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trigeminal nerve
Sign in to saveAlso known as CN V, CN 5, fifth cranial nerve, nervus trigeminus, cranial nerve V
nerve in human face
Key facts
- To
- Ophthalmic nerve , Maxillary nerve , Mandibular nerve
- Innervates
- Motor: Muscles of mastication , tensor tympani , tensor veli palatini , mylohyoid , anterior belly of the digastric , Sensory: Face , mouth , temporomandibular joint
- Latin
- nervus trigeminus
- Mesh
- D014276
- Ta98
- A14.2.01.012
via Wikipedia infobox
Research
30,459 papersvia PubMed
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Gray778 Trigeminal.png
Show 3 more facts
- Commons category
- Nervus trigeminus
- Commons gallery
- Trigeminal nerve
- NCI Thesaurus ID
- C12806
via Wikidata · CC0
~28 min read
Article
In neuroanatomy, the trigeminal nerve (lit. triplet nerve), also known as the fifth cranial nerve, cranial nerve V, or simply CN V, is a cranial nerve responsible for sensation in the face and motor functions such as biting and chewing; it is the most complex of the cranial nerves. Its name (trigeminal, from Latin tri- 'three' and -geminus 'twin') derives from each of the two nerves (one on each side of the pons) having three major branches: the ophthalmic nerve (V1), the maxillary nerve (V2), and the mandibular nerve (V3). The ophthalmic and maxillary nerves are purely sensory, whereas the mandibular nerve supplies motor as well as sensory (or "cutaneous") functions. Adding to the complexity of this nerve is that autonomic nerve fibers as well as special sensory fibers (taste) are contained within it.
The motor division of the trigeminal nerve derives from the basal plate of the embryonic pons, and the sensory division originates in the cranial neural crest. Sensory information from the face and body is processed by parallel pathways in the central nervous system.