Extrinsic muscles of the tongue

The extrinsic muscles of the tongue are a group of 4 muscles of the tongue. They all arise outside the tongue, which is in comparison to the intrinsic muscles of the tongue which are entirely within the tongue with no external attachments. They act to alter the position of the tongue where as the intrinsic tongue muscles alter the shape of the tongue. The four muscles are:

• genioglossus muscle
• hyoglossus muscle
• styloglossus muscle
• palatoglossus muscle

See also

• Extrinsic muscles of the tongue (mnemonic)