Origin and course of an afferent component of the facial nerve within the central nervous system

Summary The mesencephalic nucleus of trigeminal gives rise to an afferent component of the facial nerve. This nucleus contains large unipolar afferent cell bodies which give rise to an axon which courses caudally through the brainstem and exits via the facial nerve to terminate distal to the stylomastoid foramen.This work was supported by National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant No. NAS 9-15213.