What is the trigeminal nerve?
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The trigeminal nerve is called the trigeminal nerve (fifth cranial nerve). Gray's Anatomy (1918) describes it as the fifth cranial nerve.
Summary
The trigeminal nerve is called the trigeminal nerve (fifth cranial nerve). Gray's Anatomy (1918) describes it as the fifth cranial nerve.
What it is
- The fifth cranial nerve.
- Its name means 'three-branched'.
- The main sensory nerve of the face and the motor nerve of the chewing muscles.
Where it is
- Arises from the pons.
- Divides into three branches \u2014 ophthalmic, maxillary, and mandibular \u2014 near the top of the temporal bone.
- Each branch supplies a different region of the face.
Sources
According to Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body (1918, public domain):
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