# Intermediate nerve

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Intermediate_nerve
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Intermediate_nerve.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermediate_nerve
> Source revision: 1345738277
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Portion of the facial nerve}}
{{Infobox nerve
| Name        = Intermediate nerve
| Latin       = nervus intermedius
| Image       = Gray788.png
| Caption     = Plan of the facial and intermediate nerves and their communication with other nerves. (N. intermedius labeled at upper left.)
| Innervates  =
| BranchFrom  =
| BranchTo    =
}}
The '''intermediate nerve''', '''nervus intermedius''', '''nerve of [Wrisberg](/source/Heinrich_August_Wrisberg)''' or '''glossopalatine nerve'''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SIaBwgIGjU8C&q=glossopalatine+nerve&pg=PA124|title=Review Questions in Ophthalmology: A Question and Answer Book|last1=Chern|first1=Kenneth C.|last2=Wright|first2=Kenneth Weston|date=2004-01-01|publisher=Lippincott Williams & Wilkins|isbn=9780781752039|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=obQrAwAAQBAJ&q=%22glossopalatine+nerve%22+intermedius&pg=PA145|title=Surgical Anatomy of the Head and Neck|last=M.D|first=Parviz Janfaza|date=2011-06-15|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674417830|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6_AgBQAAQBAJ&q=%22glossopalatine+nerve%22+intermedius&pg=PA21|title=An Introduction to the Study of the Nervous System|last1=Hewer|first1=E. E.|last2=Sandes|first2=G. M.|date=2013-10-22|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=9781483195193|language=en}}</ref> is the part of the [facial nerve](/source/facial_nerve) (cranial nerve VII) located between the motor component of the facial nerve and the [vestibulocochlear nerve](/source/vestibulocochlear_nerve) (cranial nerve VIII). It contains the [sensory](/source/sensory_nerve) and [parasympathetic](/source/parasympathetic_nervous_system) fibers of the facial nerve. Upon reaching the [facial canal](/source/facial_canal), it joins with the motor root of the facial nerve at the [geniculate ganglion](/source/geniculate_ganglion). Alex Alfieri postulates that the intermediate nerve should be considered as a separate cranial nerve and not a part of the facial nerve.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Der Nervus Intermedius Ein eigenständiger Hirnnerv?|last=Alfieri, Alex.|date=2012|publisher=Südwestdeutscher Verlag für Hochschulschriften|isbn=9783838110714|edition=1. Aufl|location=Saarbrücken|oclc=864033849}}</ref>

==Parasympathetic fibers==
The [superior salivatory nucleus](/source/superior_salivatory_nucleus) contains the cell bodies of parasympathetic axons within the intermediate nerve. These fibers reach the geniculate ganglion but do not synapse. Some of these preganglionic parasympathetic fibers persist within the [greater petrosal nerve](/source/greater_petrosal_nerve) as they exit the geniculate ganglion and subsequently synapse with neurons in the [pterygopalatine ganglion](/source/pterygopalatine_ganglion). These postganglionic neurons send [axon](/source/axon)s that provide parasympathetic innervation to the [lacrimal gland](/source/lacrimal_gland) via a communicating branch from the zygomatic nerve to the lacrimal nerve of cranial nerve V.

The remaining preganglionic fibers continue as the mixed facial nerve proper as it extends through the facial canal. Before the nerve exits the skull via the [stylomastoid foramen](/source/stylomastoid_foramen) and after the [nerve to the stapedius muscle](/source/nerve_to_the_stapedius_muscle) has branched off, the facial nerve gives off the [chorda tympani nerve](/source/chorda_tympani_nerve). This nerve exits the skull through the [petrotympanic fissure](/source/petrotympanic_fissure) and merges with the [lingual nerve](/source/lingual_nerve), after which it synapses with neurons in the [submandibular ganglion](/source/submandibular_ganglion). These postganglionic neurons provide parasympathetic innervation to the [submandibular](/source/submandibular_gland) and [sublingual gland](/source/sublingual_gland)s.

==Sensory fibers==
The sensory component of the intermediate nerve carries input about sensation from the skin of the [external auditory meatus](/source/external_auditory_meatus), from the [mucous membrane](/source/mucous_membrane)s of the [nasopharynx](/source/nasopharynx) and [nose](/source/Human_nose), and [taste](/source/taste) from the anterior two-thirds of the [tongue](/source/tongue), [floor of the mouth](/source/floor_of_mouth), and the soft [palate](/source/palate). The sensory information from the [mucous membrane](/source/mucous_membrane)s of the nasopharynx and palate is carried along the greater petrosal nerve, while the chorda tympani nerve (and lingual nerve) carries taste input from the anterior two-thirds of the tongue, floor of mouth, and soft palate.

The geniculate ganglion contains the cell bodies of the sensory component of the nervus intermedius.
Nervus intermedius neuralgia is a pain syndrome associated with the nervus intermedius.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{SUNYAnatomyFigs|25|03|13}}
* https://web.archive.org/web/20130930044559/http://www.neuroanatomy.wisc.edu/virtualbrain/BrainStem/15Salivatory.html

{{Cranial nerves}}
{{Authority control}}

Category:Facial nerve

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Intermediate nerve](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermediate_nerve) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermediate_nerve?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.