| cranial roots | <anatomy, nerve> The roots of the accessory nerve which arise from the medulla; the nerve fibres of the cranial root join the intracranial portion of the vagus nerve and are distributed to the pharyngeal plexus, providing the motor innervation of the soft palate (except the tensor veli palati) and the pharynx. Synonym: pars vagalis nervi accessorii, radices craniales, accessory portion of spinal accessory nerve, cranial roots, vagal part of accessory nerve, vagal part. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| cranial sinuses | Large endothelium-lined venous channels situated between the two layers of the dura mater; they are devoid of valves. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cranial sutures | A type of fibrous joint between bones of the head. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cranial synchondroses | The cartilaginous joints of the skull; these include sphenoethmoidal synchondrosis, spheno-occipital synchondrosis, sphenopetrosa synchondrosis, petro-occipital synchondrosis, anterior intraoccipital and posterior intraoccipital synchondrosis. Synonym: synchondroses cranii. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cranial vault | Those bones of the skull enclosing the brain, as distinguished from the bones of the face. Synonym: braincase, cranial vault, cranium cerebrale, cerebral cranium. Origin: neuro-+ G. Kranion, skull (05 Mar 2000) |
| cranial vertebra | A segment of the skull regarded as homologous with a segment of the vertebral column. (05 Mar 2000) |
| posterior cranial fossa | The internal base of the skull posterior to the crest of the petrous part of the temporal bones and the dorsum sellae and anterior to the grooves for the transverse sinuses, where the cerebellum, pons, and medulla oblongata rest. Synonym: fossa cranii posterior. (05 Mar 2000) |
| prophylactic cranial irradiation | Radiation therapy to the head to prevent cancer from spreading to the brain. (12 Dec 1998) |
| nuclei of cranial nerves | Groups of nerve cells associated with the cranial nerves either as motor nuclei (nuclei originis) or sensory nuclei (nuclei terminationis). Synonym: nuclei nervorum cranialium. (05 Mar 2000) |
| detached cranial section | Craniotomy with section of cranium separated from its soft tissue attachments. Synonym: detached cranial section. (05 Mar 2000) |
| dystonia, cranial | A term used to describe dystonia that affects the muscles of the head, face, and neck. Oromandibular dystonia affects the muscles of the jaw, lips, and tongue. The jaw may be pulled either open or shut, and speech and swallowing can be difficult. Spasmodic dysphonia involves the muscles of the throat that control speech. Also called spastic dysphonia or laryngeal dystonia, it causes strained and difficult speaking or breathy and effortful speech. Meige's syndrome is the combination of blepharospasm and oromandibular dystonia and sometimes spasmodic dysphonia. Spasmodic torticollis can be classified as a type of cranial dystonia. (12 Dec 1998) |
| abducens nerve | <anatomy, nerve> The 6th cranial nerve. The abducens nerve originates in the abducens nucleus of the pons and sends motor fibres to the lateral rectus muscles of the eye. Damage to the nerve or its nucleus disrupts horizontal eye movement control. (12 Dec 1998) |
| abducent nerve | <anatomy> The abducent nerve enervates a muscle which moves the eyeball. Lesions of the sixth cranial nerve result in deviation of the eyeball outward and double vision. Synonym: cranial nerve VI. (27 Sep 1997) |
| accessory nerve | <anatomy, nerve> The accessory nerve enervates the sternocleidomastoid muscles and the trapezius muscles. Lesions of the eleventh result in drooping of the shoulder and inability to rotate the head away from the affected side. Synonym: cranial nerve XI. (27 Sep 1997) |
| accessory nerve lymph nodes | The nodes of the lateral deep cervical group that are located along the accessory nerve; their efferent vessels pass to the supraclavicular lymph nodes. Synonym: companion lymph nodes of accessory nerve, nodi lymphatici comitantes nervi accessorii. (05 Mar 2000) |