GPN Neurology Abbreviation

Glossopharyngeal Nerve

The glossopharyngeal nerve, known as the ninth cranial nerve is a mixed nerve that carries afferent sensory and efferent motor information. It exits the brainstem out from the sides of the upper medulla, just rostral to the vagus nerve. The motor division of the glossopharyngeal nerve is derived from the basal plate of the embryonic medulla oblongata, while the sensory division originates from the cranial neural crest.