Cranial nerves

Question 1

CN I (name, sensory/motor, function, indicator of deficit)

Answer 1

• olfactory
• sensory
• smell
• difficult to assess

Question 2

CN II (name, sensory/motor, function, indicator of deficit)

Answer 2

• optic
• sensory
• vision
• absent PLR, visual deficits

Question 3

CN III (name, sensory/motor, function, indicator of deficit)

Answer 3

• oculomotor
• motor
• vision and ocular movement
• ventrolateral strabismus, absent PLR, pupillary dilation

Question 4

CN IV (name, sensory/motor, function, indicator of deficit)

Answer 4

• trochlear
• motor
• ocular movement
• dorsolateral strabismus

Question 5

CN V (name, sensory/motor, function, indicator of deficit)

Answer 5

• trigeminal
• sensory and motor
• sensation to face and cornea, motor to muscles of mastication
• loss of sensation of face and cornea, dropped jaw, inability to chew

Question 6

CN VI (name, sensory/motor, function, indicator of deficit)

Answer 6

• abducens
• motor
• ocular movement
• ventromedial strabismus and inability to retract globe

Question 7

CN VII (name, sensory/motor, function, indicator of deficit)

Answer 7

• facial
• sensory and motor
• motor to muscles of face and taste
• droopy ear, eyelid, lips on side of lesion. absent menace (as can’t blink), absent palpebral reflex

Question 8

CN VIII (name, sensory/motor, function, indicator of deficit)

Answer 8

• vestibulocochlear
• sensory
• balance and hearing
• peripheral vestibular deficits

Question 9

CN IX (name, sensory/motor, function, indicator of deficit)

Answer 9

• glossopharyngeal
• sensory and motor
• swallowing
• inability to swallow

Question 10

CN X (name, sensory/motor, function, indicator of deficit)

Answer 10

• vagus
• sensory and motor
• swallowing, vagal function
• inability to swallow, other vagal signs (e.g. bradycardia, vagal indigestion)

Question 11

CN XI (name, sensory/motor, function, indicator of deficit)

Answer 11

• accessory
• motor
• motor to muscles of shoulder and neck muscles
• difficult to assess, inability to turn head is suggestive

Question 12

CN XII (name, sensory/motor, function, indicator of deficit)

Answer 12

• hypoglossal
• motor
• motor to tongue
• flaccid protruding tongue, inability (or reduced ability) to retract tongue