Getting on My (Cranial) Nerves

Next week is our final week of anatomy, and the course directors left the toughest part for last. Right now we are "appreciating" the Head and Neck. Even though this is physically the smallest anatomy in the course, apparently there is a lot of important stuff that goes on up there. I knew that there was the brain and a couple important glands hanging around in the head, but the level of detail is truly incredible, and also slightly stressful. Evolution biting me in the ass once again. In fact, there are 12 cranial nerves that we are committing to memory. Not just memorizing the names, however, we have to know their origin, insertion, what "foramina" (holes) they travel through, what they innervate, and every minute branch. This picture is an example of ONE of the nerves that we need to know. This is "Cranial Nerve VII - the Facial Nerve." Basically I have to imprint 12 of those diagrams into my brain (the actual mechanism of how I am able to "memorize" will be discussed in January).

In order to remember these cranial nerves in order, Wikipedia has supplied us with a number of mnemonics to help us on our journey. Here are a couple of my favorites:

• Oh, Oh, Oh, To Touch A Female Vagina Gives Virgins Amazing Happiness
• O! O! O! There's The Abercrombie and Fitch. Very Gorgeous and Very Adorable! Ha!
• Oh Once One Takes The Anatomy Final Very Good Vacations Are Heavenly
• OOO Truly There Are Five Very Gorgeous Vixens Awaiting Him

I think you get the picture. This stands for olfactory, optic, oculomotor, trochlear, trigeminal, abducens, facial, vestibulocochlear, glossopharyngeal, vagus, accessory, and hypoglossal nerve. Frankly, I think the mnemonic I came up with before I saw all of these wasn't too shabby either:

• Oh, Oh, Oh, Tom Tucker Ate Fried Vegetables Gladly and Vomited Against the House
  

Well, maybe it wasn't that good. But then we have mnemonics for whether these nerves have "sensory" innervation, "motor" innervation, or both (feeling vs. actually moving/doing something). Obviously S = sensory, M = motor, and B = both. Here's what I've got so far:

• Some Say Marry Money, But My Brother Says Big Boobs Matter More.
• Some Say Marry Money, But My Brother Says Big Brains Matter More.
• Small Ships Make Money, But My Brother Says Big Boats Make More.

These are some of the ways you get through medical school tests. By the way, it's that first one in this batch that I've committed to memory. Wikipedia gives such great advice.

The actual dissections have been for lack of a better word, cool. On Tuesday we removed the brain. Literally, we snipped away all the fascia, nerves, and vasculature that connects the brain to the skull, and pulled it out of a human head! In a mad scientist moment, each of us held it in our hands (mostly in disbelief). And it looks exactly like it does in cartoons. All the squiggles (sulci) and creases, they're really there. Pons, medulla oblongata, brainstem, cerebrum, cerebellum... words that come alive right there in your hands. I stood there cupping the squishy organ, staring. It's impossible to appreciate it: the memories, decisions, sensations... this was eighty years of life. Truly the most human part of the anatomy that I have experienced so far. More than the hands, heart, or even the face. It's just another amazing gift that our cadaver has given us...

The big test is next week, and then my first real break in med school. Two weeks back home in DC to read, relax, sleep, and reflect.