Facial nerve (CN VII), trunk

Nervus facialis

NervousNervesHeadLeft and right

View left in 3D View right in 3D

What it is
Leaves the brainstem beside the vestibulocochlear nerve, enters the internal acoustic meatus, bends sharply at the geniculate ganglion, runs through the temporal bone along the inner wall of the middle ear, turns down behind it and exits the skull at the stylomastoid foramen just below the ear, then enters the parotid gland.
Function
Motor to all the muscles of facial expression and the stapedius; taste from the front two-thirds of the tongue (chorda tympani); secretomotor to the lacrimal, submandibular and sublingual glands.
Size
About 2 mm thick; ~3 cm inside the temporal bone
Clinical note
Bell's palsy (swelling of the nerve in its narrow bony canal) paralyses one whole side of the face; a stroke spares the forehead because the upper face has bilateral cortical control.

Contains Facial nerve, terminal branches

Nearby nervous structures C1 spinal nerve, Cerebellar hemisphere, Facial nerve root (CN VII), Hippocampus, Optic tract, Temporal lobe, Trigeminal ganglion, Trigeminal nerve (CN V), root, Trochlear nerve (CN IV), Vestibulocochlear nerve (CN VIII)