Nature and Uses of Primary Data Sources Page 1 of 14 ______________________________________________________________________.
cranial nerve - any of the 12 paired nerves that originate in the brain stem. 1  nerve, nervus - any bundle of nerve fibers running to various organs and tissues of the body. 2  first cranial nerve, nervii olfactorii, olfactory nerve - a collective term for numerous olfactory filaments in the nasal mucosa.
Cranial nerves are those nerves which arise from the brain and brain stem rather than the spinal cord. Nerves arising from the spinal cord are the peripheral nerves. There are 12 pairs of cranial nerves and these pairs of nerves passage through foramina in the skull, either individually or in groups.