Quick Facts
Location: Jugular foramen.
Branches: Meningeal and auricular branches of the vagus nerve, as well as several communications with the glossopharyngeal and accessory nerves.
Supply: Location of general somatic sensory neuronal cell bodies of the vagus nerve that convey general sensation from the external ear and posterior dura.
Related parts of the anatomy
Location
The superior ganglion of the vagus nerve sits in the jugular foramen which lies between the temporal bone and occipital bone. The superior ganglion of the vagus nerve is one of two ganglia associated with the vagus nerve and develops from cranial neural crest cells.
Branches
The superior ganglion of the vagus nerve is a swelling through which the vagus nerve runs. In addition to transmitting the fibers of the vagus nerve to and from the brainstem, several branches of the vagus nerve originate in the superior ganglion.
The meningeal branch of the vagus nerve begins at the superior ganglion, runs back intracranially through the jugular foramen, and innervates the dura of the posterior cranial fossa.
The auricular branch of the vagus nerve begins at the superior ganglion, runs through the temporal bone to the tympanomastoid fissure and innervates parts of the skin of the external ear, external acoustic meatus, and external surface of the tympanic membrane.
Supplied Structures
The superior ganglion of the vagus nerve transmits all fibers of the vagus nerve, and therefore contains axons of sensory, motor, and parasympathetic nature. However, neurons whose cell bodies are found in the superior ganglion are strictly general somatic afferent neurons.
General somatic afferent fibers convey sensation from parts of the skin of the auricle, the external acoustic meatus, and the external surface of the tympanic membrane by way of the auricular nerve. Other general somatic afferent fibers convey sensation from the dura of the posterior cranial fossa via the meningeal branch of the vagus nerve.
