What muscle or muscles retract the neck?
While this might seem a question that should be readily answerable, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the answer and while current Googling efforts have turned up very, very many explanations of flexion, extension, lateral flexion, and rotation, they’ve never turned up retraction, except in the sea turtle, but in the human there is no muscle with that same name. In other words, no answer.
???
[quote]Bill Roberts wrote:
What muscle or muscles retract the neck?
While this might seem a question that should be readily answerable, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the answer and while current Googling efforts have turned up very, very many explanations of flexion, extension, lateral flexion, and rotation, they’ve never turned up retraction, except in the sea turtle, but in the human there is no muscle with that same name. In other words, no answer.
???[/quote]
Wouldn’t this be more of an “all the neck muscles” type thing? I’m not sure one muscle could be responsible, giving the nature of the movement and the peices involved.
?
V
[quote]Bill Roberts wrote:
What muscle or muscles retract the neck?
While this might seem a question that should be readily answerable, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the answer and while current Googling efforts have turned up very, very many explanations of flexion, extension, lateral flexion, and rotation, they’ve never turned up retraction, except in the sea turtle, but in the human there is no muscle with that same name. In other words, no answer.
???[/quote]
Mr. Roberts humans cannot retract there neck. We cannot pull our head into our thoracic region. Now I know somepeople who also cannot pull their head out of there ass either. Look at Congress. 
have a great weekend.
I believe it’s the same muscle that allows cartoon characters to rotate their heads 360 degrees.
I think retraction of the turtle’s neck has to do more with the shape of their cervical spine than the muscles required to retract it. I’m not sure but I don’t think turtles have an axis/atlas cervical spine which allows them rotation of the head like mammals do.
Yeah, you can’t retract your neck. you can tuck your chin in, giving that illusion, but the next is just the cervical portion of the spine, there is nothing to retract.
You are interpreting retraction as being downwards motion or more precisely, towards the center of the body. Perhaps that is what was meant with the sea turtle.
However, forward movement of the head without change in tilt is called extension.
The opposition of extension is retraction.
What word do you all think correct for straight-back movement of the head? The only other term that could possibly be correct to me would be retrusion, but that word is rather abstruse.
[quote]Bill Roberts wrote:
You are interpreting retraction as being downwards motion or more precisely, towards the center of the body. Perhaps that is what was meant with the sea turtle.
However, forward movement of the head without change in tilt is called extension.
The opposition of extension is retraction.
What word do you all think correct for straight-back movement of the head? The only other term that could possibly be correct to me would be retrusion, but that word is rather abstruse.[/quote]
Extension is to look up flexion is to look down.
Turtles’ thoracic spine is attached to the shell, the cervical section is free. Turtles when they retract there are really just hyper extending their cervical vertebra. They are causing the spine to go from a wide “U” to an almost closed “U.”
[quote]Bill Roberts wrote:
You are interpreting retraction as being downwards motion or more precisely, towards the center of the body. Perhaps that is what was meant with the sea turtle.
However, forward movement of the head without change in tilt is called extension.
The opposition of extension is retraction.
What word do you all think correct for straight-back movement of the head? The only other term that could possibly be correct to me would be retrusion, but that word is rather abstruse.[/quote]
The opposite of retraction is protraction. i.e. retract and protract the scapula.
I still think you are talking about tucking in the chin. Put your hand on your neck. When you tuck your chin, you give the illusion of “retraction”, but there is flexion of the neck, and when you go into “protraction”, that is extension of the neck. Neck in both cases is the cervical spine.
No, I am talking about pulling the head straight back:
[quote]You are interpreting retraction as being downwards motion or more precisely, towards the center of the body. Perhaps that is what was meant with the sea turtle.
However, forward movement of the head without change in tilt is called extension.
The opposition of extension is retraction.
What word do you all think correct for straight-back movement of the head? [/quote]
I did err by saying extension for straight forward movement whereas I meant protraction. Extension is of course the opposite of flexion, and is the ordinary tilting-head-back motion for which there is no problem regarding what muscles are used.
Retraction is a correct term for drawing back, which this is.
You mean you can’t pull your head straight back in the horizontal plane without the height of the chin changing? I can. Anyone can, actually, unless having some unusual problem I suppose.
So, what muscle or muscles do this?
[quote]DJHT wrote:
[quote]Bill Roberts wrote:
What muscle or muscles retract the neck?
While this might seem a question that should be readily answerable, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the answer and while current Googling efforts have turned up very, very many explanations of flexion, extension, lateral flexion, and rotation, they’ve never turned up retraction, except in the sea turtle, but in the human there is no muscle with that same name. In other words, no answer.
???[/quote]
Mr. Roberts humans cannot retract there neck. We cannot pull our head into our thoracic region. Now I know somepeople who also cannot pull their head out of there ass either. Look at Congress. have a great weekend.[/quote]
LOL, zing! 
Maybe it’s just me, but this seems like an early April Fools Day prank.
Here: if there is still question about my calling this motion retraction or it is unclear what motion I am talking about, here are some webpages with pictures and text:
http://www.necksolutions.com/neck-exercises.html
http://www.spineuniverse.com/treatments/physical-therapy/physical-therapy-goals-basic-exercises-your-backs
http://stanford.wellsphere.com/back-neck-pain-article/head-retraction-exercises-a-must-to-correct-forward-head-posture/431021
Now as for what muscle is most involved, my guess is the splenius but I have not found confirmation of this anywhere, as explanations of muscle function and neck movement generally omit retraction.
Perhaps someone here knows for a fact instead of a guess, hence the post.
[quote]HK24719 wrote:
Maybe it’s just me, but this seems like an early April Fools Day prank.[/quote]
What part of pulling your head straight back in the horizontal plane without tilting the head is difficult to understand or seems to you like an April Fool’s Day prank?
[quote]Bill Roberts wrote:
No, I am talking about pulling the head straight back:
[quote]You are interpreting retraction as being downwards motion or more precisely, towards the center of the body. Perhaps that is what was meant with the sea turtle.
However, forward movement of the head without change in tilt is called extension.
The opposition of extension is retraction.
What word do you all think correct for straight-back movement of the head? [/quote]
I did err by saying extension for straight forward movement whereas I meant protraction. Extension is of course the opposite of flexion, and is the ordinary tilting-head-back motion for which there is no problem regarding what muscles are used.
Retraction is a correct term for drawing back, which this is.
You mean you can’t pull your head straight back in the horizontal plane without the height of the chin changing? I can. Anyone can, actually, unless having some unusual problem I suppose.
So, what muscle or muscles do this?[/quote]
Scalene? Longus capitus? Longus Coli? Rectus Capitis Anterior? I would assume one of this muscles would be involved in the movement.
The problem with the splenius guess that I posted before is that it also is I think the main muscle involved in neck extension, but I am reasonably strong at neck extension but very much not so in retraction.
And if one exerts mental effort for flexion and extension of the neck at the same time – on the theory that perhaps retraction is a combination where neck flexors keep the chin level despite extensors working towards raising the chin – this feels entirely different than the mental effort involved for retraction, as well as feeling entirely different in the neck and not resulting in retraction.
I appreciate that it may well be a movement involving a combination of muscles, but again, what?
[quote]Bill Roberts wrote:
No, I am talking about pulling the head straight back:
[quote]You are interpreting retraction as being downwards motion or more precisely, towards the center of the body. Perhaps that is what was meant with the sea turtle.
However, forward movement of the head without change in tilt is called extension.
The opposition of extension is retraction.
What word do you all think correct for straight-back movement of the head? [/quote]
I did err by saying extension for straight forward movement whereas I meant protraction. Extension is of course the opposite of flexion, and is the ordinary tilting-head-back motion for which there is no problem regarding what muscles are used.
Retraction is a correct term for drawing back, which this is.
You mean you can’t pull your head straight back in the horizontal plane without the height of the chin changing? I can. Anyone can, actually, unless having some unusual problem I suppose.
So, what muscle or muscles do this?[/quote]
Just find out what muscles extend and flex your cervical spine and that is your answer. Can you protract and retract your thoracic spine?
Keeping your head level throughout extension and flexion of the cervical spine gives the appearance of protraction and retraction, that is all.
[quote]rkline2 wrote:
Scalene? Longus capitus? Longus Coli? Rectus Capitis Anterior? I would assume one of this muscles would be involved in the movement.
[/quote]
Thank you!
Using the search terms:
neck (longus OR capitis) retraction
yielded an answer:
splenius, semispinalis capitus, semispinalis cervicis, longissimus capitis, longissimus cervicis, and upper trapezius.
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/23320051/Health-Center-Practicum-Lab-Notes
which page does not turn up on searches simply for: neck retraction splenius, or at least not in the first 10 pages of hits.
Much appreciated!
