Superior salivary nucleus
Encyclopedia
The Superior salivary nucleus (or superior salivatory nucleus) of the facial nerve
Facial nerve
The facial nerve is the seventh of twelve paired cranial nerves. It emerges from the brainstem between the pons and the medulla, and controls the muscles of facial expression, and functions in the conveyance of taste sensations from the anterior two-thirds of the tongue and oral cavity...

 is a visceromotor cranial nerve nucleus
Cranial nerve nucleus
A cranial nerve nucleus is a collection of neurons in the brain stem that is associated with one or more cranial nerves. Axons carrying information to and from the cranial nerves form a synapse first at these nuclei. Lesions occurring at these nuclei can lead to effects resembling those seen by...

 located in the pontine tegmentum
Pontine tegmentum
The pontine tegmentum is a part of the pons of the brain involved in the initiation of REM sleep. It includes the pedunculopontine nucleus and the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus, among others, and is located near the raphe nucleus and the locus ceruleus....

.

Parasympathetic efferent fibers of the facial nerve
Facial nerve
The facial nerve is the seventh of twelve paired cranial nerves. It emerges from the brainstem between the pons and the medulla, and controls the muscles of facial expression, and functions in the conveyance of taste sensations from the anterior two-thirds of the tongue and oral cavity...

 (preganglionic fibers) arise according to some authors from the small cells of the facial nucleus, or according to others from a special nucleus of cells scattered in the reticular formation, dorso-medial to the facial nucleus. This is sometimes called the superior salivatory nucleus.

These preganglionic fibers are distributed partly via the chorda tympani
Chorda tympani
The chorda tympani is a nerve that branches from the facial nerve inside the facial canal, just before the facial nerve exits the skull via the Stylomastoid foramen...

 and lingual nerves to the submandibular ganglion
Submandibular ganglion
The submandibular ganglion is part of the human autonomic nervous system. It is one of four parasympathetic ganglia of the head and neck...

, thence by postganglionic (vasodilator) fibers to the submandibular gland
Submandibular gland
The paired submandibular glands are salivary glands located beneath the floor of the mouth. In humans, they account for 70% of the salivary volume and weigh about 15 grams. Unstimulated in humans, the percentage contribution to whole saliva; ~25% Parotid, Submandibular and Sublingual ~ 67% and...

 and sublingual gland
Sublingual gland
The sublingual glands are salivary glands in the mouth.They lie anterior to the submandibular gland under the tongue, beneath the mucous membrane of the floor of the mouth.They are drained by 8-20 excretory ducts called the ducts of Rivinus....

.

Some of the preganglionic fibers travel along the greater petrosal nerve through the pterygoid canal
Pterygoid canal
The pterygoid canal is a passage in the skull leading from just anterior to the foramen lacerum in the middle cranial fossa to the pterygopalatine fossa.-Structure:...

 (where they join the postsynaptic fibers of the deep petrosal nerve and are called the Vidian nerve) and synapse in the pterygopalatine ganglion
Pterygopalatine ganglion
The pterygopalatine ganglion is a parasympathetic ganglion found in the pterygopalatine fossa. It is one of four parasympathetic ganglia of the head and neck....

, whereupon the postganglionic, postsynaptic, efferent
Efferent
Efferent is an anatomical term with the following meanings:*Conveying away from a center, for example the efferent arterioles conveying blood away from the Bowman's capsule in the kidney. Opposite to afferent....

fibers travel to innervate the lacrimal gland and the mucosal glands of the nose, palate, and pharynx.

The term "lacrimal nucleus" is sometimes used to refer to a portion of the superior salivary nucleus.

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