neuroanatomy Neuroanatomy is the study of the structure and organization of the nervous system. In contrast to animals with radial symmetry, whose nervous system consists of a distributed network of cells, animals with bilateral symmetry have segregated, defin ...

, the cranial nerve ganglia are

ganglia A ganglion is a group of neuron cell bodies in the peripheral nervous system. In the somatic nervous system this includes dorsal root ganglia and trigeminal ganglia among a few others. In the autonomic nervous system there are both sympath ...

of certain

cranial nerves 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 ...

. They can be

parasympathetic The parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) is one of the three divisions of the autonomic nervous system, the others being the sympathetic nervous system and the enteric nervous system. The enteric nervous system is sometimes considered part o ...

or sensory. All cranial nerve ganglia are bilateral.

Parasympathetic

The four cranial parasympathetic ganglia are: * ciliary ganglion * pterygopalatine ganglion *

otic ganglion The otic ganglion is a small parasympathetic ganglion located immediately below the foramen ovale (skull), foramen ovale in the infratemporal fossa and on the medial surface of the mandibular nerve. It is functionally associated with the glossopha ...

submandibular ganglion The submandibular ganglion (or submaxillary ganglion in older texts) is part of the human autonomic nervous system. It is one of four parasympathetic ganglia of the head and neck. (The others are the otic ganglion, pterygopalatine ganglion, and ...

Sensory

* trigeminal ganglion (CN V) * geniculate ganglion (CN VII) * spiral ganglion (CN VIII) * vestibular ganglion aka Scarpa's ganglion (CN VIII) * superior ganglion of glossopharyngeal nerve * inferior ganglion of glossopharyngeal nerve *

superior ganglion of vagus nerve The superior ganglion of the vagus nerve, (jugular ganglion) is a sensory ganglion of the peripheral nervous system. It is located within the jugular foramen, where the vagus nerve exits the skull. It is smaller than and proximal to the inferior ...

* inferior ganglion of vagus nerve

References

Nervous ganglia {{neuroanatomy-stub