Organization and Innervation of the Head and Neck

List the four ganglia of the head that house postganglionic parasympathetic neuronal cell bodies.

Ciliary ganglion: located posterior to the eye within the orbit. Pterygopalatine ganglion: located within the pterygopalatine fossa of the skull Otic ganglion: located in the deep face just on the inside of the mandibular ramus Submandibular ganglion: located on the floor of the mouth, inferior to the tongue.

Identify the spinal nerves that form the cervical plexus.

C1-C4 (MAYBE C5) Cervical plexus -- collection of ventral rami located deep to Sternocleidomastoid (SCM) and carotid sheath, sensory for skin of anterior and lateral neck, a bit of the face, and the shoulder, motor for neck muscles

List the paravertebral (chain) ganglia that contain the postganglionic sympathetic neuronal cell bodies that innervate head & neck structures.

postganglionic sympathetic ganglia in the cervical level are formed by fusion of nerves at specific levels: -Superior cervical -- C1-C4 -Middle cervical -- C5-C6 -Inferior cervical) -- C7-C8 (stellate if there is also some fusion of thoracic (T1) ganglia - this is synonymous with Inferior cervical ganglion) Note: there are no sympathetic ganglia in the head

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Explain how the postganglionic sympathetic fibers destined to innervate structures in the head and neck reach travel to reach their target organs.

Post ganglionic sympathetic fibers reach their target tissues in the head and neck by 1 of 2 routes: 1. Follow along with the cervical spinal nerves and their branches to reach targets in the body wall 2. Hitch a ride on arteries to reach their destinations elsewhere.

Specify the spinal cord segments that contain the preganglionic sympathetic neurons involved in the innervation of head and neck structures.

T1-T4 These fibers exit the spinal cord with the T1-T4 ventral roots and access the sympathetic chain, where they will ascend to synapse on the cervical sympathetic ganglia.