Definition and research guide
This page combines a MeSH definition, publication statistics and selected research abstracts. It is a starting point for reading the literature, not a medical textbook or a systematic evidence review.
Content available: 3 complete abstracts (494 words), 9 references. Full article text is not stored or reproduced here; follow the PMID, DOI or PMC links to read the original sources and their access terms.
Definition
Twelve pairs of nerves that carry general afferent, visceral afferent, special afferent, somatic efferent, and autonomic efferent fibers.
Definition: NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) scope note (Public domain (U.S. National Library of Medicine); attribution requested). View the MeSH record.
Also known as: Cranial Nerve; Nerve, Cranial; Nerves, Cranial.
Where it fits in the MeSH classification
- Broader topics
- Peripheral Nerves
- Narrower topics
- Abducens Nerve; Accessory Nerve; Facial Nerve; Glossopharyngeal Nerve; Hypoglossal Nerve; Oculomotor Nerve; Olfactory Nerve; Optic Nerve; Trigeminal Nerve; Trochlear Nerve; Vagus Nerve; Vestibulocochlear Nerve
Research landscape
PubMed indexes 123,255 records tagged with the MeSH heading “Cranial Nerves” (counts retrieved 2026-10-29). 14,190 of them (11.5%) were published from 2020 onward, and the busiest period so far is through 1999 with 66,091 records.
Reviews account for 8,895 records (7.2%) and meta-analyses for 360. Randomized controlled trials number 1,504 (1.2%) as a share of all records on the topic. Randomized trials make up only a small share of this literature, so much of what is known comes from laboratory, observational or descriptive work.
Show the data
| Period | Records |
|---|---|
| through 1999 | 66,091 |
| 2000-2009 | 20,557 |
| 2010-2019 | 22,417 |
| 2020 onward | 14,190 |
Publication-type chart data
| Type | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 8,895 | 7.2% |
| Meta-analyses | 360 | 0.3% |
| Randomized controlled trials | 1,504 | 1.2% |
Method: PubMed query "Cranial Nerves"[MeSH Terms] with publication-type and date filters, retrieved 2026-10-29.
Reading the evidence in neuroscience
Neuroscience draws on tools with different strengths: cellular and animal work can manipulate circuits directly, while human imaging and electrophysiology observe the living brain at lower resolution. Small imaging studies are prone to false positives, and findings in animals do not always carry over to people. Clinical neurology and psychiatry rely on trials and cohort studies whose outcomes are often symptom scales. Check the species, the sample size, how the outcome was measured and whether results were replicated.
Evidence from open-access studies
These open-access studies come from PubMed’s best-match results for this heading (papers whose main topic it is), ranked here by citation count, with one recent addition. Each abstract is reproduced in full under its recorded open licence so that you can read the authors’ own words. They illustrate the literature; they are not a systematic summary of it. Citation counts measure attention, not reliability or clinical benefit.
| Study / authors | Year | Source label / design | Europe PMC citations | Licence / source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The gut-brain vagal axis governs mesolimbic dopamine dynamics and reward events | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 18 | cc by PMID 41616060 · DOI · PMC12857734 |
| A cross-species atlas of the dorsal vagal complex reveals neural mediators of the effects of cagrilintide on energy balance | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 11 | cc by PMID 42260119 · DOI · PMC13303089 |
| A glial cell-derived pathway directs regenerating optic nerve axons toward the optic chiasm | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 4 | cc by PMID 41582706 · DOI · PMC12989072 |
The gut-brain vagal axis governs mesolimbic dopamine dynamics and reward events [1]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Reward processes have traditionally been ascribed to dopamine (DA)-associated circuits.
- Closing excerpt
- By uncovering the influence of gut-brain vagal communication on DA functions, this work provides insights into the neurobiology of adaptive and maladaptive reward, with broad relevance for eating disorders and addiction.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (158 words)
Reward processes have traditionally been ascribed to dopamine (DA)-associated circuits. While external stimuli, such as food and drugs of abuse, are activators of DA-neuron activity, growing evidence indicates that interoceptive signals also play a critical role. Among these, the gut-brain vagal axis has emerged as a key regulator, although its precise contribution to mesolimbic DA signaling and behavior remains unclear. Here, we combine complementary ex vivo and in vivo approaches across multiple scales to show that gut-brain vagal tone is essential for gating mesolimbic DA system activity and functions, modulating DA-dependent molecular and cellular processes, and scaling both food- and drug-induced reinforcement. These findings challenge the traditional brain-centric view of reward processing, supporting a more integrated model in which vagus-mediated interoceptive signals intrinsically shape motivation and reinforcement. By uncovering the influence of gut-brain vagal communication on DA functions, this work provides insights into the neurobiology of adaptive and maladaptive reward, with broad relevance for eating disorders and addiction.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 41616060 · DOI · PMC12857734
A cross-species atlas of the dorsal vagal complex reveals neural mediators of the effects of cagrilintide on energy balance [2]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Amylin receptor agonists such as cagrilintide represent emerging obesity therapies.
- Closing excerpt
- Our study provides a cross-species spatially resolved atlas of DVC cell populations and defines Calcr/Prlh neurons as mediators of amylin receptor agonist action.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (152 words)
Amylin receptor agonists such as cagrilintide represent emerging obesity therapies. To understand mediators of cagrilintide action, we generated a transcriptomics atlas of over 530,000 cells comprising 80 neuronal cell populations across rat, mouse and macaque caudal brainstem, with spatial profiling to map distribution in the rat dorsal vagal complex (DVC). Here we show that cagrilintide regulates two conserved Calcr-expressing DVC neuronal populations. While acute cagrilintide treatment alters gene expression in area postrema Calcr/Ramp3 neurons, chemogenetic activation in rats fails to affect long-term food intake and body weight. In contrast, long-term cagrilintide treatment in rats upregulates prolactin-releasing hormone (Prlh) expression in nucleus of the solitary tract Calcr/Prlh cells that are conserved across rodents, macaques and humans. Knocking down DVC Prlh abrogates the effects of cagrilintide but not semaglutide in rats. Our study provides a cross-species spatially resolved atlas of DVC cell populations and defines Calcr/Prlh neurons as mediators of amylin receptor agonist action.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 42260119 · DOI · PMC13303089
A glial cell-derived pathway directs regenerating optic nerve axons toward the optic chiasm [3]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- After optic nerve injury, several retinal ganglion cell (RGC) intrinsic signaling pathways have been shown to enhance RGC survival and RGC axonal growth.
- Closing excerpt
- Combined, these data identify lh3 as part of a glial derived molecular pathway that is critical for guiding in vivo regenerating RGC axons toward and across the optic chiasm.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (184 words)
After optic nerve injury, several retinal ganglion cell (RGC) intrinsic signaling pathways have been shown to enhance RGC survival and RGC axonal growth. In contrast, few extrinsic cues have been identified that guide regenerating RGC axons toward and across the optic chiasm. Here, we use live-cell imaging in larval zebrafish to show that regrowing RGC axons initiate growth toward the midline and extend along a trajectory similar to their original projection. From a candidate genetic screen, we identify the glycosyltransferase Lh3 (also referred to as Plod3) to be required to direct regrowing RGC axons toward the midline during active regeneration. Moreover, we show that transgenic lh3 expression in sox10+ presumptive olig2+ oligodendrocytes located near the optic chiasm restores directed axonal growth in lh3 mutants. Finally, we find that mutants in collagen 18a1 (col18a1), a putative Lh3 substrate, display RGC axonal misguidance phenotypes similar to lh3 mutants, suggesting that lh3 may act through col18a1 during regeneration. Combined, these data identify lh3 as part of a glial derived molecular pathway that is critical for guiding in vivo regenerating RGC axons toward and across the optic chiasm.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 41582706 · DOI · PMC12989072
Key reviews and meta-analyses
The most cited review-type papers among PubMed’s best-match results for this heading, listed with bibliographic details only. Follow the links for the full text and access terms.
- Research article Optic nerve sheath diameter measured sonographically as non-invasive estimator of intracranial pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis [4]
- Research article Systematic review with meta-analysis of studies comparing intraoperative neuromonitoring of recurrent laryngeal nerves versus visualization alone during thyroidectomy [5]
- Research article Common genetic variants associated with open-angle glaucoma [6]
- Research article Facial nerve monitoring during parotidectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis [7]
- Research article Interaction of the Vagus Nerve and Serotonin in the Gut-Brain Axis [8]
- Research article Hypoglossal nerve stimulation long-term clinical outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis [9]
References
- Onimus O, Arrivet F, Le Borgne T, Perez S, Castel J, Ansoult A, et al.. The gut-brain vagal axis governs mesolimbic dopamine dynamics and reward events. . 2026. PMID 41616060 · DOI · PMC12857734
- Ludwig MQ, Coester B, Gordian D, Hassan S, Tomlinson AJ, Toure MH, et al.. A cross-species atlas of the dorsal vagal complex reveals neural mediators of the effects of cagrilintide on energy balance. . 2026. PMID 42260119 · DOI · PMC13303089
- Harvey BM, Baxter M, Garcia AM, Granato M. A glial cell-derived pathway directs regenerating optic nerve axons toward the optic chiasm. . 2026. PMID 41582706 · DOI · PMC12989072
- Robba C, Santori G, Czosnyka M, Corradi F, Bragazzi N, Padayachy L, et al.. Optic nerve sheath diameter measured sonographically as non-invasive estimator of intracranial pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Intensive Care Med. 2018. PMID 30019201 · DOI
- Pisanu A, Porceddu G, Podda M, Cois A, Uccheddu A. Systematic review with meta-analysis of studies comparing intraoperative neuromonitoring of recurrent laryngeal nerves versus visualization alone during thyroidectomy. J Surg Res. 2014. PMID 24433869 · DOI
- Ramdas WD, van Koolwijk LM, Lemij HG, Pasutto F, Cree AJ, Thorleifsson G, et al.. Common genetic variants associated with open-angle glaucoma. Hum Mol Genet. 2011. PMID 21427129 · DOI
- Sood AJ, Houlton JJ, Nguyen SA, Gillespie MB. Facial nerve monitoring during parotidectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2015. PMID 25628369 · DOI
- Hwang YK, Oh JS. Interaction of the Vagus Nerve and Serotonin in the Gut-Brain Axis. Int J Mol Sci. 2025. PMID 39940928 · DOI · PMC11818468
- Costantino A, Rinaldi V, Moffa A, Luccarelli V, Bressi F, Cassano M, et al.. Hypoglossal nerve stimulation long-term clinical outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Breath. 2020. PMID 31418162 · DOI
About this article
- Sources
- NLM Medical Subject Headings (definition, synonyms); NCBI PubMed (counts, identifiers); Europe PMC (open-access abstracts and citation counts).
- Verification
- Every reference was resolved against PubMed on 2026-10-31; title, year and DOI matched.
- Review state
- automated source verified; no human expert review has been recorded yet.
- Version
- 1, last updated 2026-10-29.
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Evidence strength
EvidenceHelix's computed view of the study designs behind this topic: how common meta-analyses, randomized trials and reviews are, how recent the literature is, and a plain-language reading. It describes the design mix of the literature. It is not a quality appraisal of any study, and it is not medical advice.