IV.B.2 Head: CN V Page 4 of 5

Mandibular V3

This nerve exits the cranium via the foramen ovale into the infratemporal fossa. It is accompanied by the lesser petrosal nerve (a branch of the glossopharyngeal nerve) and sometimes the accessory middle meningeal artery.

	Which cranial fossa holds the foramen ovale?
Middle cranial fossa.

The motor branch of the trigeminal nerve joins the sensory branch of the trigeminal nerve (Mandibular - V3) in the infratemporal fossa and thus the Mandibular branch of the trigeminal nerve becomes the olny branch of the trigeminal nerve that contains motor fibers.

	Judging by the location of the mortor branch, what muscles does it control?
Muscles of mastication (temporalis, masseter, and medial and lateral pterygoids). But it also innervates the tensor tympani muscle, the tensor veli palatini muscle, the anterior belly of the digastric muscle and the mylohyoid muscle.

As one would expect, the sensory input derives from the skin of the lower face, cheek, lower lip anterior ppart of the exterior ear, part of the external acoustic meatus and the temporal region.

Intraorally, the manduibular branch receives input from the anterior two thirds of the tongue (taste and sensation via the corda tympani and the submandibular ganglia), mucous membranes of the cheeks, the mandible and teeth of the lower jaw.

The mastoid sinus and the dura of the middle cranial fossa are also sources of sensory input.