The muscle inserts onto the pharyngeal raphe, and pharyngeal spine. The muscle is divided into four parts according to its four distincts origins: a pterygopharyngeal, buccopharyngeal, mylopharyngeal, and a glossopharyngeal part. It is the uppermost and thinnest of the three pharyngeal constrictors. The superior pharyngeal constrictor muscle is a quadrilateral muscle of the pharynx.
