Diploic veins
Large valveless veins in the skull
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Types of diploic veins
The frontal, which opens into the supraorbital vein and the superior sagittal sinus.
The anterior temporal, which is confined chiefly to the frontal bone, and opens into the sphenoparietal sinus and into one of the deep temporal veins, through an aperture in the great wing of the sphenoid.
The posterior temporal, which is situated in the parietal bone, and ends in the transverse sinus, through an aperture at the mastoid angle of the parietal bone or through the mastoid foramen.
The occipital, the largest of the four, which is confined to the occipital bone, and opens either externally into the occipital vein, or internally into the transverse sinus or into the confluence of the sinuses (torcular Herophili).
It has been noted that "The tunnels formed by diploic veins are among the few known skeletal markers of soft tissue alteration".
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Functionality
The function of diploic veins is unclear. One function that has been suggested is brain cooling. In this account, venous blood from the scalp, cooled by its sweat glands, passes to the pachymeningeal veins by way of the diploic venous system. The diploic venous system in modern humans is more complex and developed than in chimpanzees and this has been suggested to be a consequence of the greater need of the human brain for such cooling.