Cranial nerves govern sensory and motor information exchange between the brain and tissues of the head and neck. The cranial nerves are derived from two specialized populations of cells, cranial neural crest cells and ectodermal placode cells. Defects in either cell type can result in cranial nerve developmental defects. Although several signaling pathways are known to regulate cranial nerve fo...

Benign extramedullary tumours of the foramen magnum region are largely schwannomas and meningiomas. Tumours originating from the motor part of cranial nerves, such as the VIIth, IXth, XIth and XIIth cranial nerves, are extremely rare. Hypoglossal nerve (cranial nerve XII) schwannomas are such an example, usually arising intracranially and, in exceptional cases, extending into the extracranial c...

PURPOSE To assess the most effective magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequence for the visualization of the 9th, 10th, and 11th cranial nerves (glossopharyngeal, vagus, and accessory nerves, respectively) in their intraforaminal/canalicular courses. MATERIALS AND METHODS Balanced fast-field echo (b-FFE), 3D-T2W DRIVE, T2W 2D TSE and post-contrast T1W MRI sequences were all applied and we trie...