Spinal accessory nucleus
Encyclopedia
The spinal accessory nucleus lies within the cervical spinal cord
Spinal cord
The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular bundle of nervous tissue and support cells that extends from the brain . The brain and spinal cord together make up the central nervous system...

 (C1-C5) in the ventral horn. The nucleus ambiguus
Nucleus ambiguus
The nucleus ambiguus is a region of histologically disparate cells located just dorsal to the inferior olivary nucleus in the lateral portion of the upper medulla...

 is classically said to provide the "cranial component" of the accessory nerve
Accessory nerve
In anatomy, the accessory nerve is a nerve that controls specific muscles of the shoulder and neck. As part of it was formerly believed to originate in the brain, it is considered a cranial nerve...

.

However, the very existence of this cranial component has been recently questioned and seen as contributing exclusively to the vagus nerve
Vagus nerve
The vagus nerve , also called pneumogastric nerve or cranial nerve X, is the tenth of twelve paired cranial nerves...

.

The terminology continues to be used in describing both human anatomy, and that of other animals.

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