Pharyngeal branch of vagus nerve

Pharyngeal branch of vagus nerve

Plan of upper portions of glossopharyngeal, vagus, and accessory nerves. (Pharyngeal visible at center right.)
Details
Latin ramus pharyngeus nervi vagi
From
vagus nerve
To
pharyngeal plexus
Innervates pharynx
Identifiers
Gray's p.911
Dorlands
/Elsevier
r_02/12691614
TA A14.2.01.158
FMA 6234
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy

The pharyngeal branch of the vagus nerve, the principal motor nerve of the pharynx, arises from the upper part of the ganglion nodosum, and consists principally of filaments from the cranial portion of the accessory nerve.

It passes across the internal carotid artery to the upper border of the Constrictor pharyngis medius, where it divides into numerous filaments, which join with branches from the glossopharyngeal, sympathetic, and external laryngeal to form the pharyngeal plexus.

From the plexus, branches are distributed to the muscles and mucous membrane of the pharynx (except the stylopharyngeus, which is innervated by the glossopharyngeal nerve (CN IX)) and the muscles of the soft palate, except the Tensor veli palatini. A minute filament descends and joins the hypoglossal nerve as it winds around the occipital artery.

See also

References

This article incorporates text in the public domain from the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)

External links