Facial Anatomy Nerves

The facial nerve is the nerve associated with the second pharyngeal arch. Intracranial the course of the nerve through the cranial cavity and the cranium itself.

Facial Nerve Wikipedia

The facial nerve has a complex anatomy.

Facial anatomy nerves. It conveys some sensory information from the tongue and the interior of the mouth. Several structures of the facial nervedescribed as nuclei segments and branchesproduce the four components of facial nerve function. The specific bones and muscles derived from the second pharyngeal arch are shown below.

The nerves typically travels from the pons through the facial canal in the temporal bone and exits the skull at the stylomastoid foramen. The facial nerve is one of a group of nerves called the cranial nerves cn twelve pairs of nerves that with the exception of the spinal accessory nerve cn xi originate in the brain and contribute to the peripheral nervous system pns. There are many branches which transmit a combination of sensory motor and parasympathetic fibres.

It arises from the brainstem from an area posterior to the cranial nerve vi and anterior to cranial nerve viii. The facial nerve is also known as the seventh cranial nerve cn7. It is one of the longest cranial nerves extending from the brainstem to the terminal end branches which are located throughout the face.

Specifically cn7 serves about two thirds of the tongues tip. The nerve extends from the brain stem at the pons and the medulla. It emerges from the pons of the brainstem controls the muscles of facial expression and functions in the conveyance of taste sensations from the anterior two thirds of the tongue.

At this point the two roots fuse to form the facial nerve and this is the location of a nerve ganglion. The face and the scalp have the brow in common. These root nerves extend to an internal opening in the bones of the skull known as the acoustic meatus and pass through into the facial canal passing very close to the inner ear.

The facial nerve or cranial nerve cn vii is the nerve of facial expression. The course of the facial nerve is very complex. The pathways of the facial nerve are variable and knowledge of the key intratemporal and extratemporal landmarks is essential for accurate physical diagnosis and safe and effective surgical intervention in the head and neck.

Anatomically the course of the facial nerve can be divided into two parts. It extends superiorly up to the hair line inferiorly up to the chin and base of the mandible and on every side up to the auricle and is the front aspect of the head. The face possesses eyes nose and mouth.

This nerve performs two major functions. Enhancement of the other segments of the facial nerve and other cranial nerves is considered pathologic. The facial nerve is the seventh cranial nerve or simply cn vii.

The facial nerve is the only cranial nerve that may show normal post contrast enhancement although this applies only to the labyrinthine segment up to the stylomastoid foramen.

Nerves Of Oral And Pharyngeal Regions Click For Larger