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The vagus nerve (/ ˈ v eɪ. ɡ ə s /), also known as the tenth cranial nerve, cranial nerve X, or simply CN X, is a cranial nerve that carries sensory and motor fibers. It creates a pathway that interfaces with the parasympathetic control of the heart, lungs, and digestive tract.
Cranial nerves are the nerves that emerge directly from the brain (including the brainstem), of which there are conventionally considered twelve pairs. Cranial nerves relay information between the brain and parts of the body, primarily to and from regions of the head and neck , including the special senses of vision , taste , smell , and hearing .
A neural pathway connects one part of the nervous system to another using bundles of axons called tracts. The optic tract that extends from the optic nerve is an example of a neural pathway because it connects the eye to the brain; additional pathways within the brain connect to the visual cortex.
Glutamate released from the upper motor neurons triggers depolarization in the lower motor neurons in the anterior grey column, which in turn causes an action potential to propagate the length of the axon to the neuromuscular junction where acetylcholine is released to carry the signal across the synaptic cleft to the postsynaptic receptors of the muscle cell membrane, signaling the muscle to ...
The following diagram is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the human nervous system: Human nervous system. Human nervous system – the part of the human body that coordinates a person's voluntary and involuntary actions and transmits signals between different parts of the body.
Cranial nerve – neuron bundles that connect to the brain on one end, and to locations outside the brain on the other, without having a junction inside the spinal column Cranial nerve zero – controversial but commonly found nerve which may be vestigial or may be related to sensing pheromones
In the brain, where nerve fibers obliquely cross from one lateral side of the brain to the other, that is to say they cross at a level other than their origin. See for examples decussation of pyramids and sensory decussation. In neuroanatomy, the term chiasma is reserved for crossing of- or within nerves such as in the optic chiasm.
The pathway helps to connect parts of the brain or nervous system that are distant, and are typically known and seen as white matter. In the vision pathway, visual information leaves the eye with the help of the optic nerve. Axons partially cross in the middle of the optic chiasm.