Muscle · Neck

Iliocostalis cervicis

Musculus iliocostalis cervicis

The most lateral of the three erector spinae columns as it reaches the neck, and the only cervical extensor that starts on the ribs. Its slips arise from the angles of the third to sixth ribs, medial to where the corresponding thoracic part attaches, and climb to the tubercles on the transverse processes of the middle cervical vertebrae. Because it is the furthest of the columns from the midline, its pull bends the neck towards its own side as much as it straightens it. Its rib origin also makes it the point at which the neck's extensor column becomes continuous with the muscle mass of the thoracic wall rather than ending at the base of the neck.