Time to update the anatomy textbooks as it recently has been discovered a new part of the body!
The newly discovered body part is one muscle layer in the lower jaw which plays an essential role in chewing and was first described by scientists in Annals of Anatomy magazine.
Nested deep in the masseter muscle, the most prominent of the jaw muscles, the new muscle sits between the back of the cheekbones and the lower jaw.
To be able to feel the masseter muscle, simply place your fingers on the back of your cheeks as you chew, and this is where you might be wondering: how did we not know its existence until today?
This is because the masseter muscle was generally considered to consist of only two layers: one deep and one superficial, however some texts have alluded to a mysterious super-deep third layer, which turned out to be the newly discovered body part.
Newly discovered body part revolutionizes anatomy
“In view of these contradictory descriptions, we wanted to re-examine the structure of the masseter muscle in a comprehensive way”
he has declared in a note the Professor Jens Christoph Türp, of the University of Dental Medicine in Basel.
It is this elusive third level that the team, led by Türp and Dr Szilvia Mezey of the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel, has finally discovered.
“This deep section of the masseter muscle is clearly distinguishable from the other two layers in terms of course and function”
Mezey said.
The new layer is involved in stabilizing the lower jawMezey added, after studying his arrangement of muscle fibers, he also believes that it is the only part of the masseter that pulls the lower jaw back.
The team dissected 12 formaldehyde-preserved heads and examined CT scans of 16 “fresh” cadavers, as well as an MRI of a living subject to identify the location and likely function of the new muscle layer.
Of course, a shiny new body part needs a shiny new name, so in their article, the team suggests calling it Musculus masseter pars coronidea – which means part coronoid of the masseter – as it attaches to the muscular (coronoid) part of the lower jaw.
The discovery is not only anatomically significant, the authors conclude, but it could also be clinically relevant, in fact the precise knowledge of the masseter muscle will improve surgery and therapies of the jaw.
“Although it is generally assumed that anatomical research over the past 100 years has left no stone unturned, our discovery is a bit like zoologists discovering a new vertebrate species”
Türp said.
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