Overview:

Introduction

The Cranial Nerves are so called because they pass through the various foramina (holes) of the cranial bones.  They are denoted by a roman numeral and a name.  The name refers to their function or distribution and the numeral refers to the point at which it arises from the brain.  Below are some key introductory facts regarding the cranial nerves.

The cranial nerves consist of 12 bilaterally paired sets of nerves in the human body.
These nerves are numbered from anterior to posterior as they arise from the brain. 
The origin or termination of the nerve dictates its’ function and name. 
They are able to reach these locations by passing through the foramina of the cranial bones.
The type of fibres that make up the nerve dictate it's nerve type, as highlighted below. 

There is more general information below and the tabs above look in more detail at a particular nerve.

Anatomical Overview

Below is an image demonstrating the nerves numbering from anterior to posterior as they arise from the brain.

The image below is taken and modified from Wiki Commons under the Creative Commons License.

Nerve Type

Cranial nerves can contain sensory axons, motor axons or a mixture of both.
A key feature of this organisation is that:

            - The cell bodies of sensory neurons lie in ganglia outside the brain.

            - The cell bodies of motor neurons lie in nuclei within the brain.

Aims & Objectives

This website addresses the Cranial Nerves VIII to XII and aims to provide a factual summary of their key characteristics such as:

-Name                                                             -Function

-Origin                                                             -Insertion

-Foramina                                                        -Nerve Type

Banner image courtesy of Flickr under the Creative Commons License.