cranial nerves
Brainstem's sensory cables
Cranial nerves are the twelve pairs of nerves that emerge directly from the brain and brainstem rather than the spinal cord.
They control sensory and motor functions of the head and neck—vision, hearing, smell, taste, facial movement, eye movement—and one, the vagus nerve, extends to organs in the chest and abdomen.
Medical students memorize them by number: The third cranial nerve controls most eye movements.
Of the sense detecting odors
- opticOf the eye
- oculomotorEye movement nerve
- trigeminalThree-branched facial nerve
- facialBeauty service for skin
vagus · accessory · nuclei · foramina · ganglia · brainstem · innervation · pathways
Paralysis with trembling
- lesionArea of pathological change
- neuralgiaSharp pain from irritated nerves
- neuritisInflamed neural tissue disorder
- paralysisLoss of muscle function
deficit · examination · Bell's palsy · anosmia · diplopia · dysphagia · dysarthria · ptosis
Shifting of one's gaze
- facial expressionEmotive muscle positioning
- masticationTeeth-based food breakdown
- swallowingIngesting via throat muscles
- speechOral communication ability
tongue movement · head rotation · shoulder shrug · efferent · voluntary · extraocular · mimetic · deglutition
Sense of scent detection
- visionAbility to see
- hearingPerceiving sound waves
- tasteFlavor perception ability
- equilibriumState of balance
vestibular · photoreception · audition · gustation · chemoreception · proprioception · afferent · sensation
Nerve system promoting rest
- vagalOf the tenth cranial nerve
- salivationMouth producing digestive fluid
- lacrimationSecretion of tears
- pupillaryOf the eye's opening
cardiac · visceral · glandular · secretion · heart rate · digestion · smooth muscle · acetylcholine
olfactory
Of the sense detecting odors
- opticOf the eye
- oculomotorEye movement nerve
- trigeminalThree-branched facial nerve
facial · vagus · accessory · nuclei · foramina · ganglia · brainstem · innervation · pathways · pairs
palsy
Paralysis with trembling
- lesionArea of pathological change
- neuralgiaSharp pain from irritated nerves
- neuritisInflamed neural tissue disorder
paralysis · deficit · examination · Bell's palsy · anosmia · diplopia · dysphagia · dysarthria · ptosis · nystagmus
eye movement
Shifting of one's gaze
- facial expressionEmotive muscle positioning
- masticationTeeth-based food breakdown
- swallowingIngesting via throat muscles
speech · tongue movement · head rotation · shoulder shrug · efferent · voluntary · extraocular · mimetic · deglutition · phonation
olfaction
Sense of scent detection
equilibrium · vestibular · photoreception · audition · gustation · chemoreception · proprioception · afferent · sensation · perception
parasympathetic
Nerve system promoting rest
- vagalOf the tenth cranial nerve
- salivationMouth producing digestive fluid
- lacrimationSecretion of tears
pupillary · cardiac · visceral · glandular · secretion · heart rate · digestion · smooth muscle · acetylcholine · rest and digest
- nervous systembrain, neurons, spinal cord, axon, dendrite
- neurologybrain, neuron, neurons, synapse, synapses
- anatomy diagramsanatomy chart, anatomy poster, muscle diagram, body systems, labeled diagram
- brain partscerebellum, hippocampus, brainstem, thalamus, hypothalamus
- nervesspinal cord
- physical exampalpation, auscultation, percussion, vital signs, vitals
cranial nervesbrain
Seat of cognition
spinal cord · central nervous system · cerebral cortex · brainstem · cerebrum
nerve, nerves, cranium, cranial, crania, intracranial, craniofacial, cranial nerve, cranially