Abstract
This chapter aims to recapitulate the anatomy of the cranial nerves. It briefly introduces and discusses alternative systematics but pragmatically uses traditional terminology. However, in contrast to classical textbooks and scientific articles, it describes nerves following the direction of action potential conduction and refers to inconsistencies in nomenclature when appropriate. A separate subchapter carefully describes the parasympathetic pathways and the nerves and nerve fiber bundles derived from and associated with the parasympathetic head ganglia. Major sympathetic pathways to the skin of the head, however, are described with the nerves passing the parasellar region. Important and complex topological relations are illustrated in a number of carefully selected and comprehensively labeled figures.
Authors of this chapter: Weninger W. J. and Hainfellner A.
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Weninger, W.J., Hainfellner, A. (2023). Anatomy of the Cranial Nerves: Novel Concepts and Traditional Descriptions. In: The Cranial Nerves in Neurology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-43081-7_1
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