular
- Levator palpebrae superioris · muscular
- Long ciliary nerve · nervous
- Lacrimal nerve · nervous
- Superior branch of oculomotor nerve · nervous
- Lateral rectus · muscular
- Ciliary ganglion · nervous
- Medial rectus · muscular
- Frontal nerve · nervous
- Anterior ethmoidal nerve · nervous
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Superior rectus (FMA49045). 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.