Which cranial nerves pass through the jugular foramen?

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The jugular foramen carries three cranial nerves: glossopharyngeal, vagus, and spinal accessory. These nerves pass through this opening as they emerge from the skull to innervate structures in the throat, neck, and thorax/abdomen regions.

Glossopharyngeal provides sensory and taste information from the posterior third of the tongue and throat, and carries parasympathetic fibers to the parotid gland with motor fibers to the stylopharyngeus. Vagus supplies motor fibers to most of the pharynx and larynx, and carries parasympathetic fibers to the thorax and abdominal viscera, along with visceral and some sensory fibers. Spinal accessory runs from the upper spinal cord, enters the skull briefly, and exits through the jugular foramen to innervate the sternocleidomastoid and trapezius muscles.

Other cranial nerves use different pathways: facial and vestibulocochlear pass through the internal acoustic meatus; the optic nerve goes through the optic canal; oculomotor, trochlear, and the ophthalmic branch traverse the superior orbital fissure; the hypoglossal nerve passes through the hypoglossal canal.