Auriculotemporal nerve

The posterior and larger division of the mandibular nerve is for the most part sensory, but receives a few filaments from the motor root. It divides into auriculotemporal, lingual, and inferior alveolar nerves.

The Auriculotemporal Nerve (n. auriculotemporalis) generally arises by two roots, between which the middle meningeal artery ascends. It runs backward beneath the Pterygoideus externus to the medial side of the neck of the mandible. It then turns upward with the superficial temporal artery, between the auricula and condyle of the mandible, under cover of the parotid gland; escaping from beneath the gland, it ascends over the zygomatic arch, and divides into superficial temporal branches.