Tympanic nerve

Tympanic nerve

Plan of upper portions of glossopharyngeal, vagus, and accessory nerves. (Tympanic nerve visible in upper right)

Tympanic nerve (labelled right side)
Details
To tympanic plexus
Identifiers
Latin nervus tympanicus
Dorlands
/Elsevier
n_05/12566985
TA A14.2.01.138
FMA 53480

Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy

The tympanic nerve (nerve of Jacobson) is a branch of the glossopharyngeal nerve found near the ear.

Path

It arises from the petrous ganglion, and ascends to the tympanic cavity through a small canal, the inferior tympanic canaliculus, on the under surface of the petrous portion of the temporal bone on the ridge which separates the carotid canal from the jugular fossa.

In the tympanic cavity it divides into branches which form the tympanic plexus and are contained in grooves upon the surface of the promontory.

Jacobson's nerve contains both sensory and secretory fibers.

The postganglionic parasympathetic fibers are then distributed via the auriculotemporal nerve (branch of the trigeminal nerve) to the parotid gland.

Clinical significance

This nerve may be involved by paraganglioma, in this location referred to as glomus jugulare or glomus tympanicum tumours.

Additional images

References

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

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, February 07, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.