Pharyngeal branch of vagus nerve

Nerve: Pharyngeal branch of vagus nerve
Plan of upper portions of glossopharyngeal, vagus, and accessory nerves. (Pharyngeal visible at center right.)
Latin	ramus pharyngeus nervi vagi
Gray's	subject #205 911
Innervates	pharynx
From	vagus nerve
To	pharyngeal plexus

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) 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

• Pharyngeal nerve

External links

• -952827845 at GPnotebook
• Cranial Nerves at Yale 10-7
• cranialnerves at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University) (X)

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained within it may be outdated.