What is a facial nerve?
The facial nerve controls the muscles that help you smile, frown, wrinkle your nose, and raise your eyebrows and forehead. This seventh cranial nerve performs motor and sensory functions. Function.
What are facial nerves called?
The cranial nerves They are referred to as “cranial” because they arise from the brain and upper spinal cord and supply structures of the head and neck. The 12 paired cranial nerves include: the olfactory nerve (CN I) the optic nerve (CN II)
Why are facial nerves so important?
The facial nerve provides motor innervation of facial muscles that are responsible for facial expression, parasympathetic innervation of the glands of the oral cavity and the lacrimal gland, and sensory innervation of the anterior two-thirds of the tongue.
How many facial nerves do we have?
After the main point of division, 5 major branches of the facial nerve exist, as follows: Temporal (ie, frontal) Zygomatic. Buccal.
Where is my facial nerve?
This muscle is very easy to identify by the position (just deep to sternomastoid) and also by the direction of the muscle fibres that run towards the mastoid tip. The facial nerve trunk lies approximately 1 cm above and parallel to the upper border of the digastric muscle near its insertion at the mastoid tip.
What part of the brain controls facial nerves?
The midbrain is an important center for ocular motion while the pons is involved with coordinating eye and facial movements, facial sensation, hearing and balance. The medulla oblongata controls breathing, blood pressure, heart rhythms and swallowing.
Where does the facial nerve arise from?
The facial (seventh cranial) nerve arises from the pontomedullary junction by two roots: (1) the motor root conveying fibers to muscles derived from second branchial arch mesoderm and (2) the nervus intermedius conveying visceral sensory fibers from the tongue and palate, and preganglionic parasympathetic fibers to the …
How deep is the facial nerve?
Facial nerve depth was measured in 12 cadaver face halves after bilateral face lift dissections. The main nerve trunk emerged anterior to the midearlobe and was 20.1 +/- 3.1 mm deep.
What is facial nerve nucleus?
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy The facial motor nucleus is a collection of neurons in the brainstem that belong to the facial nerve (cranial nerve VII). These lower motor neurons innervate the muscles of facial expression and the stapedius.
What is the function of a facial nerve?
The facial nerve is a nerve that controls the muscles on the side of the face. It allows us to show expression, smile, cry, and wink.
Does the facial nerve have three major branches?
Immediately upon emerging on the outer surface of the skull the facial nerve gives three motor branches: stylohyoid branch . The posterior auricular nerve is a small motor branch of the facial nerve that innervates the auricularis posterior muscle, and the occipital belly of the occipitofrontalis muscle.
What are nerves in your face?
The superficial nerves of the face and scalp are derived from three primary nerves: Cranial nerve 7 / the facial nerve (which provides motor innervation to the muscles of the face) Cranial nerve 5 / the trigeminal nerve (which provides sensory innervation to the face) The cervical plexus (which provides innervation to the scalp)