Facial nerve
Course
- exits brainstem at cerebellopontine angle
- enters internal auditory meatus + facial canal
- exits skull via stylomastoid foramen
passes through Parotid gland where it branches
Superior to inferior:
- temporal
- zygomatic
- buccal
- marginal mandibular
- cervical
important supply
Sensory
motor
- ...
- digastric, stylohyoid
- parasympathetic - secretomotor
- efferent corneal blink reflex
- muscles of facial expression
lesion - see Bell's palsy
contralateral lower facial weakness
upper part of the CN7 nucleus receives input from both cerebral hemispheres
forehead sparing implies UMN lesion