Hi, I'm Meris. And in this video, I'm going to be talking to you about an overview of the cranial nerves, including their numbers, names, their type, their function, and some mnemonics to help you remember them. I'm going to be following along using our health assessment flashcards. These are available on our website, leveluprn.com, if you want to grab a set for yourself as a hard set.
Or you can get digital flashcards right now by going up to leveluprn.com and checking out our Flashables, our digital flashcards. They're awesome. You won't regret it. But either way, I hope you grab yours and follow along with me. All right. Let's get started.
All right. So let's do a rundown for you of the cranial nerves, their numbers, names, type, and function.
And when I say number, we number our cranial nerves 1 to 12.
Then we have a name for the cranial nerve. The type refers to, is it sensory, motor, or both?
And then the function is what is the function? What does that nerve do?
So let's start off with cranial nerve one, olfactory. So I always think of this as like you got one nose, right? You got one nose. Olfactory. So cranial nerve one is olfactory. This is a sensory-only nerve, and its function is sense of smell. Very easy, right?
Cranial nerve II, you've got two eyes. One nose, two eyes, right? Cranial nerve II is your optic nerve, and this one is also just sensory. And the function here is your sense of vision. This is your visual acuity.
Cranial nerve III, this is oculomotor. And as its name may suggest, it is a motor-only neuron. And the function here of cranial nerve III is going to be most eye movements and pupillary constriction.
Cranial nerve IV, this is your trochlear nerve. This is going to be a motor neuron as well. And this one has a unique function in that it controls downward, inward, and outward movements of the eyes. So down, in, and out, just not up. And it doesn't control that constriction of the pupil either.
Next up, we're talking about cranial nerve V. V is trigeminal, and trigeminal has both a sensory and a motor component. And its job here is going to be facial sensation and chewing. Okay?
Up next, we're talking about cranial nerve VI, abducens, which is a motor-only neuron. And this one controls outward eye movement. It abducts outward eye movement. It abducts the eye.
Now moving on, we're going to talk about cranial nerve number VII. This is facial. And the facial nerve is a mixed, so it has both sensory and motor functions. This one controls taste on the anterior two-thirds of the tongue. So the first two-thirds of the tongue and facial movements. So that's cranial nerve VII.
Cranial nerve VIII. This one has two names you might hear, either vestibulocochlear or acoustic. And either way, this is a sensory-only nerve. What is the function of this one? Hearing and balance. So hearing and balance are controlled by cranial nerve eight, vestibulocochlear or acoustic.
Moving on, we're talking about cranial nerve IX, glossopharyngeal. And this one is both sensory and motor. This one controls taste on the posterior one-third of the tongue, so the back one-third of the tongue, the gag reflex, pharyngeal muscles, and control of the parotid gland.
Moving on to cranial nerve X, the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is both sensory and motor. And this one is going to have thoracic and abdominal organ sensation along with gag reflex and other pharyngeal muscles.
Now, cranial nerve XI, this one, you will either hear it called spinal accessory, which is what we call it. Some places do refer to this just as the accessory nerve, but the correct name is the spinal accessory. This is a motor neuron only. And the function here is going to be sternocleidomastoid and trapezius muscle movements. That is why I can assess this with that shoulder shrug.
And then cranial nerve XII, this is hypoglossal. This is going to be a motor neuron. And this one is responsible for tongue movement.
Now, if you know us, you know that we here at Level Up RN do love our mnemonics. We have our own cool chicken mnemonics, which we call out here in our cards and in our videos. And I'm going to go over these with you.
So we've got two mnemonics. We have one to help you remember the names of the cranial nerves, and we have one to help you remember the type of cranial nerves. And either way, it goes in order from cranial nerve I down through XII.
So our mnemonic to help you remember the names is, "Only One Of The Two Athletes Feels Very Good, Victorious, & Super Healthy." So that's going to be for olfactory, optic, oculomotor, trochlear, trigeminal, abducens, facial, vestibulocochlear, glossopharyngeal, vagus, spinal accessory, and hypoglossal.
Now, to remember the type of cranial nerve, whether that is sensory, motor, or both, we use an old standard mnemonic that is well-loved, which is "Some Say Marry Money But My Brother Says Big
Brains Matter More." And I would be inclined to agree with your brother. So that's going to be a sensory, sensory, motor, motor, both motor, both sensory, both, both motor, motor. Just gives you the ability to quickly go through and remember the names and are they sensorimotor or both.
I will give you just a little heads up that if you are in a program that allows you a piece of scratch paper, when you sit down for an exam where you know you're going to be tested on the cranial nerves, you should go ahead and write down both mnemonics, just the first letters of both of them, so that you can quickly identify the name and the type of nerve without having to go through it in your head each time if your school allows you to have scratch paper.
All right, now let's test your knowledge of some key facts I provided in this video with these quiz questions.
Identify the name and type of cranial nerve V.
The trigeminal nerve, which has both sensory and motor components.
Which cranial nerves only have sensory functions?
Cranial nerves I, II, and VIII, olfactory, optic, and vestibulocochlear.
All right, that is it for this video. I hope this was a useful review for you. Thanks so much, and happy studying.
