The geniculate ganglion (from Latin ''genu'', for "knee") is a collection of

pseudounipolar A pseudounipolar neuron is a type of neuron which has one extension from its cell body. This type of neuron contains an axon that has split into two branches. A single process arises from the cell body and then divides into an axon and a dendrite. ...

sensory neuron Sensory neurons, also known as afferent neurons, are neurons in the nervous system, that convert a specific type of stimulus, via their receptors, into action potentials or graded potentials. This process is called sensory transduction. The ...

s of the facial nerve located in the facial canal of the head. It receives fibers from the facial nerve. It sends fibers that supply the

lacrimal gland The lacrimal glands are paired exocrine glands, one for each eye, found in most terrestrial vertebrates and some marine mammals, that secrete the aqueous layer of the tear film. In humans, they are situated in the upper lateral region of each or ...

submandibular gland The paired submandibular glands (historically known as submaxillary glands) are major salivary glands located beneath the floor of the mouth. They each weigh about 15 grams and contribute some 60–67% of unstimulated saliva secretion; on stimula ...

s, sublingual glands,

tongue The tongue is a muscular organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for mastication and swallowing as part of the digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper surface (dorsum) is covered by taste b ...

palate The palate () is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. A similar structure is found in crocodilians, but in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly sepa ...

, pharynx,

external auditory meatus The ear canal (external acoustic meatus, external auditory meatus, EAM) is a pathway running from the outer ear to the middle ear. The adult human ear canal extends from the pinna to the eardrum and is about in length and in diameter. Struct ...

, stapedius muscle, posterior belly of the

digastric muscle The digastric muscle (also digastricus) (named ''digastric'' as it has two 'bellies') is a small muscle located under the jaw. The term "digastric muscle" refers to this specific muscle. However, other muscles that have two separate muscle bellie ...

stylohyoid muscle The stylohyoid muscle is a slender muscle, lying anterior and superior of the posterior belly of the digastric muscle. It is one of the suprahyoid muscles. It shares this muscle's innervation by the facial nerve, and functions to draw the hyo ...

, and muscles of facial expression. The geniculate ganglion is one of several ganglia of the head and neck. Like the others, it is a bilaterally distributed structure, with each side of the face having a geniculate ganglion.

Structure

The geniculate ganglion is located close to the internal auditory meatus. It is covered superiorly by the petrous part of the temporal bone (which is sometimes absent over the ganglion). The geniculate ganglion receives fibers from the motor, sensory, and parasympathetic components of the facial nerve. It the contains special sensory neuronal cell bodies for taste, from fibers coming up from the

through the

chorda tympani The chorda tympani is a branch of the facial nerve that originates from the taste buds in the front of the tongue, runs through the middle ear, and carries taste messages to the brain. It joins the facial nerve (cranial nerve VII) inside the faci ...

and from fibers coming up from the roof of the

through the

greater petrosal nerve The greater petrosal nerve (or greater superficial petrosal nerve) is a nerve in the skull that branches from the facial nerve; it forms part of a chain of nerves that innervate the lacrimal gland. The preganglionic parasympathetic axons of this ne ...

. Sensory and parasympathetic inputs are carried into the geniculate ganglion via the nervus intermedius. Motor fibers are carried via the facial nerve proper. The

, which carries preganglionic parasympathetic fibers, emerges from the anterior aspect of the ganglion. The motor fibers of the facial nerve proper and parasympathetic fibers to the submandibular and pterygopalatine ganglia do not synapse in the geniculate ganglion. The afferent fibers carrying pain, temperature, and touch from the posterior auricular nerve, as well as those carrying special sensory (taste) fibers from the tongue (via the chorda tympani), do not synapse in the geniculate ganglion. Instead, the cells of the geniculate ganglion relay the signal to the appropriate brainstem nucleus, much like the Dorsal root ganglion neurons relay signal to nuclei in the spinal cord.

Function

Via the geniculate ganglion, the facial nerve (CN VII) gives * parasympathetic innervation to: ** the

s. ** the

s. ** the sublingual glands. * special sensory innervation to: ** the

for taste. * general sensory innervation to: ** skin of the posterior ear * somatic (branchial) motor innervation to: ** the

** the pharynx. ** the

** the stapedius muscle. ** the posterior belly of the

. ** the

. ** muscles of facial expression.

Clinical significance

The geniculate ganglion is an important surgical landmark near the internal auditory meatus. The geniculate ganglion may become

inflamed Inflammation (from la, inflammatio) is part of the complex biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants, and is a protective response involving immune cells, blood vessels, and molec ...

due to viral infection by herpes zoster virus.

Additional images

File:Gray788.png , Plan of the facial and intermediate nerves and their communication with other nerves.

References

External links