Hyoid bone

Hyoid bone
Bone: Hyoid bone
Gray186.png
Hyoid bone. Anterior surface. Enlarged.
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Anterolateral view of head and neck.
Latin os hyoideum
Gray's subject #45 177
Precursor 2nd and 3rd branchial arch[1]
MeSH Hyoid+Bone

The hyoid bone (lingual bone) (Latin os hyoideum) is a horseshoe-shaped bone situated in the anterior midline of the neck between the chin and the thyroid cartilage. At rest, it lies at the level of the base of the mandible in the front and the third cervical vertebra behind.

Unlike other bones, the hyoid is only distantly articulated to other bones by muscles or ligaments. The hyoid is anchored by muscles from the anterior, posterior, and inferior directions and aids in tongue movement and swallowing. The hyoid bone provides attachment to the muscles of the floor of the mouth and the tongue above, the larynx below, and the epiglottis and pharynx behind.

Its name is derived from the Greek word hyoeides meaning "shaped like the letter upsilon" (υ).

Contents

Segments

The bone consists of a central part, called the body and two pairs of cornua, the greater cornu and the lesser cornu.

Embryology

The second pharyngeal arch gives rise to the lesser cornu of hyoid and the superior part of body of hyoid. The cartilage of the third pharyngeal arch forms the greater cornu of hyoid and the lower portion of the body of hyoid.

Ossification

The hyoid is ossified from six centers: two for the body, and one for each cornu. Ossification commences in the greater cornua toward the end of fetal life, in the body shortly afterward, and in the lesser cornua during the first or second year after birth. Until middle age the connection between the body and greater cornu is fibrous.

Muscle attachments

The following muscles are attached to the hyoid:

Superior
Inferior

Function

The hyoid bone is present in many mammals, it allows a wider range of tongue, pharyngeal and laryngeal movements by bracing these structures alongside each other in order to produce variation.[2] Its descent in living creatures is not unique to Homo sapiens, and does not allow the production of a wide range of sounds: with a lower larynx, men do not produce a wider range of sounds than women and 2 year old babies. Moreover the larynx position of Neanderthal was not a handicap to producing speech sounds.[3] The discovery of a modern-looking hyoid bone of a Neanderthal man in the Kebara Cave in Palestine led its discoverers to argue that the Neanderthals had a descended larynx, and thus human-like speech capabilities.[4] However, other researchers have claimed that the morphology of the hyoid is not indicative of the larynx's position.[5] It is necessary to take into consideration the skull base, the mandible and the cervical vertebrae and a cranial reference plane.[6][7]

Fracture and applied anatomy

Due to its position, the hyoid bone is not susceptible to easy fracture. In a suspected case of murder, a fractured hyoid strongly indicates throttling or strangulation. However this is not the case in children and adolescents, where the hyoid bone is still flexible as ossification is yet to be completed.

In other animals

The hyoid bone of a gecko with attached tracheal rings
Hyoid bones of various birds.

The hyoid bone is derived from the lower half of the second gill arch in fish, which separates the first gill slit from the spiracle, and is often referred to as the hyoid arch. In many animals, it also incorporates elements of other gill arches, and has a correspondingly greater number of cornua. Amphibians and reptiles may have many cornua, while mammals (including humans) have two pairs, and birds only one. In birds, and some reptiles, the body of the hyoid is greatly extended forward, creating a solid bony support for the tongue.[8] The howler monkey Alouatta has a pneumatized hyoid bone, one of the few cases of postcranial pneumatization of bones outside Saurischia.

Additional images

Head and neck of a human embryo eighteen weeks old, with Meckel's cartilage and hyoid bone exposed.  
Muscles of the pharynx and cheek.  
Muscles of the neck. Lateral view.  
The internal carotid and vertebral arteries. Right side.  
The ligaments of the larynx. Antero-lateral view.  
Sagittal section of the larynx and upper part of the trachea.  
Coronal section of larynx and upper part of trachea.  
The entrance to the larynx, viewed from behind.  
Sagittal section of nose mouth, pharynx, and larynx.  
Extrinsic muscles of the tongue. Left side.  
The thyroid gland and its relations.  
Front view of neck.  

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ hednk-023Embryology at UNC
  2. ^ http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/100/12/6930 Descent of the larynx in chimpanzee infants
  3. ^ Boë, L.J. et al. The potential of Neandertal vowel space was as large as that of modern humans. Journal of Phonetics 30 (2002) 465-484.
  4. ^ Arsenburg, B. et al., A reappraisal of the anatomical basis for speech in middle Paleolithic hominids, in: American Journal of Physiological Anthropology 83 (1990), pp. 137-146.
  5. ^ Fitch, Tecumseh W., The evolution of speech: a comparative review, in: Trends in Cognitive Science, Vol. 4, No. 7, July 2000 (http://www3.isrl.uiuc.edu/~junwang4/langev/localcopy/pdf/fitch00speech.pdf)
  6. ^ Granat et al., Hyoid bone and larynx in Homo. Estimated position by biometrics, Biom. Hum. et Anthropolol., 2006, 24, 3-4, 243-255.
  7. ^ Boë, L.J. et al., Variation and prediction of the hyoid bone position for modern Man and Neanderthal, Biom. Hum. et Anthropolol., 2006, 24, 3-4, 257-271
  8. ^ Romer, Alfred Sherwood; Parsons, Thomas S. (1977). The Vertebrate Body. Philadelphia, PA: Holt-Saunders International. p. 214. ISBN 0-03-910284-X. 

Sources

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained within it may be outdated.

External links


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Hyoid bone — Hyoid Hy oid, a. [Gr. ? fr. the letter [Upsilon] + e i^dos form: cf. F. hyo[ i]de.] 1. Having the form of an arch, or of the Greek letter upsilon [[Upsilon]]. [1913 Webster] 2. (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the bony or cartilaginous arch which… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • hyoid bone — n a U shaped bone or complex of bones that is situated between the base of the tongue and the larynx and that supports the tongue, the larynx, and their muscles called also hyoid, lingual bone * * * a small isolated U shaped bone in the neck,… …   Medical dictionary

  • hyoid bone — noun a U shaped bone at the base of the tongue that supports the tongue muscles • Syn: ↑hyoid, ↑os hyoideum • Hypernyms: ↑bone, ↑os * * * noun also hyoid ( …   Useful english dictionary

  • hyoid bone — noun Etymology: New Latin hyoides, from Greek hyoeidēs shaped like the letter upsilon (Υ, υ), being the hyoid bone, from y, hy upsilon Date: circa 1811 a U shaped bone or complex of bones that is situated between the base of the tongue and the… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • hyoid bone — a small isolated U shaped bone in the neck, below and supporting the tongue. It is held in position by muscles and ligaments between it and the styloid process of the temporal bone …   The new mediacal dictionary

  • hyoid bone — noun A bone in the human neck which supports the tongue …   Wiktionary

  • hyoid bone — n. U shaped bone located at the base of the tongue …   English contemporary dictionary

  • hyoid bone — (A nat.) Bone of the tongue …   New dictionary of synonyms

  • hyoid bone —   Iwi elelo …   English-Hawaiian dictionary

  • Body of hyoid bone — Infobox Bone Name = PAGENAME Latin = corpus ossis hyoidei GraySubject = 45 GrayPage = 177 Caption = Hyoid bone. Anterior surface. Enlarged. Caption2 = Precursor = Origins = Insertions = Articulations = MeshName = MeshNumber = DorlandsPre = c 56… …   Wikipedia

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