The Four Cranial Nerve Categories

The cranial nerves are made up of twelve categories with different functions. These categories are numbered with Roman numerals. The first cranial nerve is the Olfactory nerve which is involved in the sense of smell. The function of sense of smell works when the receptors in the epithelium of inside the nose sends signals to the brain (World of anatomy and physiology, 2007). The second cranial nerve is the optic nerve which is involved with the ability to see. The third cranial nerve is the oculomotor nerve which are sensory and motor nerves. The oculomotor nerve is involved in the internal and external control of the eye muscles. The fourth cranial nerve is the trochlear nerves which are mixed sensory and motor nerves that lie with the superior …show more content…
The maxillary nerve is the only one which remains to be both sensory and motor nerves whereas the rest are only sensory nerves. The sixth cranial nerve is the abducen cranial nerves. These nerve compose a motor pathway which lies within the lateral rectus muscles which helps us move our eyes away from the midline and towards different directions. (World of anatomy and physiology, 2007). The seventh cranial nerve is the facial nerves which have a variety of sensory and motor nerves. These nerves have a function of giving us the ability to create facial expressions, ability to taste on the anterior 2/3’s of the tongue, etc. The facial nerve innervates the muscles of facial expression, posterior belly of the digastric, the stylohyoid and the stapedius muscles. The facial nerve surfaces from the pons and medulla. The eighth cranial nerve is the acoustic nerve which that provide a neural pathway which can be tracked beginning from the inner ear to the brain. The acoustic nerves allows us to understand the stimuli produced by sound and pressure (World of anatomy and physiology, 2007). The ninth cranial nerve is the glossopharyngeal nerve which is composed of a motor pathways that is the major factor in the action of swallowing (World of anatomy and physiology, …show more content…
However, there can be undetected health complications in our cranial nerves such as infections, stroke, epilepsy, spinal cord injuries and many more. We can use the neurological examination methods which include the test of cranial nerves to see if there is anything problematic in their functions. The amazing thing about the cranial nerve test is it is virtually painless and is not invasive. The specific methods of testing the facial nerves would include having the patient bite down, smile, grimace, move their tongue, and using a probing tool to test gag reflexes (Alic, Margaret, 2011). The independent variable of the testing of the facial nerves are the method of testing which includes sending a stimulus to the facial nerve. Whereas the dependent variable is the response to the stimulus because it is dependent to the method of testing the facial nerve. This quick and effective method can be a vital tool in diagnosing a neurological