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The Trigeminal Nerve and It's Branches

This nerve is always talked about, what exactly is it? Where does it lay in the horse's head? 

 

I made a drawing of the trigeminal nerves (TNe), a visual impression helps to understand the written word.

The term "trigeminal" comes from the Latin "trigeminus" meaning "threefold," referring to the three divisions (ophthalmic, maxillary and mandibular) of this nerve. TN_nerves.jpg (218339 bytes) click on the image to enlarge it

This large nerve originates deep inside the brain and carries sensation from the face to the brain. The pain of trigeminal neuralgia is due to a disturbance in the function of the trigeminal nerve. Trigeminal neuralgia is also known as tic douloureux.

After the trigeminal nerve leaves the brain and travels inside the skull, it divides into three smaller branches, controlling sensation throughout your face:

  • The first branch controls sensation in your eye, upper eyelid and forehead.

  • The second branch controls sensation in your lower eyelid, cheek, nostril, upper lip and upper gum.

  • The third branch controls sensations in your jaw, lower lip, lower gum and some of the muscles you use for chewing.

The trigeminal nerve functions both as the chief nerve of sensation for the face and the motor nerve controlling the muscles of mastication (chewing).

The trigeminal nerve is the fifth cranial nerve. The cranial nerves, the trigeminal nerve included, emerge from or enter the skull (the cranium), as opposed to the spinal nerves which emerge from the vertebral column. There are twelve cranial nerves.

The trigeminal nerve is the fifth (V) cranial nerve, so named because it splits into three nerves - the Ophthalmic nerve (V1), the Maxillary nerve (V2) and the Mandibular nerve (V3).

It is the major cutaneous sensory nerve of the head, and is responsible for sensation over most of the skin on your head. It also supplies motor fibres to temporalis muscle, lateral pterygoid muscle, medial pterygoid muscle, masseter muscle (the four main muscles involved in mastication), tensor veli palatini, mylohyoid muscle and the tensor tympani muscle.

Named branches of the trigeminal nerve: (important branches in bold)

Ophthalmic nerve (V1)

  • Nasociliary nerve

    • sensory root of ciliary ganglion

    • posterior ethmodial nerve

    • long ciliary nerve

    • infrathrochlear nerve

    • anterior ethmoidal nerve

  • lacrimal nerve

  • frontal nerve

    • supratrochlear nerve

    • supraorbital nerve

       

Maxillary nerve (V2)

  • zygomaticotemporal nerve

  • zygomaticofacial nerve

  • infraorbital nerve

  • superior alveolar nerves

  • Pterygopalatine ganglion

    • nasopalatine nerve

    • greater palatine nerve

    • lesser palatine nerves

    • nerve of pterygoid canal (Vidian nerve)

       

Mandibular nerve (V3)

  • deep temporal nerves (to temporalis muscle)

  • lateral pterygoid nerve

  • medial pterygoid nerve

  • masseteric nerve

  • tensor veli palatini nerve

  • tensor tempani nerve

  • auriculotemporal nerve

  • buccal nerve

  • Lingual nerve

  • Inferior alveolar nerve

    • mylohyoid nerve

    • inferior dental plexus

    • mental nerve

    This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

     

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