Video: Cranial nerves mnemonic

Incarcerous! Harry Potter, you will never find the ancient horcruxes now. Oh, yes, we will. Expelliarmus! Escaping Voldemort is one thing, but if only there was a spell to get you out of a bind when memorizing the cranial nerves. But what if there was a way? Let's refresh our memory about the twelve members of the spellbinding family.

The first cranial nerve, if you recall, is the olfactory nerve followed by the optic nerve over here. The third, fourth, and fifth cranial nerves – that is, the oculomotor nerve, the trochlear nerve, and the trigeminal nerve – exit the midbrain over here, while the sixth to twelfth nerves – the abducens nerve, the facial nerve, the vestibulocochlear nerve, the glossopharyngeal nerve, the vagus nerve, the accessory nerve, and the hypoglossal nerve – exit from the brainstem over here.

To memorize the names and the order of the cranial nerves, try using the mnemonic On, On, On They Traveled And Found Voldemort Guarding Very Ancient Horcruxes. The first letter of each word in our mnemonic stands for the first letter of each cranial nerve. So, On, On, On They Traveled And Found Voldemort Guarding Very Ancient Horcruxes stands for the Olfactory nerve, the Optic nerve, the Oculomotor nerve, the Trochlear nerve, the Trigeminal nerve, the Abducens nerve, the Facial nerve, the Vestibulocochlear nerve, the Glossopharyngeal nerve, the Vagus nerve, the Accessory nerve, and the Hypoglossal nerve. And that's it! Our cranial nerve mnemonic On, On, On They Traveled And Found Voldemort Guarding Very Ancient Horcruxes.

Now, it's one thing to remember what the names of the cranial nerves are, but how about we take it to the next level and use another mnemonic to learn whether each cranial nerve is a sensory nerve, a motor nerve, or both? To master this one, listen to a word of advice from our chum, Harry – Some Say Money Matters, But My Bestie Says Big Broomsticks Matter Most. Let's quickly fly through this mnemonic.

In this mnemonic, S stands for sensory, M stands a motor, and B stands for both. The olfactory and optic nerves are sensory while the oculomotor and trochlear nerves are motor. The trigeminal is both sensory and motor while the abducens nerve is only motor. The facial nerve is also both sensory and motor and the vestibulocochlear nerve is sensory while the glossopharyngeal and the vagus nerves are both sensory and motor nerves. And the last two nerves – the accessory and the hypoglossal nerves – are motor nerves.

Master these two mnemonics and you're sure to be a cranial nerve wizard in your next anatomy exam.