The suboccipital nerve (first cervical dorsal ramus) is the dorsal primary ramus of the first

cervical nerve A spinal nerve is a mixed nerve, which carries motor, sensory, and autonomic signals between the spinal cord and the body. In the human body there are 31 pairs of spinal nerves, one on each side of the vertebral column. These are grouped into the ...

(C1). It exits the

spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue, which extends from the medulla oblongata in the brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone). The backbone encloses the central canal of the sp ...

between the

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, th ...

and the first cervical vertebra, the

atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geogra ...

. It lies within the suboccipital triangle along with the

vertebral artery The vertebral arteries are major arteries of the neck. Typically, the vertebral arteries originate from the subclavian arteries. Each vessel courses superiorly along each side of the neck, merging within the skull to form the single, midline ...

, where the artery enters the

foramen magnum The foramen magnum ( la, great hole) is a large, oval-shaped opening in the occipital bone of the skull. It is one of the several oval or circular openings (foramina) in the base of the skull. The spinal cord, an extension of the medulla oblon ...

. It supplies

muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of mus ...

s of the suboccipital triangle, the rectus capitis posterior major, obliquus capitis superior, and

obliquus capitis inferior The obliquus capitis inferior muscle () is the larger of the two oblique muscles of the neck. It arises from the apex of the spinous process of the axis and passes laterally and slightly upward, to be inserted into the lower and back part of the tr ...

. The suboccipital nerve also innervates

rectus capitis posterior minor The rectus capitis posterior minor (or rectus capitis posticus minor, both being Latin for ''lesser posterior straight muscle of the head'') arises by a narrow pointed tendon from the tubercle on the posterior arch of the atlas, and, widening as i ...

Additional images

File:Gray792.png, Upper part of medulla spinalis and hind- and mid-brains; posterior aspect, exposed in situ. File:Suboccipital_triangle.PNG, Suboccipital triangle

References

Spinal nerves {{Neuroanatomy-stub

See also

Additional images

References