eighth cranial nerve
- noun
- /eɪtθ ˈkreɪniəl nɜrv/
- Specialized
:
octavo nervio craneal
- The eighth cranial nerve transmits sound and balance information from the inner ear to the brain.
Examples
-
The doctor explained how the eighth cranial nerve connects the ear to the brain for auditory and vestibular functions.
-
"An acoustic neuroma is a progressively enlarging benign tumor of the eighth cranial nerve."
Fiction book (1998) -
Damage to the eighth cranial nerve can lead to hearing loss and balance issues.
Synonyms
1
4.5
A nerve that carries sound and balance signals from the inner ear to the brain
A nerve in the inner ear that sends sound and balance signals to the brain
The nerve that carries sound and balance signals from the inner ear to the brain
A nerve that carries sound and balance messages from the ear to the brain
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally built from 'eighth' + 'cranial' + 'nerve', so a learner who knows the constituents can infer it refers to the eighth nerve associated with the skull. However, the specific identity and function (the vestibulocochlear nerve that carries sound and balance information) are specialist biomedical facts not predictable from the parts alone, making the expression only partially predictable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Eighth cranial nerve breaks into clear parts: eighth gives its number, cranial says it is at the skull or head, and nerve is a bundle that sends messages. It carries 'hearing' and 'balance' signals from the inner ear to the brain, so the name points to the nerve that controls those senses.