Eye Movement

What is involved to make a person move her or his eyes? This organ of sight sensitivity is explained in a simplified manner while still retaining the barest notation of “how”.

Extrinsic muscles outside the eyeball help the movements of the eyeball. For the right eye to move from left to right, the “four rectus muscles” in front of the horizontal axis and two oblique muscles inserted behind the horizontal axis which originates from the Tendinous ring anchored to bony orbit around optic foramen has to coordinate well to rotate eye laterally and medially.

In a rather list-like form, note that: The Abducens nerve innervates lateral rectus muscle of the eye to roll the eye laterally. The Oculomotor nerve innervates the Superior rectus muscle of the eye to roll and rotate the eye medially. The Oculomotor nerve also innervates the Inferior rectus muscle of eye to roll and rotate the eye laterally. The Oculomotor nerve innervates the Medial rectus muscle of the eye to roll the eye medially. The Trochlear nerve innervates Superior oblique muscle of the eye to roll the eye medially. The Oculomotor nerve innervates the Inferior oblique muscle of the eye to roll and rotate the eye laterally.

Although the Oculomotor nerve innervates most of the muscles that move the eyes, it is the coordination amongst Cranial nerves III, IV, and VI, as well those extrinsic muscles enable the right eye and the left eye to move accordingly and create the effectiveness of the movement of the eyes.