Cranial nerves Totally Explained

Everything about Cranial Nerve totally explained

Cranial nerves are nerves that emerge directly from the brain in contrast to spinal nerves which emerge from segments of the spinal cord. Although thirteen cranial nerves in humans fit this description, twelve are conventionally recognized. The nerves from the third onward arise from the brain stem.Except for the tenth and the eleventh nerve, they primarily serve the motor and sensory systems of the head and neck region. However, unlike peripheral nerves which are separated to achieve segmental innervation, cranial nerves are divided to serve one or a few specific functions in wider anatomical territories.

Names of Nerves

The 12 pairs of cranial nerves are traditionally abbreviated by the corresponding Roman numerals. They are numbered according to where their nuclei lie in the brain stem, for example Cranial Nerve III (the Oculomotor nerve) leaves the brainstem at a higher position than Cranial nerve XII, whose origin is located more caudally (lower) than the other cranial nerves.

#	Name	Nuclei	Function
0	Cranial nerve zero (CN0 isn't traditionally recognized.)		Still controversial New research indicates CN0 may play a role in the detection of pheromones
I	Olfactory nerve	Anterior olfactory nucleus	Transmits the sense of smell; Located in olfactory foramina of ethmoid
II	Optic nerve	Lateral geniculate nucleus	Transmits visual information to the brain; Located in optic canal
III	Oculomotor nerve	Oculomotor nucleus, Edinger-Westphal nucleus	Innervates levator palpebrae superioris, superior rectus, medial rectus, inferior rectus, and inferior oblique, which collectively perform most eye movements; Located in superior orbital fissure
IV	Trochlear nerve	Trochlear nucleus	Innervates the superior oblique muscle, which depresses, pulls laterally, and intorts the eyeball; Located in superior orbital fissure
V	Trigeminal nerve	Principal sensory trigeminal nucleus, Spinal trigeminal nucleus, Mesencephalic trigeminal nucleus, Trigeminal motor nucleus	Receives sensation from the face and innervates the muscles of mastication; Located in superior orbital fissure (ophthalmic branch), foramen rotundum (maxillary branch), and foramen ovale (mandibular branch)
VI	Abducens nerve	Abducens nucleus	Innervates the lateral rectus, which abducts the eye; Located in superior orbital fissure
VII	Facial nerve	Facial nucleus, Solitary nucleus, Superior salivary nucleus	Provides motor innervation to the muscles of facial expression and stapedius, receives the special sense of taste from the anterior 2/3 of the tongue, and provides secretomotor innervation to the salivary glands (except parotid) and the lacrimal gland; Located and runs through internal acoustic canal to facial canal and exits at stylomastoid foramen
VIII	Vestibulocochlear nerve (or auditory-vestibular nerve or statoacustic nerve)	Vestibular nuclei, Cochlear nuclei	Senses sound, rotation and gravity (essential for balance & movement; Located in internal acoustic canal
IX	Glossopharyngeal nerve	Nucleus ambiguus, Inferior salivary nucleus, Solitary nucleus	Receives taste from the posterior 1/3 of the tongue, provides secretomotor innervation to the parotid gland, and provides motor innervation to the stylopharyngeus (essential for tactile, pain, and thermal sensation). Sensation is relayed to opposite thalamus and some hypothalamic nuclei. Located in jugular foramen
X	Vagus nerve	Nucleus ambiguus, Dorsal motor vagal nucleus, Solitary nucleus	Supplies branchiomotor innervation to most laryngeal and pharyngeal muscles; provides parasympathetic fibers to nearly all thoracic and abdominal viscera down to the splenic flexure; and receives the special sense of taste from the epiglottis. A major function: controls muscles for voice and resonance and the soft palate. Symptoms of damage: dysphagia (swallowing problems). Located in jugular foramen
XI	Accessory nerve (or cranial accessory nerve or spinal accessory nerve)	Nucleus ambiguus, Spinal accessory nucleus	Controls muscles of the neck and overlaps with functions of the vagus. Examples of symptoms of damage: inability to shrug, weak head movement, velopharyngeal insufficiency; Located in jugular foramen
XII	Hypoglossal nerve	Hypoglossal nucleus	Provides motor innervation to the muscles of the tongue and other glossal muscles. Important for swallowing (bolus formation) and speech articulation. Located in hypoglossal canal

Cranial nerves in non-human vertebrates

Human cranial nerves are evolutionarily homologous to those found in many other vertebrates. Cranial nerves XI and XII evolved in the common ancestor to amniotes (non-amphibian tetrapods) thus totalling twelve pairs. These characters are synapomorphies for their respective clades. In some primitive cartilagenous fishes, such as the dogfish (Squalos acanthos), there's a terminal nerve numbered zero (as it exits the brain before the first cranial nerve).

Mnemonic devices

As the list is important to keep in mind during the examination of the nervous system, there are many mnemonic devices in circulation to help remember the names and order of the cranial nerves. Because the mind recalls rhymes well, the best mnemonics often use rhyming schemes. The best known example is, "On Old Olympus' Towering Tops A Finn And German Viewed Some Hops," where And represents auditory vestibular and Some represents spinal accessory. There are numerous mnemonics one example: "Ohh, Ohh, Oh, To Touch And Feel Virgin Girls' Vaginas And Hymens". The cleaned up version used in most Anatomy textbooks is "Ohh, Ohh, Oh, To Touch And Feel Very Good Velvet, AH"
Another to help remember the types of information these nerves carry (sensory, motor, or both) is thus:

Some Say Marry Money, But My Brother Says Big Boobs Matter More.

For additional memonics, see

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