The seventh, paired, cranial nerve (CN) VII of facial expression and taste (to the anterior two-thirds of the tongue). It is related to the derivatives of the second pharyngeal arch, namely, the motor (facial expression), sensory (concha of the auricle), special sensory (taste), and parasympathetic fibers (supplies glands of head and neck). It arises from the brainstem between the pons and the medulla.
