Broad muscle that covers the top of the skull and consist of the occipitalis & frontalis?

• A. Epicranius Aponeurosis
• B. Epicranius
• C. Galea Aponeurotica
• D. Occipitofrontalis

Answer: (A)

The broad scalp muscle that covers the top of the skull and contains the frontalis and occipitalis is the epicranius, also called the occipitofrontalis. It has two parts: the frontal belly (frontalis) in the forehead and the occipital belly (occipitalis) at the back, and they are connected across the top of the skull by the galea aponeurotica (epicranial aponeurosis). So the muscle itself is epicranius (or occipitofrontalis). The galea aponeurotica is the connective tissue that links the two bellies, not the muscle. The term epicranius aponeurosis refers to that aponeurosis, not the muscle, which is why it isn’t the right choice.