Which nerve provides motor innervation to the quadriceps group, enabling knee extension?

Which nerve provides motor innervation to the quadriceps group, enabling knee extension?

• A. Femoral nerve
• B. Obturator nerve
• C. Sciatic nerve
• D. Inferior gluteal nerve

Answer: (A)

The motor control of the quadriceps comes from the femoral nerve. It arises from the lumbar plexus (L2–L4) and travels to the anterior thigh to innervate the quadriceps muscles—rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius—allowing knee extension when they contract. The femoral nerve is the primary driver of the knee-ascending extension mechanism and also gives the saphenous nerve for sensory innervation, but the motor supply to the quadriceps lies with the femoral nerve. By contrast, the obturator nerve supplies the thigh’s inner adductors, the sciatic nerve handles the hamstrings and most of the leg’s muscles, and the inferior gluteal nerve innervates the gluteus maximus.

The motor control of the quadriceps comes from the femoral nerve. It arises from the lumbar plexus (L2–L4) and travels to the anterior thigh to innervate the quadriceps muscles—rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius—allowing knee extension when they contract. The femoral nerve is the primary driver of the knee-ascending extension mechanism and also gives the saphenous nerve for sensory innervation, but the motor supply to the quadriceps lies with the femoral nerve. By contrast, the obturator nerve supplies the thigh’s inner adductors, the sciatic nerve handles the hamstrings and most of the leg’s muscles, and the inferior gluteal nerve innervates the gluteus maximus.