trigeminal nerve (CN V)

Somatic motor & somatic sensory functions. All of the motor & sensory fibers of CN 5 enter the brainstem at the level of the pons Efferents: Motor nucleus of CN 5 1) small round nucleus confined to pons anterior & lateral relative to other somatic motor nuclei in the brainstem 2) nerve fibers originating in the motor nucleus of CN 5 innervates the muscles of mastication, i.e. masseter Afferents: Sensory nucleus of CN 5 1) very long, extending from the rostral pons into the medulla oblongata & becoming continuous with the posterior horn of the spinal cord 2) spinal nucleus of CN 5 a) pain & temperature b) spinal tract of CN 5 sends fibers caudal from the pons to the brainstem before relaying sensory information of pain & temperature 3) main sensory nucleus of CN 5 a) located in pons & medulla b) light touch 4) mesencephalic nucleus of CN 5 a) located in midbrain b) proprioception 5) fibers sent to the thalamus via the trigeminal lemniscus 6) primary sensory neurons of CN 5 have cell bodies in the trigeminal ganglion 7) the sensory distribution of CN 5 is like that of a face mask Branches: Three branches of CN 5 1) ophthalmic branch: innervates: a) forehead b) top of head c) around eyes d) top of nose 2) maxillary branch: innervates: a) cheeks b) temporal region c) lower portion of nose d) upper lip 3) mandibular branch: innervates: a) chin b) jaw c) lower lip

Related

mandibular nerve (CN V-3) maxillary nerve (CN V-2) ophthalmic nerve (CN V-1) trigeminal motor nucleus (motor nucleus of CN V) trigeminal sensory nucleus

References

Clinical Anatomy Made Ridiculously Simple. Stephen Goldberg, MedMaster Inc, Miami, 1995