RB.S.(n) Clinical Pearl: Easy Ways to remember cranial Nerves

There are a lot of cranial nerves. Remember all of them can be challenging. If you’re looking for easy ways to remember the cranial nerves keep reading.

Below we give you easy to use mnemonics, helpful background, and a shareable infographic to help you understand and remember all the cranial nerves.

Once you wrap your cranium around it, remembering cranial nerves is easy.

Remembering The Cranial Nerves Infographic

Remembering All the Cranial Nerves is Hard

Our central nervous system (CNS) is made up of a network of over 7 trillion nerves. Of course there is no way to remember all of these nerves, and really, no reason to either.

There are situations – nursing school, the NCLEX, exams – that do require us to memorize parts of the nervous system. Some of the most important nerves for nursing and patient care purposes are the cranial nerves.

Even though cranial nerves are only a small part of the CNS, it can be difficult to memorize all these nerves, the order they go in, their specific functions, and how to test each nerve. For most of us this takes a lot of repetition and practice.

Thankfully there are useful tricks to help us memorize this information. Mnemonics are one helpful tool.

Below we provide mnemonics we’ve used in our nursing careers to help us remember the cranial nerves, their functions, and their assessment in practice.

First, a quick review of the nervous system’s anatomy.

Nervous System Anatomy

The nervous system is divided into two parts;  the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS).

Our CNS is made up of the brain and spinal cord while the PNS is made up of the cranial and spinal nerves.

PNS pathways can be further divided into the ascending or afferent pathways that carry sensory information towards the CNS; and descending or efferent pathways that innervate organs such as skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle.

The Cranial Nerves

The cranial nerves control both motor and sensory function (similar to spinal nerves), but also have specialized sensory functions responsible for things like smell, taste, sight, and hearing.

There are twelve cranial nerves (often expressed with roman numerals instead of standard numbering):

I. Olfactory
II. Optic
III. Oculomotor
IV. Trochlear
V. Trigeminal
VI. Abducens
VII. Facial
VIII. Vestibulocochlear/Acoustic
IX. Glossopharyngeal
X. Vagus
XI. Spinal Accessory
XIII. Hypoglossal

Here is an easy to understand, shareable infographic to help you remember the twelve cranial nerves, how to test them, and their functions.

Now, a few easy ways to remember the cranial nerves.

Remembering The Cranial Nerves with Mnemonics

Explicit content warning: Some of the mnemonics below are a bit raunchy and crude! But hey, maybe that’s why they are easy to remember.

Use the infographic above to pair the letters in the mnemonics with the nerve and their functions.

1. On Old Olympus Tiny Tops A Fin And German Viewed Some Hops
2. Old Operators Occasionally Troubleshoot Tricky Abducted Family Veterans Galloping Valiantly Across History
3. Oh Oh Oh To Touch And Feel Vagina God Vaginas Are Hot
4. On Occasion Oliver Tries To Anally Finger Various Guys Vaginas Are History

Now that you know the cranial nerves names, it is important to know both their functions and how to assess the nerves.

An easy mnemonic to remember cranial nerve function is:

Some Say Marry Money But My Brother Says Big Brains Matter More

Knowing each cranial nerves function is important when doing your neurological assessment. Here is a quick video describing how to do a nursing cranial nerve exam in 1 minute or less:

Summary

One of the best easy ways to remember the cranial nerves is with mnemonics.

Throughout our nursing careers, the 4 easiest mnemonics we have used are:

1. On Old Olympus Tiny Tops A Fin And German Viewed Some Hops
2. Old Operators Occasionally Troubleshoot Tricky Abducted Family Veterans Galloping Valiantly Across History
3. Oh Oh Oh To Touch And Feel Vagina God Vaginas Are Hot
4. On Occasion Oliver Tries To Anally Finger Various Guys Vaginas Are History

To help you remember each cranial nerves function, take a look at the infographic above and try the mnemonic:

Some Say Marry Money But My Brother Says Big Brains Matter More

There are a lot of nerves in the human body. Our 12 cranial nerves are responsible for some of the most important bodily functions.

For school, nursing practice, or exams, it is important to remember the cranial nerves names, functions, and assessments.

Use the mnemonics listed above and reference the infographic for easy ways to remember the cranial nerves in your own nursing practice.

References

McCance, K., Huether, S.E., Brashers, V.L. & Rote, N.S. (2018) Pathophysiology: The Biologic Basis for Disease in Adults and Children (8th ed), St. Louis: Mosby. ISBN 978-0-323-58347-3