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Classification of Cranial nerves based on Sensory, Motor and their Functions

December 28, 2012 by Dr. Varun Pandula 10 Comments

There are 12 cranial nerves which supply the head and neck region and have varied functions of purely sensory, purely motor and mixed type. Vagus is the only nerve which supplies to parts other than head and neck region like Lungs, Heart, Intestine and Stomach.
I have divided the Functions of the 12 cranial nerves to make it easy to remember for you. and which is really helpful in National Boards exams and Entrance examinations.

Classification of Cranial Nerves based on their type and function:

  1. Purely Sensory cranial nerves: I, II, VIII
  2. Purely Motor cranial nerves: III, IV, VI, VII, XI, XII
  3. Mixed Motor and Sensory Nerve Fibers: IX, X
  4. Cranial nerves which absorb CSF: I, II, VII, VIII
  5. Cranial nerves which originate from medulla: IX, X, XI, XII
  6. Cranial nerves which are attached to Pons: V, VI, VII, VIII
  7. Smallest cranial nerve: Trochlear nerve
  8. Cranial nerve with longest intra cranial course: Trochlear nerve
  9. Only cranial nerve which emerges dorsally from the brainstem: Trochlear
  10. Longest extra cranial nerve course of cranial nerve: Vagus

Classification of Cranial nerves
Mnemonic to remember Sensory, Motor and Mixed Cranial Nerves: :

“Some say marry money but my brother says big brains matter more”

S: sensory (olfactory nerve – CN I)
S: sensory (optic nerve – CN II)
M: motor (oculomotor nerve – CN III)
M: motor (trochlear nerve – CN IV)
B: both (trigeminal nerve – CN V)
M: motor (abducens nerve – CN VI)
B: both (facial nerve – CN VII)
S: sensory (vestibulocochlear nerve – CN VIII)
B: both (glossopharyngeal nerve CN IX)
B: both (vagus nerve – CN X)
M: motor (spinal accessory nerve – CN XI)
M: motor (hypoglossal nerve – CN XII)
Source: Radiopaedia.org

12 cranial nerves if you are confused with the numbering of the cranial nerves: 

  1. Olfactory Nerve
  2. Optic Nerve
  3. Oculomotor Nerve
  4. Trochlear Nerve
  5. Trigeminal Nerve
  6. Abducent Nerve
  7. Facial Nerve
  8. Vestibulocochlear Nerve
  9. Glossopharyngeal Nerve
  10. Vagus Nerve
  11. Spinal Accessory Nerve
  12. Hypoglossal Nerve

There are Spinal nerves as well which should not be confused with cranial nerves as they arise from the Spinal Cord on both the left and right side which are 31 pairs in number. These 31 Spinal nerves are mixed type supplying to many parts of the body. These are further divided into 5 types Cervical, Thorasic, Lumbar, Saccral and Coccygeal nerves.

Comments

  1. keti says

    April 26, 2015 at 6:28 pm

    7 and 5 are mixed nerves

  2. manish says

    September 10, 2015 at 4:35 am

    5,7,9,10 are mixed nerves.

    7 has both SVE and SVA fibers.

    1,2,8 – sensory

    3,4,6,11,12 – mainly motots

  3. nagendra maurya says

    September 11, 2016 at 8:41 am

    trigeminal is also a mixed nerve?

  4. Varun says

    September 11, 2016 at 3:25 pm

    As the ophthalmic (V1, sensory), maxillary (V2, sensory) and mandibular (V3, motor and sensory) branches we can say that the Trigeminal is a mixed nerve.

  5. Nuhu says

    October 13, 2017 at 4:10 pm

    So helpful

  6. kebeyi irene says

    May 3, 2018 at 1:21 pm

    what are the functions of each

  7. Shahbaz Ali says

    May 8, 2018 at 11:17 am

    Most helpful page then other’s…

  8. Tanish says

    June 15, 2018 at 5:42 am

    Yes because it is a nerve

  9. Tanish says

    June 15, 2018 at 6:31 am

    So my anus

  10. Tanish says

    June 15, 2018 at 6:32 am

    What is nerve

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Varun Pandula

Varun Pandula

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Hi I'm Varun, I'm currently a Dental Surgeon from India practicing from the past few years. I Started this Blog to help dental students as you can see from the name and also constantly try to keep updating information which can be useful for patients and Dental Practitioners as well. You can contact me here to for any Questions. Read More…

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