clinical relevance of middle cranial fossa (cranial nerves) (A19) Flashcards
3 types of cranial fossae
- anterior (more superior)
- middle (a little bit more inferior)
- posterior (most inferior)
bones that form the floor of the anterior cranial fossa
- frontal
- ethmoid (cribiform plate + crista gali)
- part of sphenoid
bones that form the floor of the middle cranial fossa
- sphenoid
- temporal
bones that form the floor of the posterior cranial fossa
- temporal
- occipital
nerve modalities
- modality = type of nerve fibre contained within a nerve
- CN’s can carry just one modality, but a lot of nerves carry a mix of modalities
- types of modalities:
- > somatic sensory
- > somatic motor
- > parasympthetic
- > special sensory
- > mixed
- > visceral afferent
somatic sensory nerve modality function
- take sensory info from skin etc back towards the brain
- eg. mental nerve
mental nerve
- sensory nerve innervation to skin on chin
- nerve modality=somatic sensory
- mental nerve is a branch of the inferior alveolar nerve which is a branch of the mandibular division of trigeminal nerve
somatic motor nerve modality function
- to skeletal muscle
- eg. spinal accessory
spinal accessory innervation
- trapezius
- SCM
parasympathetic nerve modality function
- part of autonomic nervous system- ‘rest and digest’
- most of the parasympathetic nerves have motor function/make you do something (secretomotor to glands etc, motor to smooth muscle)
- eg. to glands (mucous/lacrimal/salivary)
vagus nerve
- parasympathetic innervation
- goes down to abdomen
special sensory nerve modality function
-from special sence organs-carrying one of the senses (sight, taste, smell etc)
mixed nerves modality function
- carry more than 1 modalities
- eg. CNV/trigeminal (somatic sensory and somatic motor)
visceral sensory (afferent) modality function
- afferent= means the same thing as sensory
- sensory innervation coming from an organ
- from carotid body/sinus, pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi, lungs, heart, GI tract
- only really found in glossopharyngeal and vagus nerves
modalities of cranial nerves
- CNI = special sensory
- CN II = special sensory (optic = eyesight)
- CN III = mixed (somatic motor, parasympathetic)
- CN IV = somatic motor
- CN V = mixed (somatic motor, somatic sensory)
- CN VI = somatic motor
- CN VII = mixed (somatic motor for facial expression, somatic sensory, special sensory for taste, parasympathetic)
- CN VIII = special sensory
- CN IX = mixed (somatic motor, somatic sensory, special sensory, parasympathetic)
- CN X = mixed (somatic motor, somatic sensory, special sensory, parasympathetic)
- CN XI = somatic motor
- CN XII = somatic motor
CN I
- olfactory nerve
- modality = special sensory
- long bits at anterior of inferior brain is the olfactory tract with the olfactory bulb on the end
- olfactory receptor cells pass through cribriform plate (like a sieve) and sit at top of nasal cavity and travel along and down medial wall
- olfactory mucosa = roof of nasal cavities (you can only smell something if molecule is dissolved in fluid/mucous in nose)
CN II
- optic nerve
- modality = special sensory
- exits cranial cavity by passing through optic canal (foraminae)
- optic chiasm = joining of the 2 optic nerves and is really closely related to the pituitary stalk
- crossing of visual fields:
- > when you look at something in the middle you see the nasal visual field view
- > temporal visual fields are what you see at the sides
- > sight that has been picked up both from nasal and temporal fields cross before hitting the retina, so that temporal visual fields will hit the retina at the medial aspect (nasal at the lateral aspect) at the back of the eye
- > as these signals pass through the optic nerves to chiasm, the lateral (nasal) field from retina stays on the same side to visual cortex, but anything on the medial aspect at retina (temporal field) crosses over at chiasm, meaning at the back of the visual cortex, the temporal field has crossed over to the opposite side of the brain)
- visual cortex is in occipital lobe of brain
special sense of taste
from CN VII, CN IX and CN X (only a tiny bit contributed by vagus nerve)
pupil
- black hole in centre of eye
- light passes through the pupil and then the focusing lens
- what you see through
- covered in clear cornea (the transparent layer forming the front of the eye)
iris
coloured part of eye covered by clear cornea (the transparent layer forming the front of the eye)
2 muscles of the (coloured part of the eye)
- sphinctor pupillae
- dilator pupillae