extraocular muscle

anatomy

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June 26, 2026

Quick Summary

The extraocular muscles are six small, voluntary muscles that surround the eyeball and control its movement and stabilization within the orbit. These muscles include the four rectus muscles (superior, inferior, medial, and lateral) and the superior and inferior oblique muscles.12

The rectus muscles are responsible for moving the eye up, down, left, and right. The oblique muscles also contribute to eye movement, with the superior oblique tending to depress the eye and the inferior oblique tending to elevate it. Due to their angled pull, the oblique muscles also cause the eye to roll.2

These muscles work together to ensure precise and rapid eye movements, which are crucial for clear vision. They are under voluntary control, allowing us to deliberately change our gaze, but most eye movements occur automatically in response to environmental stimuli or body movements. The oculomotor nerve (CN III) innervates most of these muscles, controlling their actions.34

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space perception
Cues from the eye muscles
…effort arouses activity in two eye-muscle systems called the ciliary muscles and the rectus muscles. The ciliary effect is called accommodation (focusing the lens for near or far vision), and the rectus effect is called convergence (moving the entire eyeball). Each of these muscle systems contracts as a perceived object…
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…effort arouses activity in two eye-muscle systems called the ciliary muscles and the rectus muscles. The ciliary effect is called accommodation (focusing the lens for near or far vision), and the rectus effect is called convergence (moving the entire eyeball). Each of these muscle systems contracts as a perceived object…
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human eye
Extraocular muscles
Six muscles outside the eye govern its movements. These muscles are the four rectus muscles—the inferior, medial, lateral, and superior recti—and the superior and inferior oblique muscles. The rectus muscles arise from a fibrous ring that encircles the optic nerve at the optic…
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Six muscles outside the eye govern its movements. These muscles are the four rectus muscles—the inferior, medial, lateral, and superior recti—and the superior and inferior oblique muscles. The rectus muscles arise from a fibrous ring that encircles the optic nerve at the optic…
Read More