Inferior branch of oculomotor nerve

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Nerve: Inferior branch of oculomotor nerve
Plan of oculomotor nerve. (Inferior branch visible at bottom.)
Latin	ramus inferior nervi oculomotorii
Gray's	subject #198 884
Innervates	Inferior rectus, Medial rectus, Inferior oblique, Ciliary
From	oculomotor nerve
Dorlands/Elsevier	r_02/12690314

The inferior branch of the oculomotor nerve or the inferior division, the larger, divides into three branches.

• One passes beneath the optic nerve to the medial rectus.
• Another, to the inferior rectus.
• The third and longest runs forward between the inferior recti and lateralis to the inferior oblique. From the last a short thick branch is given off to the lower part of the ciliary ganglion, and forms its short root.

All these branches enter the muscles on their ocular surfaces, with the exception of the nerve to the inferior oblique, which enters the muscle at its posterior border.

[edit] Additional images

Nerves of the orbit. Seen from above.

Nerves of the orbit, and the ciliary ganglion. Side view.

Dissection showing origins of right ocular muscles, and nerves entering by the superior orbital fissure.

Pathways in the Ciliary Ganglion.

v • d • e Nerves of head and neck: the cranial nerves

I-IV: olfactory - optic - oculomotor (superior branch, inferior branch) - trochlear V: trigeminal: trigeminal ganglion V1: ophthalmic: lacrimal - frontal (supratrochlear, supraorbital) - nasociliary (long root of ciliary, long ciliary, infratrochlear, posterior ethmoidal, anterior ethmoidal) - ciliary ganglion (short ciliary) V2: maxillary: middle meningeal - in the pterygopalatine fossa (zygomatic, zygomaticotemporal, zygomaticofacial, sphenopalatine, posterior superior alveolar) in the infraorbital canal/infraorbital nerve (middle superior alveolar, anterior superior alveolar) on the face (inferior palpebral, external nasal, superior labial, infraorbital plexus) - pterygopalatine ganglion (deep petrosal, nerve of pterygoid canal) branches of distribution (greater palatine, lesser palatine, nasopalatine, pharyngeal) V3: mandibular: meningeal - medial pterygoid - anterior (masseteric, deep temporal, buccal, lateral pterygoid) posterior (auriculotemporal, lingual, inferior alveolar, mylohyoid, mental) - otic ganglion - submandibular ganglion VI: abducens VII: facial: nervus intermedius - geniculate - inside facial canal (greater petrosal, nerve to the stapedius, chorda tympani) at exit from stylomastoid foramen (posterior auricular, digastric - stylohyoid) on face (temporal, zygomatic, buccal, mandibular, cervical) VIII: vestibulocochlear: cochlear (striae medullares, lateral lemniscus) - vestibular (Scarpa's ganglion) IX: glossopharyngeal: nucleus ambiguus - ganglia (superior, petrous) - tympanic (tympanic plexus, lesser petrosal) - carotid sinus - pharyngeal branches - pharyngeal plexus X: vagus: ganglia (jugular, nodose) - Alderman's nerve - in the neck (pharyngeal branch, superior laryngeal ext and int, recurrent laryngeal) in the thorax (pulmonary branches, esophageal plexus) - in the abdomen (gastric plexuses, celiac plexus, gastric plexus) XI: accessory XII: hypoglossal