Superior Cervical Ganglion

The superior cervical ganglion (SCG) is part of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) responsible for maintaining homeostasis of the body. More specifically it is part of the sympathetic nervous system, a subsection of the ANS responsible for the use of energy. The ANS is composed of pathways that lead to and from ganglia, groups of nerve cells. A ganglion allows a large amount of divergence in a neuronal pathway and also enable a more localized circuitry for control of the innervated targets. The SCG is the only ganglia in the sympathetic nervous system that innervates the head and neck. It is the largest and most rostral of the three cervical ganglia. The SCG innervates many organs, glands and parts of the carotid system in the head.