Vestibulocochlear Nerve: Function & Anatomy

Vestibulocochlear Nerve: Function & Anatomy

Briefly describe the vestibulocochlear nerve.

Answer:

The vestibulocochlear nerve is the nerve of hearing and balance (i.e. special sense).

The vestibulocochlear nerve consists of two parts: vestibular and cochlear. Both are purely sensory.

• The vestibular nerve helps in maintaining balance, whereas the cochlear nerve carries a sense of hearing.
• The cochlear nerve carries sensations from the spiral organ of Corti within the cochlear duct of the internal ear. It is formed by the central processes of nerve cells of the spiral ganglion of the cochlea. It comes out of the temporal bone through the internal acoustic meatus and reaches the lower border of the pons. Here, it enters the pons to end in ventral and dorsal cochlear nuclei situated on the ventral and dorsal aspects of the inferior cerebellar peduncle, respectively.
• The vestibular nerve carries sensations from the maculae of utricle and saccule, and cristae ampullaris of semicircular ducts of the internal ear. It is formed by the central processes of nerve cells of the vestibular ganglion in the distal part of the external acoustic meatus.
• It passes into the cranial cavity through the internal acoustic meatus and reaches the lower border of the pons, where it enters the pons to end in the vestibular nuclei located in the floor of the 4th ventricle.