Cranial Nerve Component Memory Device

I can't take credit for this - credit goes to Walid from my class and Amirah from the class ahead of me, but Walid gave me permission last year to share it, and I'll be following this post up with another memory device for the branchial (a.k.a. pharyngeal) arches. Because of these silly things, I still remember those two parts of head and neck anatomy. Enjoy, and I hope this helps some frazzled anatomy student!

Cranial nerve components

Like most mneumonics/memory devices, this one starts out kind of corny. So just bear with me. First, make a list of the different types of cranial nerves by using this little sing-song: "Great Virginia, Sweet Virginia, G Veg Save! SSA does two and eight." The "G Veg Save" part confused me at first – obviously it helps you remember to list GVE, but then you continue onto the next line so you can finish spelling "Veg", giving you a lonely G. So you finish that line with a "SA", then put "SVE" on the line after that, so that you (sort of) spell "SAVE" in two different directions. Does that make sense? So now you have this:

GVA –
SVA –
GVE –
GSA –
SVE –
SSA – II & VIII

Now, which cranial nerves have a whole bunch of components in them? VII, IX, and X, right? So fill in the list like this, leaving spaces as indicated – the GVA list is complete and doesn’t need a space:

GVA – VII, IX, X
SVA – ___, VII, IX, X
GVE – ___, VII, IX, X
GSA – ___, VII, IX, X
SVE – ___, VII, IX, X
SSA – II & VIII

Now, start counting in odd numbers to fill in the spaces (you’ll use V twice, otherwise you’d be listing VII twice for SVE. So your list looks like this now:

GVA – VII, IX, X
SVA – _I_, VII, IX, X
GVE – _III_, VII, IX, X
GSA – _V_, VII, IX, X
SVE – _V_, VII, IX, X
SSA – II & VIII

Add XI to the SVE list, just because, well, it belongs there.

GVA – VII, IX, X
SVA – _I_, VII, IX, X
GVE – _III_, VII, IX, X
GSA – _V_, VII, IX, X
SVE – _V_, VII, IX, X, XI
SSA – II & VIII

So what’s missing? GSE? Of COURSE it’s GSE! And for GSE, list the cranial nerves that don’t show up anywhere else in the lists, plus III.

GVA – VII, IX, X
SVA – _I_, VII, IX, X
GVE – _III_, VII, IX, X
GSA – _V_, VII, IX, X
SVE – _V_, VII, IX, X, XI
SSA – II & VIII
GSE – III, IV, VI, XII

And there you go. When I got my head & neck anatomy exam, I flipped it over and wrote this, plus the eye movements diagram, plus the branchial arches chart (memory device to come later, stay tuned) on the back, and then I was able to refer to it to correctly answer all questions that dealt with any of those things. Good luck!