Corrugator Supercilii Muscle: Making you look confused and thoughtful

The Corrugator Supercilii muscle acts when we’re angry or thinking, wrinkling the skin between the eyebrows by pulling them closer.

Where’s the Corrugator Supercilii muscle located?

It’s located in the forehead between each eyebrow. It sits between part of the Occipitofrontalis and the Orbicularis Oculi muscles (to which it blends it’s fibers partially). It starts in the bone at the supraciliary arch and it’s fibers travel laterally and upwards to the supraorbital margin, and hook into the skin to play a role in traction of that part of skin. This explains the actions of the muscle, pulling the eyebrows downward and to the center (medially).

Why is it called Corrugator Supercilii?

The anatomical name for this muscle comes from the latin and it means: structure that wrinkles the eyebrows.

What does the Corrugator Supercilii Muscle do?

While the Frontalis muscle elevates your eyebrows, the Corrugator Supercilii is one of the muscles that plays a role in lowering your eyebrows as well as others such as Orbicularis Oculi and Procerus. The actions of these muscles creates the wrinkle on the skin above the nose bridge when frowning.

How do you know if you have a Corrugator muscle?

If you can frown and pull your eyebrows together, creating the typical confused or thoughtful face, then you have a Corrugator Supercilii present. In some clinical procedures to treat some types of headaches, the muscle is paralyzed with the application of Botulinum toxin.