Studies using anesthesia provide insights into oral phantoms. The chorda tympani nerve is accessible for anesthesia at two sites. First, the chorda tympani leaves the tongue with the lingual nerve (CN V) and the two travel through the pterygomandibular space. The inferior alveolar nerve, which conveys pain from the lower teeth, passes through the same space; thus dental anesthesia abolishes tas...

Neural competition among multiple inputs can affect the refinement and maintenance of terminal fields in sensory systems. In the rat gustatory system, the chorda tympani, greater superficial petrosal, and glossopharyngeal nerves have distinct but overlapping terminal fields in the first central relay, the nucleus of the solitary tract. This overlap is largest at early postnatal ages followed by...

Upper airway (UA) muscle activity is stimulated by changes in UA transmural pressure and by asphyxia. These responses are reduced by muscle relaxation. We hypothesized that this is due to a change in afferent feedback in the ansa hypoglossi and/or superior laryngeal nerve (SLN). We examined 1) the glossopharyngeal motor responses to UA transmural pressure and asphyxia and 2) how these responses...

The depressant action of antidromic volleys of impulses on gustatory nerve signals from the tongues of bullfrogs was studied. Electrical stimulation of the glossopharyngeal nerve at a rate of 100 Hz for 10 s and at supramaximal intensity slightly depressed the integrated glossopharyngeal nerve responses to quinine and to mechanical taps to the tongue. The same antidromic stimuli resulted in a 3...

INTRODUCTION There are various communications between the superior cervical ganglion (SCG) and the vagus and glossopharyngeal nerves. However, little information exists concerning the origin of these sympathetic ganglion branches at the superior, middle, and inferior regions of the human SCG. The aim of this study was to describe the human SCG in a morphometric manner with the communication wit...

This report describes a case of delayed glossopharyngeal and vagus nerve paralysis following a closed head injury. A depressed fracture of the occipital condyle was diagnosed using high-resolution computerized tomography (CT) scanning and three-dimensional CT images. Magnetic resonance imaging complemented the study. The anatomical features, mechanisms, diagnosis, and treatment of this unusual ...

Vocal fold paralysis may occur for a wide range of reasons, from cardiac chamber enlargement, intoxication by chemical products, and mediastinal, neck, lung and intracranial tumors. Given the vast array of possibilities and the various points where the vagus and recurrent laryngeal nerves (the latter is a branch of the first and innervates most laryngeal intrinsic muscles) may be injured, often...