Functions of Cranial Nerve – Imaluop

In advanced animals nerve fibres help to coordinate among different parts of our body and in our brain nerve fibres originate which intervene different body parts and help to control them and coordinate and we will focus on cranial nerves and functions of cranial nerves. 

Cranial Nerve: 

In our brain and brain stem twelve pairs of nerves originate and they extend to both sides of the body but they are limited to head and neck region for control and coordination among different functions like vision, smell, hearing and movement of some facial muscles. 

Cranial nerves are named by roman numerals and they help to transmit the nerve impulses from different organs to brain and the brain to different regions of head and neck region.

Some cranial nerve have only afferent fibres which carry sensory nerve impulses from different regions of head and neck to brain, some cranial nerve have only efferent fibres which carry motor information from brain to different regions of brain and neck but some cranial nerve have both afferent fibres and efferent fibres which transmits both sensory and motor information and they are known as mixed cranial nerve. 

Functions of Cranial Nerve: 

Most of the cranial nerves are part of the peripheral Nervous System but some cranial nerves like olfactory and optic nerves are examples of central nervous system and all cranial nerves are responsible for functioning of our five sense organs and movement of muscle in facial region and neck region. 

Function of Olfactory Nerve: 

The name olfactory suggests its function because the term olfactory represents the smell and this nerve is responsible for understanding the smell so any damages in this cranial nerve can cause defects in smell power. 

Function of Optic Nerve: 

The term optic represents the power of vision and sight and this nerve carries optic information from eye to vision centre of brain and any damage in optic nerve can result in improper vision and sight. 

Function of Oculomotor Nerve: 

For proper vision and to focus on an object our eyes need to move in different directions and different muscles related to the eyes are controlled by Oculomotor nerve and damage to Oculomotor nerve can result in distorted vision. 

Function of Trochlear and Abducens Nerves: 

Trochlear and abducens nerves are responsible for movement of eyeballs through different eye muscles and any damage in those nerves can cause inability in coordination in eyeballs movement. 

Function of Trigeminal Nerve: 

Trigeminal nerves have three parts: mandibular, maxillary and ophthalmic and they collect and coordinate different parts in the facial region and are responsible for understanding the facial sensation. 

Function of Facial Nerve: 

Humans are known for their great facial expressions and the facial expressions occur due to movement of different facial muscles and any damages in facial nerve can cause inability to move facial parts. 

Function of Vestibulocochlear Nerve: 

Our ears not only help to sense the sound waves, also help in keeping balance during our body movements and the two branches of Vestibulocochlear nerve, vestibular nerve and cochlear nerve help in body balancing and coordination during movement. 

Function of Glossopharyngeal Nerve: 

In our oral cavity, the glossopharyngeal nerve helps in perception of taste and different other sensation in the oral cavity and any damage in the glossopharyngeal nerve can cause taste sensation loss. 

Function of Vagus Nerve: 

The vagus nerve has a lot of function in measuring the blood oxygen levels and other vital functions, damage in this nerve can cause high blood pressure, difficulty in swallowing and sometimes can cause heart attack. 

Function of Accessory Nerve: 

This nerve helps in head and shoulders region, accessory nerve also helps in swallowing but any damages in accessory muscle can cause difficulty in swallowing and inability to move head and shoulder region. 

Function of Hypoglossal Nerve: 

Our tongue is not responsible for only taste, tongue is necessary for talking fluently and help in swallowing food so any damages in hypoglossal nerve lead to difficulty in food swallowing and talking. 

Read More: Nervous System General Overview