How to Use cranial nerve in a Sentence

cranial nerve

noun
  • The vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve in the body.
    Womensmedia, Forbes, 15 Apr. 2021
  • This 10th cranial nerve is the longest and most complex nerve in the body.
    Justin Ross, Outside Online, 13 May 2020
  • The vagus nerve is the longest of the cranial nerves, which emerge directly from the brain rather than traveling through the spinal cord.
    Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 4 July 2023
  • Whether stunted due to the tumor or killed by the chemo, Kevin's seventh cranial nerve withered.
    Neil Steinberg, CNN, 13 June 2018
  • The trigeminal nerve, or cranial nerve No. 5, has three branches.
    Dawn Filos, Philly.com, 15 Dec. 2017
  • Some antibiotics damage the cranial nerves, involved in hearing and balance, as well as the kidneys.
    Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY, 30 July 2023
  • The rare cancer attacked his temporal bone, cranial nerve and inner ear.
    Makayla Tendall, ajc, 13 July 2018
  • Garrett, of Van Meter, Iowa, died July 6 of a rare cancer that attacked his temporal bone and cranial nerve.
    Fox News, 13 July 2018
  • Doctors and researchers determined that the key to helping the man regain consciousness lay in his vagus nerve, the longest cranial nerve, which runs through the abdomen, chest, neck and brain.
    AJC.com, 27 Sep. 2017
  • Death would likely come from pressure applied to the neck and cut off circulation of nerves, particularly the vagus nerve, which is the tenth cranial nerve and longest nerve in the body, Wecht said.
    Morgan Hines, USA TODAY, 10 Aug. 2019
  • There are two cranial nerves responsible for taste perception in different areas of the tongue: the glossopharyngeal nerve in the back and the chorda tympani branch of the facial nerve in the front.
    Steven D Munger, Smithsonian, 23 May 2017
  • The researchers would be surgically implanting a neurostimulator to their vagus nerve, the cranial nerve that runs along the groove in the front of the neck and is responsible for transmitting signals from the brain to other parts of the body.
    Brandy Schillace, Wired, 12 Sep. 2021
  • Stafford was diagnosed earlier this month with a benign tumor called an acoustic neuroma that was sitting on her cranial nerves.
    Kyle Meinke | Kmeinke@mlive.com, nola.com, 22 Apr. 2019
  • The longest cranial nerve in the body, the vagus nerve, sends information from the gut to the brain using neurotransmitters (like serotonin and dopamine), the body’s chemical messengers that help regulate sleep, mood, pain, stress and hunger.
    Laura Newberry, Los Angeles Times, 13 Sep. 2022
  • The device works by stimulating the trigeminal nerve, the largest cranial nerve, which carries sensory information from the face to the brain, and which has also been associated with the pain of migraine headaches.
    IEEE Spectrum, 12 Mar. 2014
  • The most common type, accounting for nearly half of all cases, is the vasovagal faint, during which the vagus nerve (a cranial nerve that helps regulate heart rate and blood pressure) sends signals that dramatically slow the heart.
    H Lee Kagan, Discover Magazine, 27 Aug. 2011
  • When the brain either reacts to a stimulus spontaneously or decides to form an expression intentionally, a message is sent out over the sixth and seventh cranial nerves.
    Neil Steinberg, CNN, 13 June 2018
  • That created for him physical disabilities—cranial nerves were messed with.
    The New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2019
  • Hearing, vision, cranial nerves and facial muscles are also examined.
    Mary Anne Chute Lynch, courant.com, 12 Oct. 2019
  • That receptor then sends a signal through the cranial nerves to the medulla oblongata, which is part of your brainstem, and through to your primary gustatory complex, which interprets individual signals as flavors.
    Popular Science, 21 Jan. 2020
  • Now in clinical trials, monoclonal antibodies might prevent headaches from starting by blocking substances that carry pain signals to cranial nerves.
    R. Allan Purdy, Scientific American, 1 May 2017
  • Infection initially starts by the toxin blocking the cranial nerve, leading to a descending paralysis which can ultimately lead to respiratory failure and death.
    Rebecca Kreston, Discover Magazine, 14 Aug. 2011
  • In 1998, he was recorded performing a cranial nerve exam and neuropsychology test on professional ice hockey player Pat LaFontaine, with the intention of being used for educational purposes.
    Jack Hillcox, CNN, 24 June 2023
  • Following several instances of dizziness and unusual weakness, Kelly received a diagnosis: acoustic neuroma or vestibular schwannoma, a tumor sitting on her cranial nerves.
    Benjamin Vanhoose, PEOPLE.com, 15 Oct. 2019
  • Neurological exam: examination of the cranial nerves, cerebellar function, deep tendon reflexes, motor function, and sensory system were all normal.
    Jamie Ducharme, Time, 18 Jan. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cranial nerve.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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