The tympanic nerve also contributes GVE fibers, which leave the tympanic plexus in the lesser petrosal nerve—a small nerve that exits the temporal bone, enters the middle cranial fossa, and descends through the foramen ovale to exit the cranial cavity carrying preganglionic parasympathetic fibers to the otic ganglion (Table 8.6).
The vagus nerve [X] carries GSA, GVA, SA, GVE, and
BE fibers: