The term special visceral afferents (SVA) refers to nerve fibers in the cranial nerves that innervate the tongue and epiglottis and convey taste information to the gustatory nucleus in the rostral part of the solitary nucleus. Olfactory nerve afferents are considered special visceral afferents, as are the baroreceptors and chemoreceptors innervated by the facial nerve, the glossopharyngeal nerve, and the vagus nerve ( Carpenter-1983 )