The geniculate ganglion is located in the facial canal in the petrous portion of the temporal bone. This ganglion, comparable to a dorsal root ganglion, contains the cell bodies of the axons that innervate taste buds on the anterior 2/3 of the tongue. The arrow points to the facial canal (yellow) at the genu.
Attribution:
Stephen C. Voron, M.D., Suzanne S. Stensaas, Ph.D. , Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Utah, School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah 84132, http://library.med.utah.edu/kw/hyperbrain