What is the trigeminal nerve?
The trigeminal nerve is called the trigeminal nerve (fifth cranial nerve). Gray's Anatomy (1918) describes it as the fifth cranial nerve.
What it is
- The fifth cranial nerve.
- Its name means 'three-branched'.
- The main sensory nerve of the face and the motor nerve of the chewing muscles.
Where it is
- Arises from the pons.
- Divides into three branches — ophthalmic, maxillary, and mandibular — near the top of the temporal bone.
- Each branch supplies a different region of the face.
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Last verified: 2026-07-18
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