2020 Online Salon
Pathway of the Chorda Tympani

Project Details
- Entrant Name: Emily Wu
- Membership Type: Student Submission
- Address:Baltimore, Maryland USA
- Client: Dr. Elizabeth St Clair
- Copyright: 2020 Emily Wu
- Medium/software used: Graphite, Photoshop
- Final presentation format: Print, Lecture
- Primary Audience: Medical students
Project Description
This illustration depicts the pathway of the chorda tympani as it travels from the middle ear to the lingual nerve. An overview on the left establishes general structural relationships and orients the viewer within the skull. The larger cutaway view on the right reveals how the chorda tympani travels through the middle ear, crosses the petrotympanic fissure, and passes the spine of the sphenoid bone to reach the lingual nerve. This three-quarter view with a section of the skull base removed provides a depiction of the chorda tympani in the context of structures relevant for a medical school human anatomy curriculum. A schematic figure on the lower right aims to emphasize how the fibers of the chorda tympani pass through the middle ear to innervate the tongue and salivary glands.