Carotid canal the cranium, as well as the carotid plexus of nerves traveling on the artery. Sympathetics to the head from the superior cervical ganglion also pass through the carotid canal. They have several motor functions: raise the eyelid (superior tarsal muscle), dilate pupil, innervate sweat glands of face and scalp and constricts blood vessels in the head. Carotid canal The carotid canal is the passageway in the temporal bone through which the internal carotid artery enters the middle cranial fossa from the neck. The canal starts on the inferior surface of the temporal bone at the external opening of the carotid
Carotid body sustentacular supportive cells. The carotid body contains the most vascularized tissue in the human body . The thyroid gland is very vascular, but not quite as much as the carotid body. The carotid body functions as a sensor: it responds to a stimulus, primarily O partial pressure, which is detected by the type I (glomus) cells, and triggers an action potential through the afferent fibers of the glossopharyngeal nerve, which relays the information to the central nervous system. The carotid body chemoreceptors are primarily sensitive to decreases in the partial pressure of oxygen (P). This is in contrast to the