label: cranial nerve
label_lc: cranial nerve
description: "Twelve pairs of cranial nerves exit/enter the cranium through openings in the skull. The nerves contain efferent axons with motor and glandular functions, as well as afferent axons from cranial ganglia with sensory functions. The nerves are numbered in a rostral to caudal sequence, with the exception of the lateral line nerves."