Glossopharyngeal nerve
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| Nerve: Glossopharyngeal nerve | |
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| Plan of upper portions of glossopharyngeal, vagus, and accessory nerves. | |
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| Course and distribution of the glossopharyngeal, vagus, and accessory nerves. (Label for glossopharyngeal is at upper right.) | |
| Latin | nervus glossopharyngeus |
| Gray's | subject #204 906 |
| Innervates | stylopharyngeus |
| To | tympanic nerve |
| MeSH | Glossopharyngeal+Nerve |
| Dorlands / Elsevier | n_05/12565844 |
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The glossopharyngeal nerve is the ninth of twelve pairs of cranial nerves. It exits the brainstem out from the sides of the upper medulla, just rostral (closer to the nose) to the vagus nerve.
Functions
There are a number of functions of the glossopharyngeal nerve:
- It receives sensory fibres from the posterior one-third of the tongue, the tonsils, the pharynx, the middle ear and the carotid body.
- It supplies parasympathetic fibres to the parotid gland via the otic ganglion.
- It supplies motor fibres to stylopharyngeus muscle, the only motor component of this cranial nerve.
- It contributes to the pharyngeal plexus.
Brainstem connections
The glossopharyngeal nerve, being mostly sensory, does not have a cranial nerve nucleus of its own. Instead it must project into many different structures in the brainstem:
- Solitary nucleus: Taste from the posterior one-third of the tongue and information from carotid baroreceptors and carotid body chemoreceptors
- Spinal nucleus of the trigeminal nerve: Visceral pain as well as somatic sensory fibers from the skin of the outer ear.
- Nucleus ambiguus: The lower motor neurons for the stylopharyngeus muscle.
- Inferior salivatory nucleus: Parasympathetic input to the parotid and mucous glands.
Path
From the medulla oblongata, the glossopharyngeal nerve passes laterally across the flocculus, and leaves the skull through the central part of the jugular foramen, in a separate sheath of the dura mater, lateral to and in front of the vagus and accessory nerves. Within the jugular foramen, the glossopharyngeal nerve forms the superior ganglion (the glossopharyngeal neve is also associated with an inferior ganglion).
In its passage through the jugular foramen, it grooves the lower border of the petrous part of the temporal bone; and, at its exit from the skull, passes forward between the internal jugular vein and internal carotid artery. It descends in front of the latter vessel, and beneath the styloid process and the muscles connected with it, to the lower border of the stylopharyngeus. It then curves forward, forming an arch on the side of the neck and lying upon the stylopharyngeus and middle pharyngeal constrictor muscle. From there it passes under cover of the hyoglossus muscle, and is finally distributed to the palatine tonsil, the mucous membrane of the fauces and base of the tongue, and the mucous glands of the mouth.
Branches
1. Tympanic
2. Stylopharyngeal
3. Tonsillar
4. Nerve to carotid sinus
5. Branches to the posterior third of tongue
6. Lingual branches
7. A communicating branch to the Vagus nerve
Note: The glossopharyneal nerve contributes in the formation of the pharyngeal plexus along with the vagus nerve.
Testing the glossopharyngeal nerve
The gag reflex is absent in patients with damage to the glossopharyngeal nerve as it is responsible for the afferent limb of the reflex.
Additional images
 Dura mater and its processes exposed by removing part of the right half of the skull, and the brain. |
 Hind- and mid-brains; postero-lateral view. |
 Alveolar branches of superior maxillary nerve and sphenopalatine ganglion. |
 Upper part of medulla spinalis and hind- and mid-brains; posterior aspect, exposed in situ. |
 Hypoglossal nerve, cervical plexus, and their branches. |
External links
- NeuroNames hier-698
- MedEd at Loyola GrossAnatomy/h_n/cn/cn1/cn9.htm
- MedlinePlus Image 9350
- Norman/Georgetown cranialnerves (IX)
WikiDoc Research Resources for Glossopharyngeal nerve | |
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| Evidence Based Medicine Regarding Glossopharyngeal nerve | Cochrane Collaboration on Glossopharyngeal nerve • Bandolier on Glossopharyngeal nerve • TRIP on Glossopharyngeal nerve |
| Cost Effectiveness of Glossopharyngeal nerve | Cost Effectiveness of Glossopharyngeal nerve |
| Clinical Trials Involving Glossopharyngeal nerve | Ongoing Trials on Glossopharyngeal nerve at Clinical Trials.gov • Trial results on Glossopharyngeal nerve • Clinical Trials on Glossopharyngeal nerve at Google |
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| Genetics, Pharmacogenomics, and Proteinomics of Glossopharyngeal nerve | Genetics of Glossopharyngeal nerve • Pharmacogenomics of Glossopharyngeal nerve • Proteomics of Glossopharyngeal nerve |
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| Informatics Resources on Glossopharyngeal nerve | List of terms related to Glossopharyngeal nerve |
de:Nervus glossopharyngeus
lt:Liežuvinis ryklės nervas
nl:Nervus glossopharyngeusno:Nervus glossopharyngeus
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Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
