Glossopharyngeal NerveThe 9th cranial nerve. The glossopharyngeal nerve is a mixed motor and sensory nerve; it conveys somatic and autonomic efferents as well as general, special, and visceral afferents. Among the connections are motor fibers to the stylopharyngeus muscle, parasympathetic fibers to the parotid glands, general and taste afferents from the posterior third of the tongue, the nasopharynx, and the palate, and afferents from baroreceptors and chemoreceptors of the carotid sinus.
TasteThe sensation or perception of certain qualities of substances put in the mouth, primarily sweet, sour, salt and bitter.
ChemoreceptorsCells specialized to detect chemical substances and relay that information centrally in the nervous system. Chemoreceptors may monitor external stimuli, as in TASTE and OLFACTION, or internal stimuli, such as the concentrations of OXYGEN and CARBON DIOXIDE in the blood.
|