[2][3] However, a small study in 2007[4] followed by a substantially larger study published in 2012[5] both confirmed that the cranial root of the accessory nerve is commonly found in humans, matching traditional descriptions.

It then passes through the jugular foramen, separates from the spinal portion and is continued over the surface of the ganglion nodosum of the vagus, to the surface of which it is adherent, and is distributed principally to the pharyngeal and superior laryngeal branches of the vagus.

Through the pharyngeal branch it probably supplies the Musculus uvulæ and Levator veli palatini.

As the fibers from the presumptive cranial root may not join the accessory nerve at all or at best for a very short distance within the jugular foramen, it appears more useful to consider them in general to be part of the cranial roots of the vagal nerve.

This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 913 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)