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 4 - Trochlear (IV)
The trochlear nerve conveys sensory information from selective muscles of the eye. The motor component controls the movement of the same extrinsic eye muscles.
| Advanced |
The motor fibers of cranial nerve IV originate in the midbrain and pass through the superior orbital fissure (narrow slit or cleft, above the orbit) of the skull (Parent, 1996). These fibers distribute to the superior oblique muscle, which is extrinsic to the eyeball. Contraction of this muscle causes the eye to move up and out. Sensory fibers of this nerve supply proprioception information from the superior oblique muscle.
| Reference |
Parent, A. (1996). Carpenter's human neuroanatomy (9th ed.). London: Williams & Wilkins.