Vestibulocochlear nerve (CN VIII)

Nervus vestibulocochlearis

NervousNervesHeadLeft and right

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What it is
A short, thick sensory nerve that crosses the cerebellopontine angle from the brainstem to the internal acoustic meatus together with the facial nerve. Inside the temporal bone it splits into the cochlear nerve (hearing) and the vestibular nerve (balance).
Function
Hearing from the cochlea and head position and motion from the utricle, saccule and semicircular canals.
Size
About 3 mm thick, 2 cm from brainstem to meatus
Clinical note
A vestibular schwannoma (acoustic neuroma) grows on its vestibular part in the meatus, causing slowly progressive one-sided deafness and tinnitus before it presses on the facial nerve and cerebellum.

Nearby nervous structures Facial nerve root (CN VII), Oculomotor nerve root (CN III), Optic tract, Pons, Trigeminal ganglion, Trigeminal nerve (CN V), root, Trigeminal nerve root (CN V), Trochlear nerve (CN IV), Trochlear nerve root (CN IV), Vestibulocochlear nerve root (CN VIII)