Mnemonics - Cranial Nerves

Ah yes, my introductory post mentioned cranial nerves and that a tip to help memorize them might be forthcoming, so here it is! Well, here *they* are - a couple of the nerves may be referred to by a couple of names, depending on your facility and, well, how long ago your teacher went to nursing school. :)

 First, the boring list....

(I) Olfactory, (II) Optic, (III) Occulomotor, (IV) Trochlear, (V) Trigeminal, (VI) Abducent, (VII) Facial, (VIII) Vestibulocochlear (formerly Auditory),  (IX) Glossopharyngeal, (X) Vagus, (XI) Accessory (sometimes Spinal Accessory), (XII) Hypoglossal

If you take the first letter of each nerve, in order, you get OOOTTAFVGVAH - or OOOTTAFAGVAH if you use Auditory instead of Vestibulocochlear. Doesn't help much, does it? No, it doesn't, so nurses over the years have come up with memory tricks to keep it all straight. Memorization is hard enough for many people, so don't re-invent the wheel on this. Use the wisdom of those who have already been where you are now!

On

Old

Olympus' 

Towering

Top,

A

Friendly

Viking       (Vestibulocochlear)

Grew

Vines

And

Hops

Orange

Orangutans

Often

Try

To

Avoid

Feeding

Angry        (Auditory)

Gorillas

Very

Ancient

Hotdogs

Oh

Oh

Oh,

To

Touch

And

Feel

Very

Good

Velvet.

Such          (Spinal Accessory)

Heaven!