| Spinal accessory nucleus | |
|---|---|
 The cranial nerve nuclei schematically represented; dorsal view. Motor nuclei in red; sensory in blue. (Spinal accessory nucleus is at "XI".) | |
| Details | |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | nucleus nervi accessorii, nucleus spinalis nervi accessorii |
| NeuroNames | 1708 |
| Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy | |
The spinal accessory nucleus lies within the cervical spinal cord (C1-C5) in the posterolateral aspect of the anterior horn. The nucleus ambiguus is classically said to provide the "cranial component" of the accessory nerve. However, the very existence of this cranial component has been recently questioned and seen as contributing exclusively to the vagus nerve.
Contents
The terminology continues to be used in describing both human anatomy, [1] and that of other animals. [2]
