Branches of the facial cranial nerve, the chorda tympani, innervate taste buds in the anterior 2/3 of the tongue and part of the soft palate. The glossopharyngeal innervate the posterior 1/3 of the tongue. Both the vagus and glossopharyngeal nerves innervate the pharynx and epiglottis. Axons of these three cranial nerves terminate on 2nd order sensory neurons in the nucleus of the solitary tract. From this site in the rostral medulla, axons project into the parabrachial nucleus in lower animals but not in humans. In humans, fibers of the 2nd order neurons travel through the ipsilateral central tegmental tract to the 3rd order sensory neurons in the ventroposterior medial nucleus (VPM) of the thalamus. The VPM projects to the ipsilateral gustatory cortex located near the post-central gyrus representing the tongue or to the insular cortex