Definition

1. Noun:
   • The twelfth cranial nerve: A motor nerve that originates in the medulla oblongata and controls the muscles of the tongue.
   • Primary nerve for tongue movement: It supplies motor innervation to all the intrinsic and most of the extrinsic muscles of the tongue, enabling speech, swallowing, and other tongue movements.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Damage to the hypoglossal nerve can cause difficulty speaking and swallowing.
  • The surgeon carefully avoided the hypoglossal nerve during the procedure.
  • The hypoglossal nerve exits the skull through the hypoglossal canal.

Advanced Usage

• Clinical assessment: In medical examinations, testing the function of the hypoglossal nerve involves asking a patient to stick out their tongue; deviation to one side may indicate nerve damage on the opposite side.
  • The neurologist checked the hypoglossal nerve function by observing tongue protrusion.

Variants and Related Words

• Hypoglossal (adj): Pertaining to or located beneath the tongue, or relating to the hypoglossal nerve.
  • The hypoglossal canal is a bony passage in the skull.
• Cranial nerve XII: An alternative anatomical name for the hypoglossal nerve.
• Nervus hypoglossus: The Latin-derived term used in formal anatomical terminology.

Synonyms

• Twelfth cranial nerve: The numerical designation within the cranial nerve system.
• Motor nerve of the tongue: A descriptive synonym highlighting its primary function.

Related Phrases and Terms

• Hypoglossal nucleus: The cluster of nerve cell bodies in the brainstem from which the hypoglossal nerve originates.
• Hypoglossal palsy/paralysis: A condition resulting from impaired function of the hypoglossal nerve, leading to tongue weakness.

Noun

1. supplies intrinsic muscles of the tongue and other tongue muscles