Tympanic nerve

The tympanic nerve (nerve of Jacobson) is a branch of the glossopharyngeal nerve found near the ear.

Path

It arises from the petrous ganglion, and ascends to the tympanic cavity through a small canal, the inferior tympanic canaliculus, on the under surface of the petrous portion of the temporal bone on the ridge which separates the carotid canal from the jugular fossa.

In the tympanic cavity it divides into branches which form the tympanic plexus and are contained in grooves upon the surface of the promontory.

Jacobson's nerve contains both sensory and secretory fibers.

The postganglionic parasympathetic fibers are then distributed via the auriculotemporal nerve (branch of the trigeminal nerve) to the parotid gland.