anatomy of cranial nerve V

Last reviewed 01/2018

The trigeminal or fifth cranial nerve is the largest of all of cranial nerves. It includes the sensory component for most of the head, and the motor component to several muscles. It has four nuclei:

  • main sensory nucleus }
  • spinal trigeminal nucleus } three key sensory nuclei
  • mesencephalic nucleus }
  • motor nucleus