Clinical Cranial Nerve Testing Flashcards
Clinically Relevant anatomy of cranial nerve testing.
Olfactory Nerve is
special sensory
Optic nerve is
special sensory
Oculomotor nerve is
motor and parasympathetic
Trochlear nerve
is motor
Trigeminal Nerve is
V1+2 are sensory only, V3 is sensory and motor.
Abducent nerve is
motor
Facial nerve is
special sensory, motor and parasympathetic.
Vestibulocochlear is
Special sensory
Glossopharyngeal is
special sensory, sensory, motor and parasympathetic.
Vagus nerve is
sensory, motor, parasympathetic and visceral afferent.
Spinal accessory nerve is
motor
Hypoglossal nerve is
motor.
Cranial nerves from the midbrain
Oculomotor and trochlear
Cranial nerves from the pons
V1,2,3
The cranial nerve from the pontomedullary junction
Abducens, facial, and vestibulocochlear.
Cranial nerves from the medulla oblongata
Glossopharyngeal, vagus, hypoglossal.
The spinal nerve from the spinal cord
Spinal accessory.
The olfactory nerve leaves the skull via
The cribriform plate of the ethmoid.
Base of skull fracture can lead to anosmia T/F
T - can be regained as olfactory nerves grow back
Only cranial nerve found in the anterior cranial fossa?
Olfactory nerve
The optic nerve goes through the
Optic canal
Course of optic nerve
Optic nerve goes through the optic canal in the middle cranial fossa. It travels around the pituitary stack to the optic chiasm, to form the optic tract. Connect to the CNS via the diencephalon.
5 Ways to test the optic nerve
Acuity (Snellen charts), colour (Ishihara plates - colour blindness), fields (four quadrants), reflexes (pupillary light reflexes), fundoscopy.
Nerves that go through the superior orbital fissure
Oculomotor, trochlear, abducens. Frontal, lacrimal and nasocilliary branches of V1.
How to test CNIII parasympathetics?
Use a light to check for pupillary contraction.
Trochlear nerve supplies the
superior oblique muscle.
Abducent nerve supplies the
Lateral rectus muscle
The abducents nerves travel through the
cavernous sinus and the superior orbital fissure.
The vestibulocochlear nerve travels through which cranial foramen
Internal aucoustisc meatus, in the posterior cranial fossa