Medical Mnemonics

Cranial Nerves Mnemonics [Clean, Dirty & Easy-to-Remember]

October 20, 2017

The Head and Neck Anatomy is one of the most important topics when it comes to studying the 2nd year human anatomy at medical school. It deals with structures primarily involving the head and neck region of the body. It is highly recommended that you master this region if you really wish to perform well both in the exams and as a future clinician. This article is dedicated to sharing cranial nerves mnemonics so that you can easily remember things like: the names of the 12 cranial nerves (in exact sequence/order) and also types of cranial nerves (their modality: sensory, motor or both) and their functions as well. 🙂

But before that we jump to the cranial nerves mnemonics, let’s take a look at a few important things regarding the Cranial Nerves:

Table of Contents

What are Cranial Nerves?

For starters, there are 12 pairs of cranial nerves that arise directly from the brain and brainstem (while on the other hand, the spinal nerves emerge from the spinal cord and its segments). To further your insight, 10 of the 12 cranial nerves originate from the brainstem and only two, the Olfactory Nerve (CN I) and the Optic Nerve (CN II) originate from the Cerebrum of the brain. Each cranial nerve has its own specific function which can be well understood by looking into its modality and the area that it is supplying. For the sake of simplicity, the cranial nerves transmit information from different part of the body, mainly from the regions of the Head and Neck, to the brain.

Here’s a cranial nerves summary table with fast facts such as:

Number (denoted by CN, for Cranial Nerve and Roman numeric I to XII)
Cranial Nerve Names
Modality (Sensory, Motor or Both/Mixed)
Origin
Exit Route
Function of the Cranial Nerves

Cranial Nerves Summary Table
Number of the Cranial Nerve	Name of the Cranial Nerve	Modality	Origin	Exit Route	Function of the Cranial Nerve
1: CN-I	Olfactory Nerve	Sensory	Olfactory Lobe	Cribriform Plate	Smell
2: CN-II	Optic Nerve	Sensory	Optic Lobe	Optic Canal	Vision
3: CN-III	Occulmotor Nerve	Motor	Floor of the Midbrain	Superior Orbital Fissure	Helps in moving the eyelid & eyeball and adjusts the pupil and lens of the eye
4: CN-IV	Trochlear Nerve	Motor	From the junction between the optic lobe and cerebellum	Superior Orbital Fissure	Moves the eyeballs
5: CN-V	Trigeminal Nerve (Branches: Ophthalmic, Maxillary, and Mandibular)	Both	Side of the Medulla Oblongata	i.Ophthalmic: Superior orbital fissure ii.Maxillary: Foramen Rotundum iii.Mandibular: Foramen Ovale	Controls facial muscles and actions including chewing and facial sensations
6: CN-VI	Abducens Nerve	Motor	Ventral side of the Medulla	Superior Orbital Fissure	Moves the eyeballs
7: CN-VII	Facial Nerve	Both	Lateral side of the Medulla	Internal Acoustic Meatus	Responsible for taste, tears (lacrimation), salivation and facial expressions
8: CN-VIII	Vestibulocochlear Nerve	Sensory	Floor of the Medulla	Internal Acoustic Meatus	Hearing and balance
9: CN-IX	Glassopharyngeal Nerve	Both	Side of the Medulla	Jugular Foramen	Controls swallowing, saliva, taste
10: CN-X	Vagus Nerve	Both	Sides of the Medulla, from the Vagus Ganglion	Jugular Foramen	Brings about control over the Parasympathetic Nervous System e.g. smooth muscles of the GI tract
11: CN-XI	Accessory Nerve	Motor	Sides of the Medulla and Spinal Cord	Jugular Foramen	Head and shoulder movement and assists in swallowing
12: CN-XII	Hypoglossal Nerve	Motor	Ventral Side of the Medulla	Hypoglossal Canal	Controls tongue muscles and swallowing

Origin of the Cranial Nerves

Below is an illustration depicting the origin of Cranial Nerves from different areas of the brain:

Cranial Nerves Mnemonics

Alright, we hope that with the above-mentioned discussion, you must now have developed a sound understanding of the cranial nerves (for more, please refer to standard textbooks). In this part of our blog post, we’ll be discussing the cranial nerves mnemonics so that you can easily remember the order of cranial nerves (from cranial nerve I to XII) and modality/function of cranial nerves.

Cranial Nerves Mnemonics for Remembering Order of CN

Below are the cranial nerves mnemonics to help you remember the order of cranial nerves from CN I (olfactory nerve) to CN XII (hypoglossal nerve):

CLEAN MNEMONICS

On old Olympus’ towering top a Finn and German viewed some hops

Ooh, ooh, ooh to touch and feel very good velvet. Such heaven!

Oh, Oh, Oh to take a Family vacation! Go vegas and Hardees.

DIRTY MNEMONIC

Oh, oh, oh, to touch and feel a girl’s vagina. Ah, heaven. 😀

MNEMONIC KEY:

Focus on the first alphabet as “key” to the above-mentioned mnemonics:

O: Olfactory nerve (CN I)
O: Optic nerve (CN II)
O: Oculomotor nerve (CN III)
T: Trochlear nerve (CN IV)
T: Trigeminal nerve (CN V)
A: Abducens nerve (CN VI)
F: Facial nerve (CN VII)
A: Auditory (or vestibulocochlear) nerve (CN VIII)
G: Glossopharyngeal nerve (CN IX)
V: Vagus nerve (CN X)
S: Spinal accessory nerve (CN XI)
H: Hypoglossal nerve (CN XII)

Cranial Nerves Harry Potter Mnemonic

Here’s a special Harry Potter themed mnemonic to help you memorize order of cranial nerves in a fun way: 🙂

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Cranial Nerves Sensory Or Motor Mnemonic

Below are cranial nerves mnemonics to help you easily remember which cranial nerves are sensory, motor, or mixed/both (modality/functions of CN I to CN XII).

CLEAN MNEMONIC

Some say marry money but my brother says big brains matter more.

DIRTY MNEMONIC

Some say money matters but my brother says big boobs matter more. 😀

MNEMONIC KEY:

S: Sensory (Olfactory nerve – CN I)
S: Sensory (Optic nerve – CN II)
M: Motor (Trochlear nerve – CN IV)
B: Both (Trigeminal nerve – CN V)
M: Motor (Abducens nerve – CN VI)
B: Both (Facial nerve – CN VII)
S: Sensory (Vestibulocochlear nerve – CN VIII)
B: Both (Glossopharyngeal nerve CN IX)
B: Both (Vagus nerve – CN X)
M: Motor (Accessory nerve – CN XI)
M: Motor (Hypoglossal nerve – CN XII)