The external laryngeal nerve is the smaller, external branch (ramus externus) of the superior laryngeal nerve. It descends on the larynx, beneath the sternothyroid muscle, to supply the cricothyroid muscle.
It functions to tense the vocal cords by activating the cricothyroid muscle, increasing pitch.
It gives branches to the pharyngeal plexus and the superior portion of the inferior pharyngeal constrictor, and communicates with the superior cardiac nerve behind the common carotid artery.
Read more about External Laryngeal Nerve: Clinical Significance
Famous quotes containing the words external and/or nerve:
“All in all, the creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act. This becomes even more obvious when posterity gives its final verdict and sometimes rehabilitates forgotten artists.”
—Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968)
“There must be some nerve and heroism in our love, as of a winter morning.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)