Third Cranial Nerve (Noun)
Meaning
Supplies extrinsic muscles of the eye.
Classification
Nouns denoting body parts.
Examples
- The third cranial nerve supplies extrinsic muscles of the eye, which control eye movements, including the superior rectus, inferior rectus, and medial rectus muscles.
- Damage to the third cranial nerve can result in impaired eye mobility and pupillary constriction, affecting the oculomotor system responsible for viewing near objects.
- Each third cranial nerve emerges between the posterior cerebral artery and the superior cerebellar artery, and travels forward with the fourth cranial nerve in the lateral wall of the cavernous sinus.
- Within the orbit, the third cranial nerve divides into superior and inferior divisions that supply the intrinsic muscles of the eye except for the inferior oblique muscle and the dilator pupillae muscle.
- By the convergence of axons, each oculomotor subnucleus serves multiple functions: most notably, the third cranial nerve is the main nerve that provides motor innervation of the extraocular muscles and smooth muscles of the eye.