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Believe it or not, there are over 7 trillion nerves in the human body. All these nerves are part of
what’s known as your body’s nervous system. You can think of nerves as your body’s electrical
wiring — they transmit signals between your brain, spinal cord, and the rest of your body.
The central nervous system, which is made up of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves
The peripheral nervous system, which is made up of sensory neurons, clusters of neurons
called ganglia, and other nerves that connect to one another as well as the rest of the central
nervous system
These nerves and cells, called neurons, send messages throughout your body. All nerves are
important for proper day-to-day functioning, but there are two groups of nerves chiropractors
focus on the most: cranial and spinal nerves.
CRANIAL NERVES
Cranial nerves are located on the bottom surface of your brain. There are 12 pairs of them, and
they each have their own special function. These cranial nerves connect your brain to different
parts of your head, neck, and trunk.
To prevent confusion (and because these nerves are located so close together), each pair is
numbered with a Roman numeral, beginning at the front and moving to the back.
For example, the first nerve closest to the front of your head is the olfactory nerve, so its Roman
numeral designation is I.
Most of the time, cranial nerves are classified as being either sensory or motor. Sensory refers to
your five senses — touch, smell, taste, hearing, and sight — and motor nerves are responsible for
controlling the movement and function of glands or muscles.
The olfactory nerve is responsible for your sense of smell. It sends information to your brain
about smells you encounter.
When you smell something pleasant, such as bread baking, the aromatic molecules dissolve at
the roof of your nasal cavity, which stimulates receptors to generate nerve impulses. These nerve
signals are then sent to the areas of your brain that deal with memory and smell recognition.
The optic nerve is essential for proper vision, and both of your eyes have one.
When light first enters your eye, it comes in contact with receptors in your retina, called rods,
which help you see black and white images and in the dark, and cones, which are responsible for
color vision.
Your rods and cones receive this information and pass it along to your optic nerve. The signal
continues traveling along this optic nerve pathway until it reaches the visual cortex in your brain,
which processes the information and ensures you can see clearly.
The word oculomotor is comprised of two parts: oculo, which relates to the eye, and motor,
which can refer to movement or muscles.
The oculomotor nerve, then, helps control your eyes’ muscle movements. It provides movement
for the eyeball and upper eyelid while also assisting with the eyes’ involuntary functions,
including pupil contraction and automatic lens adjustments (this is what happens when your eyes
automatically focus on near or far objects).
The trochlear nerve is also involved in eye movement. It controls the muscle in the eye that
enables it to point downward and inward.
The trigeminal nerve is the largest cranial nerve in the human body, and it has both motor and
sensory functions.
Motor Functions
The trigeminal nerve assists you with chewing and clenching your teeth, and it provides
sensation to muscles in your eardrum.
Sensory Functions
The trigeminal nerve’s sensory functions are divided into three parts, each of which connect to
sensory receptor sites on the face.
Ophthalmic: Provides sensation for parts of the eye, nose, eyelid, and forehead
Maxillary: Gives sensation to the middle third of the face, upper teeth, eyelid, and side of the
nose
Mandibular: Provides sensation to the lower third of the face, tongue, mouth, and lower teeth
Like the trigeminal nerve, the facial nerve also has motor and sensory functions. It controls:
The vestibulocochlear nerve actually consists of two nerves in one, the vestibular nerve and
cochlear nerve.
The vestibular nerve helps your body sense changes in the position of your head, and your body
uses this information to help it maintain its balance.
The cochlear nerve helps you with hearing and determines a sound’s frequency and magnitude.
As with other cranial nerves, the glossopharyngeal nerve has both sensory and motor functions.
Its sensory function receives incoming information from the back of your mouth, including the
tongue, tonsils, and throat. It is also involved with taste sensation for the back of your tongue. Its
motor functions are also in the throat, as it’s what allows the muscles in your throat to shorten
and widen.
Sensory Functions: Provides sensation to the outer ear, throat, heart, and abdominal organs
Motor Functions: Gives movement to the soft palate and throat
Parasympathetic Functions: Regulates heart rhythm and supplies nerves to smooth muscles in
your gastrointestinal tract, lungs, and airway
Doctors often use vagus nerve stimulation therapy to treat conditions such as epilepsy,
depression, and anxiety. The vagus nerve is also the longest of all the cranial nerves because it
begins in the medulla in the brain and extends all the way to the abdominal area.
The last of the cranial nerves is the hypoglossal nerve. It provides necessary motor functions to
the tongue muscles.
SPINAL NERVES
The spinal cord is part of your central nervous system. It begins at the bottom of the brain stem
and continues down to your lower back.
There are 31 pairs of spinal nerves, and they control sensory, motor, and other functions of your
body. They transmit messages between your spinal cord and the rest of the body, including skin,
muscles, and internal organs. Each spinal nerve is responsible for providing sensation to a
different area of your body.
To help identify them, spinal nerves have alphanumeric figures assigned to them:
Functional Control
Each group of spinal nerves is involved with movements in certain parts of your body, including
your hands, fingers, arms, upper back, hips, and abdominal muscles. Some spinal nerves are even
responsible for ensuring you can walk and run properly.
For more detail on spinal nerves’ functional ability, refer to the chart below.
Automatic Control
Some nerves in the spinal cord are responsible for controlling automatic body functions, such as
your heart rate, breathing, and other things your body does automatically.
For example, spinal nerves T1-L5, which are your thoracic and lumbar nerves, are partially
responsible for controlling the functions of your:
Heart
Lungs
Gastrointestinal system
Kidneys
Sweat glands
The upper part of your sacral nerves, from L5-S3, are responsible for controlling bladder and
bowel movements.