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Cranial Nerves Quiz

Twenty questions on the twelve cranial nerves: what each one does and the signs when it fails. Tap an answer to see if you’re right.

  1. Question 1 of 20

    Which cranial nerve carries the sense of smell?

    1. Optic nerve (II)
    2. Trigeminal nerve (V)
    3. Facial nerve (VII)
    4. Olfactory nerve (I)
    Show answer

    Answer: Olfactory nerve (I). The first cranial nerve. Its fibres pass through the cribriform plate, which is why a head injury can take away smell.

  2. Question 2 of 20

    Shine a light in one eye. Which nerve carries the signal in?

    1. Optic nerve (II)
    2. Trigeminal nerve (V)
    3. Oculomotor nerve (III)
    4. Abducens nerve (VI)
    Show answer

    Answer: Optic nerve (II). The optic nerve carries the light in; the oculomotor nerve carries the order to constrict the pupil back out.

  3. Question 3 of 20

    An eye that sits “down and out”, with a droopy lid and a big pupil, points to which nerve?

    1. Trochlear nerve (IV)
    2. Oculomotor nerve (III)
    3. Abducens nerve (VI)
    4. Optic nerve (II)
    Show answer

    Answer: Oculomotor nerve (III). It moves most eye muscles, lifts the lid and constricts the pupil. A painful third nerve palsy with a big pupil needs urgent scanning for an aneurysm.

  4. Question 4 of 20

    Which nerve supplies the superior oblique muscle?

    1. Abducens nerve (VI)
    2. Facial nerve (VII)
    3. Trochlear nerve (IV)
    4. Oculomotor nerve (III)
    Show answer

    Answer: Trochlear nerve (IV). The smallest cranial nerve. Damage causes double vision that is worst looking down, such as going down stairs.

  5. Question 5 of 20

    Which nerve gives feeling to the face and powers chewing?

    1. Trigeminal nerve (V)
    2. Hypoglossal nerve (XII)
    3. Facial nerve (VII)
    4. Glossopharyngeal nerve (IX)
    Show answer

    Answer: Trigeminal nerve (V). Three branches: ophthalmic, maxillary and mandibular. Trigeminal neuralgia causes electric-shock face pain.

  6. Question 6 of 20

    Which nerve lets the eye look outwards?

    1. Oculomotor nerve (III)
    2. Abducens nerve (VI)
    3. Optic nerve (II)
    4. Trochlear nerve (IV)
    Show answer

    Answer: Abducens nerve (VI). It supplies the lateral rectus. Its long course inside the skull makes it a common casualty of raised pressure.

  7. Question 7 of 20

    Bell’s palsy affects which nerve?

    1. Vagus nerve (X)
    2. Accessory nerve (XI)
    3. Trigeminal nerve (V)
    4. Facial nerve (VII)
    Show answer

    Answer: Facial nerve (VII). The facial nerve moves the muscles of expression. In Bell’s palsy the whole side, forehead included, is weak.

  8. Question 8 of 20

    Taste from the front two-thirds of the tongue travels in which nerve?

    1. Glossopharyngeal nerve (IX)
    2. Trigeminal nerve (V)
    3. Facial nerve (VII)
    4. Hypoglossal nerve (XII)
    Show answer

    Answer: Facial nerve (VII). Via its chorda tympani branch. Ordinary touch from the same area goes in the trigeminal nerve.

  9. Question 9 of 20

    Which nerve carries hearing and balance?

    1. Vagus nerve (X)
    2. Vestibulocochlear nerve (VIII)
    3. Glossopharyngeal nerve (IX)
    4. Facial nerve (VII)
    Show answer

    Answer: Vestibulocochlear nerve (VIII). Cochlear fibres for hearing, vestibular fibres for balance. A vestibular schwannoma presents with one-sided hearing loss.

  10. Question 10 of 20

    Which nerve carries taste from the back third of the tongue and the sensory side of the gag reflex?

    1. Glossopharyngeal nerve (IX)
    2. Facial nerve (VII)
    3. Hypoglossal nerve (XII)
    4. Vagus nerve (X)
    Show answer

    Answer: Glossopharyngeal nerve (IX). The vagus nerve then does the motor side of the gag.

  11. Question 11 of 20

    Which cranial nerve reaches the heart, lungs and gut?

    1. Glossopharyngeal nerve (IX)
    2. Phrenic nerve
    3. Accessory nerve (XI)
    4. Vagus nerve (X)
    Show answer

    Answer: Vagus nerve (X). “Vagus” means wandering. It slows the heart, moves the gut and supplies the voice box.

  12. Question 12 of 20

    A hoarse voice after thyroid surgery suggests injury to a branch of which nerve?

    1. Hypoglossal nerve (XII)
    2. Glossopharyngeal nerve (IX)
    3. Vagus nerve (X)
    4. Accessory nerve (XI)
    Show answer

    Answer: Vagus nerve (X). The recurrent laryngeal nerve, a vagus branch, runs close to the thyroid and supplies most voice-box muscles.

  13. Question 13 of 20

    Shrugging the shoulders tests which nerve?

    1. Facial nerve (VII)
    2. Vagus nerve (X)
    3. Accessory nerve (XI)
    4. Hypoglossal nerve (XII)
    Show answer

    Answer: Accessory nerve (XI). It supplies trapezius and sternocleidomastoid. It can be injured in neck lymph node surgery.

  14. Question 14 of 20

    Stick out the tongue and it points to the left. Which nerve is damaged?

    1. Right hypoglossal nerve (XII)
    2. Right facial nerve (VII)
    3. Left glossopharyngeal nerve (IX)
    4. Left hypoglossal nerve (XII)
    Show answer

    Answer: Left hypoglossal nerve (XII). The tongue is pushed out by each side’s muscles, so with one side weak it veers towards the weak side.

  15. Question 15 of 20

    Touch the cornea and the eye blinks. Which nerve carries the touch signal?

    1. Facial nerve (VII)
    2. Trigeminal nerve (V)
    3. Oculomotor nerve (III)
    4. Optic nerve (II)
    Show answer

    Answer: Trigeminal nerve (V). Its ophthalmic branch senses the touch; the facial nerve closes the eyelids.

  16. Question 16 of 20

    Name the highlighted nerve leaving the inner ear.

    Right ear, sliced front-on
    1. Vestibulocochlear nerve (VIII)
    2. Facial nerve (VII)
    3. Glossopharyngeal nerve (IX)
    4. Trigeminal nerve (V)
    Show answer

    Answer: Vestibulocochlear nerve (VIII). It carries both hearing and balance from the cochlea and the vestibule.

  17. Question 17 of 20

    The highlighted nerve is really an outgrowth of the brain, wrapped in meninges. Name it.

    Eye, sliced across
    1. Abducens nerve (VI)
    2. Optic nerve (II)
    3. Ophthalmic nerve (V1)
    4. Oculomotor nerve (III)
    Show answer

    Answer: Optic nerve (II). Because it’s wrapped in the brain’s coverings, raised pressure in the skull makes the optic disc swell (papilloedema).

  18. Question 18 of 20

    The highlighted part holds the nuclei of cranial nerves III to XII. Name it.

    Brain, left side
    1. Temporal lobe
    2. Thalamus
    3. Cerebellum
    4. Brainstem
    Show answer

    Answer: Brainstem. So a small brainstem stroke can mix cranial nerve signs on one side with weakness on the other (crossed signs).

  19. Question 19 of 20

    One-sided hearing loss, tinnitus and a reduced corneal reflex on the same side suggest a tumour where?

    Right ear, sliced front-on
    1. Frontal lobe
    2. Cervical spine
    3. Cerebellopontine angle
    4. Pituitary fossa
    Show answer

    Answer: Cerebellopontine angle. A vestibular schwannoma grows on VIII and, as it enlarges, presses on V (corneal reflex) and VII.

  20. Question 20 of 20

    An aneurysm of the highlighted artery classically compresses which nerve?

    Arteries at the base of the brain, seen from below (front at the top)
    1. Oculomotor nerve (III)
    2. Trochlear nerve (IV)
    3. Abducens nerve (VI)
    4. Optic nerve (II)
    Show answer

    Answer: Oculomotor nerve (III). A posterior communicating artery aneurysm squeezes III from outside, so the pupil blows early. An emergency.

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Common questions

What are the 12 cranial nerves in order?

I olfactory, II optic, III oculomotor, IV trochlear, V trigeminal, VI abducens, VII facial, VIII vestibulocochlear, IX glossopharyngeal, X vagus, XI accessory and XII hypoglossal.

Which cranial nerves move the eyes?

Three: the oculomotor (III) moves most eye muscles, the trochlear (IV) the superior oblique, and the abducens (VI) the lateral rectus. A handy formula: LR6 SO4, the rest 3.

What is the longest cranial nerve?

The vagus nerve (X). It runs from the brainstem through the neck and chest into the abdomen, supplying the heart, lungs and much of the gut.

How do doctors test the cranial nerves?

In a few minutes at the bedside: smell, eyesight and pupils, eye movements, facial feeling and movement, hearing, swallowing and the gag, a shoulder shrug and sticking out the tongue.

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Updated 16 November 2026. Diagrams are simplified, original sketches, not to scale. General education, not personal medical advice.