vestibulocochlear nerve

the eighth cranial nerve: a sensory nerve containing tracts that innervate both the sense of hearing and the sense of balance. It has two divisions, the vestibular nerve, originating in the vestibule and the semicircular canals, and the auditory nerve (acoustic or cochlear nerve), originating in the cochlea. The vestibulocochlear nerve transmits impulses from the inner ear to the medulla oblongata and pons and has fibers that continue into the cerebrum and cerebellum. Also called cranial nerve VIII.

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Psychology term of the day

November 18th 2024

family romance

a common childhood fantasy in which a child imagines that he or she is the offspring not of his or her biological parents but of a noble or royal personage. Sigmund Freud saw this as rooted in the Oedipus complex. See foster-child fantasy.