 | Accessory nerve: Encyclopedia - Accessory nerve
Accessory nerve
The accessory nerve (or "Spinal accessory nerve") is the eleventh of twelve cranial nerves. It leaves the cranium through the jugular foramen along with the glossopharyngeal nerve (IX) and vagus nerve (X). It innervates the sternocleidomastoid muscle (sternomastoid) and trapezius muscle on the ipsilateral side.
There are two parts to the accessory nerve, a spinal part (innervates the muscles around neck), and a cranial part, that splits off, and quickly combines with the vagus nerve. The cranial part of nerve XI can be thought of doing the exact same things as the vagus.
Accessory nerve - Nuclei of the spinal accessory nerve
The spinal accessory nucleus lies within the cervical spinal cord (C1-C5) in the ventral horn.
Accessory nerve - Testing the accessory nerve
Getting a person to shrug their shoulders while you push down tests trapezius. When a person turns their head, especially against force, sternocleidomastoid should be prominent.
Cranial nerves: I olfactory | II optic | III oculomotor | IV trochlear | V trigeminal (V1 ophthalmic - supraorbital, V2 maxillary - sphenopalatine ganglion, V3 mandibular - auriculotemporal - buccal - inferior alveolar ) | VI abducens | VII facial | VIII vestibulocochlear (cochlear, vestibular) | IX glossopharyngeal | X vagus (recurrent laryngeal, Alderman's nerve) | XI accessory | XII hypoglossal
Spinal nerves C2-C5: greater occipital, lesser occipital, greater auricular, lesser auricular, phrenic
Spinal nerves C5-T1 (brachial plexus) --- before forming cords (dorsal scapular, long thoracic, suprascapular) --- lateral cord (musculocutaneous, median) --- posterior cord (axillary, radial) --- medial cord (median, ulnar)
Spinal nerves T2-S5: intercostal | sacral plexus | sciatic (tibial, common peroneal) | pudendal
Other related archivesAlderman's nerve, Cranial nerves, I olfactory, II optic, III oculomotor, IV trochlear, IX glossopharyngeal, Spinal nerves, V trigeminal, V1 ophthalmic, V2 maxillary, V3 mandibular, VI abducens, VII facial, VIII vestibulocochlear, X vagus, XII hypoglossal, auriculotemporal, axillary, brachial plexus, buccal, cochlear, common peroneal, cranial nerves, dorsal scapular, glossopharyngeal nerve, greater auricular, greater occipital, inferior alveolar, intercostal, lateral cord, lesser auricular, lesser occipital, long thoracic, medial cord, median, musculocutaneous, phrenic, posterior cord, pudendal, radial, recurrent laryngeal, sacral plexus, sciatic, shoulders, sphenopalatine ganglion, spinal cord, sternocleidomastoid muscle, supraorbital, suprascapular, tibial, trapezius muscle, ulnar, vagus nerve, vestibular
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Accessory nerve", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
