Intro | Abducens | Facial | Glossopharyngeal | Hypoglossal | Oculomotor | Optic | Spinal Accessory | Statoacoustic | Trigeminal | Trochlear | Vagus
Part 1: Image-Mapped Tutorial
Part 2: Matching Self-Test
Part 3: Multiple-Choice Self-Test
Cranial Nerve 5 - Trigeminal (V)
The trigeminal nerve conveys sensory information from skin of the face, nose, and mouth. The trigeminal nerve also controls the jaw and throat muscles involved in chewing and swallowing.
| Advanced |
The trigeminal nerve is the largest of the cranial nerves (Parent, 1996). There are three main branches to this nerve, the ophthalmic, maxillary, and mandibular. The motor portion is a part of the mandibular branch, and originates in the pons to pass through the foramen ovale (oval shaped opening or passage) before terminating in the muscles of mastication (chewing). The sensory portion of cranial nerve V, contained in the ophthalmic branch, conveys information from the skin of the upper eyelid, eyeball, lacrimal gland, nasal cavity, side of the nose, forehead, and the anterior half of the skull. Sensory fibers in the maxillary branch come from the mucosa of the nose, palate, parts of the pharynx, upper teeth, upper lip and lower eyelid. These fibers pass through the foramen rotundum (round shaped, opening or passage) of the skull and end in the pons. Finally, the sensory fibers of the mandibular branch originate from the anterior two-thirds of the tongue, lower teeth, skin over the mandible, the cheek and mucosa, and the side of the head anterior to the ear. These fibers pass through the foramen ovale of the skull and end in the pons. Each branch of the trigeminal nerve conveys the somatosensory sensations of touch, pain, and temperature.
| Reference |
Parent, A. (1996). Carpenter's human neuroanatomy (9th ed.). London: Williams & Wilkins.