Facial motor nucleus

Facial motor nucleus
Plan of the facial and intermediate nerves and their communication with other nerves. ("Nucleus of Facial N." labeled at upper left.)
Diagram of brain stem showing the nuclei of the cranial nerves
Details
Part of	Medulla oblongata
Artery	AICA
Vein	Anterior medullary
Identifiers
Latin	Nucleus nervi facialis
NeuroNames	hier-581
NeuroLex ID	Facial nucleus
Dorlands /Elsevier	n_11/12581950
TA	A14.1.05.412
FMA	54572
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy []

The facial motor nucleus is a collection of neurons in the brainstem that belong to the facial nerve (cranial nerve VII). These lower motor neurons innervate the muscles of facial expression and the stapedius.

The nucleus is situated in the caudal portion of the ventrolateral pontine tegmentum. Its axons take an unusual course, traveling dorsally and looping around the abducens nucleus, then traveling ventrally to exit the ventral pons medial to the spinal trigeminal nucleus. These axons form the motor component of the facial nerve, with parasympathetic and sensory components forming the intermediate nerve.

The nucleus has a dorsal and ventral region, with neurons in the dorsal region innervating muscles of the upper face and neurons in the ventral region innervating muscles of the lower face.

Because it innervates muscles derived from pharyngeal arches, the facial motor nucleus is considered part of the special visceral efferent (SVE) cell column, which also includes the trigeminal motor nucleus, nucleus ambiguus, and (arguably) the spinal accessory nucleus.