• nose

    TITLE: nose
    ...The roof of the mouth and the floor of the nose are formed by the palatine bone, the mouth part of which is commonly called the hard palate; a flap of tissue, the soft palate, extends back into the nasopharynx, the nasal portion of the throat, and during swallowing is pressed upward, thus closing off the nasopharynx so that food is not lodged in the back of the nose.
  • respiratory system

    TITLE: human respiratory system: The pharynx
    SECTION: The pharynx
    For the anatomical description, the pharynx can be divided into three floors. The upper floor, the nasopharynx, is primarily a passageway for air and secretions from the nose to the oral pharynx. It is also connected to the tympanic cavity of the middle ear through the auditory tubes that open on both lateral walls. The act of swallowing opens briefly the normally collapsed auditory tubes and...