Inhuman anatomy, theforehead is an area of thehead bounded by three features, two of theskull and one of thescalp. The top of the forehead is marked by thehairline, the edge of the area where hair on the scalp grows. The bottom of the forehead is marked by thesupraorbital ridge, the bone feature of the skull above the eyes. The two sides of the forehead are marked by thetemporal ridge, a bone feature that links the supraorbital ridge to thecoronal suture line and beyond.[1][2] However, the eyebrows do not form part of the forehead.
InTerminologia Anatomica,sinciput is given as the Latin equivalent to "forehead" (etymology ofsinciput: fromsemi- "half" andcaput "head".[3]).
The sensory nerves of the forehead connect to the ophthalmic branch of thetrigeminal nerve and to thecervical plexus, and lie within the subcutaneous fat. The motor nerves of the forehead connect to thefacial nerve.[2] The ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve, the supraorbital nerve, divides at the orbital rim into two parts in the forehead. One part, the superficial division, runs over the surface of the occipitofrontalis muscle. This provides sensation for the skin of the forehead, and for the front edge of the scalp. The other part, the deep division, runs into the occipitofrontalis muscle and provides frontoparietal sensation.[1]
Blood supply to the forehead is via the left and right superorbital, supertrochealar, and anterior branches of thesuperficial temporal artery.[2]
Function
Expression
The muscles of the forehead help to formfacial expressions. There are four basic motions, which can occur individually or in combination to form different expressions. The occipitofrontalis muscles can raise theeyebrows, either together or individually, forming expressions ofsurprise andquizzicality. The corrugator supercilii muscles can pull the eyebrows inwards and down, forming afrown. The procerus muscles can pull down the centre portions of the eyebrows.[6]
Wrinkles
The movements of the muscles in the forehead produce characteristicwrinkles in the skin. The occipitofrontalis muscles produce the transverse wrinkles across the width of the forehead, and the corrugator supercilii muscles produce vertical wrinkles between the eyebrows above the nose. The procerus muscles cause the nose to wrinkle.[6]
Society and culture
Inphysiognomy andphrenology, the shape of the forehead was taken to symbolise intellect and intelligence. "Animals, even the most intelligent of them,", wrote Samuel R. Wells in 1942, "can hardly be said to have any forehead at all, and in natural total idiots it is very diminished".[7]
Pseudo-Aristotle, inPhysiognomica, stated that the forehead is governed byMars.[8] A low and little forehead denoted magnanimity, boldness, and confidence; a fleshy and wrinkle-free forehead, litigiousness, vanity, deceit, and contentiousness; a sharp forehead, weakness and fickleness; a wrinkled forehead, great spirit and wit yet poor fortune; a round forehead, virtue and good understanding; a full large forehead, boldness, malice, boundary issues, and high spirit; and a long high forehead, honesty, weakness, simplicity, and poor fortune.[8]
In fighting, slamming one's forehead into one's opponent is termed aheadbutt.[9]
^abDavid M. Knize & Mel Drisko (2001).The Forehead and Temporal Fossa: Anatomy and Technique. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. p. 4.ISBN9780781720748.
^abcdValencia D. Thomas; Wendy Long Mitchell; Neil A. Swanson; Thomas E. Rohrer & Ken K. Lee (2007). "Reconstructive surgery of Skin Cancer defects". In Keyvan Nouri (ed.).Skin Cancer. McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 523.ISBN9780071472562.
^abNigel Palastanga; Derek Field & Roger Soames (2006). "Head and Brain".Anatomy and human movement (5th ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences. pp. 645–646.ISBN9780750688147.
^Samuel R. Wells (1998). "The Forehead".New Physiognomy Or Signs of Character as Manifested Through Temperament and External Forms and Especially in the Human Face Divine (reprint ed.). Kessinger Publishing. p. 260.ISBN9780766103573.
^abAristotle (1828). William Salmon (ed.).The Works of Aristotle. New England. p. 71.
^Adamec, Jiri; Mai, Vera; Graw, Matthias; Schneider, Klaus; Hempel, John-Martin; Schöpfer, Jutta (2011). "Biomechanics and injury risk of a headbutt".International Journal of Legal Medicine.127 (1):103–110.doi:10.1007/s00414-011-0617-y.ISSN0937-9827.PMID21922302.S2CID9117512.
