Cranial Nerve Overview

Authors

Affiliations

Nate Yomogida, PT, DPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.S. in Kinesiology

Chloë Kerstein, PT, DPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.A. in Neuroscience

Function: - Ventral = Motor - Dorsal = Sensory

Anatomy:

Table 1: Cranial Nerve Origins

		CN
Cerebrum	Telencephalon	Olfactory CN I
	Diencephalon	Optic CN II
Midbrain		Oculomotor CN III
		Trochlear CN IV
Brainstem	Pons	Trigeminal CN V
	Pontomedullary junction	Abducens CN VI
		Facial CN VII
		Vestibulocochlear CN VIII
	Medulla	Glossopharyngeal CN IX
		Vagus CN X
		Hypoglossal CN XII
Spinal cord		Accessory CN XI
Source: Blumenfeld1

Cranial Nerve Pathways

Parasympathetic Pathways

Cranial Nerve Sympathetic Pathways

Nuclei

Table 2: Classification of Cranial Nerve Nuclei into Motor and Sensory Columns

Classification		Function(s)	Nuclei	Cranial nerve(s)
Motor
Somatic motor	General somatic efferent	Extraocular muscles Intrinsic tongue muscles	Oculomotor nucleus	CN III
			Trochlear	CN IV
			Abducens	CN VI
			Hypoglossal	CN XII
Branchial motor	Special visceral efferent	Muscles of mastication, Facial expression, Middle ear, Pharynx, Larynx, Sternomastoid, Upper trapezius	Trigeminal motor	CN V
			Facial nucleus	CN VII
			Nucleus ambiguous	CN IX, X
			Accessory spinal	CN XI
Parasympathetic motor	General visceral efferent	Parasympathetic innervation of head and viscera above the splenic flexure	Edinger-Westphal	CN III
			Superior salivatory	CN VII
			Inferior salivatory	CN IX
			Dorsal motor nucleus	CN X
Sensory
Visceral sensory	Special visceral afferent	Taste	Nucleus solitarius (rostral portion)	CN VII, IX, X
Visceral sensory	General visceral afferent	Afferents for cardiorespiratory control and digestion	Nucleus solitarius (caudal portion)	CN IX & X
General somatic sensory	General somatic afferent	Touch, pain, temperature, position, and vibration sense of face, sinuses, and meninges	Trigeminal nuclei	CN V, VII, IX, X
Special somatic sensory	Special somatic afferent	Olfaction, vision, hearing, vestibular sensation	Cochlear nuclei, vestibular nuclei	CN VIII
Source: Blumenfeld1

References

1.

Blumenfeld H. Neuroanatomy Through Clinical Cases. 3rd ed. Oxford university press; 2022.