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Greater superficial petrosal nerve

Essam et al.

The greater (superficial) petrosal nerve originates at the geniculate ganglion, where the nervus intermedius and facial nerve join. It contains mainly preganglionic parasympathetic fibers and some sensory taste afferent from the soft palate

It arises at the geniculate ganglion ,passes through a hiatus in the petrous bone to reach middle cranial fossa, lying between the two layers of the dura mater towards foramen lacerum where it joined by the deep petrosal nerve (sympathetic fibres from the internal carotid artery) to form the nerve of the pterygoid canal (a.k.a Vidian nerve).

Its parasympathetic fibers relay in the pterygopalatine ganglion.

References

Article Information:

System: Central Nervous System

Section: Anatomy

Facial Nerve Connections see case page for further details. facial nerveThis faithful reproduction of a lithograph plate from Gray's Anatomy, a  two-dimensional work of art, is not copyrightable in the U.S. as per Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp.; the same is also true in many other countries, including Germany. Unless stated otherwise, it is from the 20th U.S. edition ofBartleby and also on Yahoo!. Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body, originally published in 1918 and therefore lapsed into the public domain. Other copies of Gray's Anatomy can be found on Caption: Plan of the facial and intermediate nerves and their communication with other nerves.This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies worldwide.

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Geniculate ganglion

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