Skull Bones: Frontal

The skull is complicated if you don’t approach it one thing at a time.  Always begin with the flat bones of the skull. Look at the suturesImmovable joints between skull bones; zigzag or wavy seams. that connect them. This method is a great way to start.  Before getting started, note that there are two structures within the skull. The cranial vault is where your brain is. Then there are your facial bones, where your brain isn’t.  

The flat bones of the skull are named for the parts of the brain they overlie.  Tap your forehead.  This is the frontal bone and under it is the frontal lobeThe brain region responsible for decision-making, personality, and voluntary movements. of your brain where your personality sits.  The frontal bone also forms the superior borderTop edge of the scapula; shortest of the three borders. of your eye socket. The eye socket is a wonderfully complex structure, much like the arch of your foot. Similar to the arch of your foot, if one of those bones is weakened, the entire structure is weakened.

The frontal bone is sutured to both the parietal bones by the coronal sutureRuns across top of skull between frontal and parietal bones (like a headband)..  The word corona means crown and so it is fitting that this suture runs almost from ear to ear.  The frontal bone also articulates with the sphenoidButterfly-shaped bone in the middle cranial floor; unites cranial and facial bones. bone just a little bit behind your temples.  That suture, like many of the other sutures in the skull, is named for the two adjoining bones.  It is called the spheno-frontal suture.

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