Though more than 300 years have elapsed since the first description of the peculiar course of the spinal accessory (XI) nerve by Willis (1664), the crucial problems concerning what is known as accessory field of musculature and its innervation are still unsolved and a matter of controversy. Like the bulbar XI, the spinal XI nerve is commonly regarded as originally a branch of the vagus and, therefore, as a cranial nerve (Fiirbringer 1897; Gegenbaur 1898; Lubosch 1899). However, whether this nerve is of special visceral or somatic derivation is still debated. The conventional distinction...
Though more than 300 years have elapsed since the first description of the peculiar course of the spinal accessory (XI) nerve by Willis (1664), the cr...
