Collection

Cranial nerves

The cranial nerves are twelve paired nerves that arise directly from the brain and brainstem rather than from the spinal cord. They are numbered I to XII in the order they emerge, and between them they carry smell, vision, eye movements, facial sensation and expression, hearing and balance, taste, swallowing, and the parasympathetic supply that the vagus nerve extends into the thorax and abdomen.

All twelve cranial nerves in the AnatoMemory reference are listed below in numerical order. Each card covers the nerve's course, its motor and sensory territory, and the deficits that follow injury.

12 structures

Study guide for this topic: How to memorize the cranial nerves.