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Asked by: Yosef Folmer
medical health eye and vision conditionsWhat is the function of the superior rectus?
Similarly, it is asked, what is the superior rectus?
The superior rectus (also superior rectus muscle, superior rectus extraocular muscle, latin: musculus rectus superior) is one of the six extra-ocular muscles that are in control of eye movements. The superior rectus originates from the upper part of the common tendinous ring, above and lateral to the optic canal.
Moreover, how does the superior rectus move the eye?
The superior rectus and inferior oblique muscles working together pull the eye upward without rotating the eye. To depress the eye while looking straight ahead, the inferior rectus and superior oblique contract together as the superior rectus and inferior oblique relax.
To test superior rectus from the inferior oblique, the clinician asks the patient to first look out (or lateral) to orient the visual gaze axis perpendicular to the inferior oblique muscle fiber direction, then up. After the inferior oblique is trapped, the only muscle that can mediate elevation is the superior rectus.