The tenth cranial nerve. Unlike the other cranial nerves, which are concerned with the special senses, or distributed to the skin and muscles of the head and neck, this nerve (as its name implies – Latin for ‘wanderer’), passes downwards into the chest and abdomen, supplying branches to the throat, lungs, heart, stomach and other abdominal organs. It contains motor, secretory, sensory and vasodilator ?bres.
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