Mnemonic to Remember the 12 Cranial Nerves
One popular mnemonic for cranial nerves is:
“Oh, Oh, Oh, To Touch And Feel Very Good, Velvet AH!”
While it’s a bit long, we think it’s the fastest way to remember the cranial nerves. Each capitalized word represents the first letter of each nerve:
- Oh – Olfactory (I): allows us to smell
- Oh – Optic (II): allows us to see
- Oh – Oculomotor (III): allows us to adjust pupils and eye lens, move eyelids, rotate eyeballs
- To – Trochlear (IV): allows us to move eyeballs
- Touch – Trigeminal (V): allows us to chew, feel sensations in the face and mouth
- And – Abducens (VI): allows us to move eyeballs
- Feel – Facial (VII): allows us to form facial expressions, produce tears, and sensory of the tongue
- Very – Vestibulocochlear (VIII): allows us to hear and maintain balance
- Good – Glossopharyngeal (IX): allows us to produce saliva, swallow, and taste
- Velvet – Vagus (X): allows us to control the peripheral nervous system (PNS)
- A – Accessory (XI): allows us to move the neck and shoulder, swallow
- H – Hypoglossal (XII): allows us to formulate speech, move the tongue movement, swallow
Source Yahoo 4/2025