Anatomy Ink Motion

Anatomy Ink Motion Are your students struggling to make anatomy stick?
📚 Educational Temp. Motion Tattoo
💪🏻 Developed by Dr. Eryn Milian
👩🏼‍🏫 PT Professor

Can you read this diagram in 30 seconds? Let’s make it STICK 🧠 ...
09/25/2026

Can you read this diagram in 30 seconds? Let’s make it STICK 🧠
This is CN VII - Facial Nerve - but look at the COLORS:
🟢 GREEN = MOTOR
Your entire facial expression + 2 little muscles (post. digastric + stylohyoid) + those 5 branches in the parotid: Temporal, Zygomatic, Buccal, Marginal Mandibular, Cervical
🟣 PINK = PARASYMPATHETIC
Takes a detour as Chorda Tympani → synapses in submandibular ganglion → then to sublingual + submandibular glands → SALIVA
🟠 ORANGE = TASTE
Anterior 2/3 of tongue - also rides with Chorda Tympani
Path in this image: Internal acoustic meatus → Facial canal → Stylomastoid foramen → Parotid gland → Face
Save this breakdown - if you know WHERE the lesion is on this drawing, you know WHAT symptoms to expect. That’s how you ace neuro!
Which branch is hardest to remember? 👇

The throat’s squeeze sequence 👇 ...
09/17/2026

The throat’s squeeze sequence 👇
3 horizontal muscles. 1 job: sequentially constrict the pharynx and push food down.
PHARYNGEAL CONSTRICTORS - Posterior View
1. Superior constrictor - top, overlaps the middle
2. Middle constrictor - middle, anchored to hyoid
3. Inferior constrictor - bottom, becomes continuous with esophagus
They all meet in the middle at the pharyngeal raphe - that white seam down the back. Think of it like 3 stacked flower pots, each overlapping the one below it.
Innervation that STICKS:
Pharyngeal plexus does almost everything here.
CN IX = sensory to pharynx
CN X = motor to constrictors*
*That asterisk: the motor fibers actually start as cranial root of CN XI, then hitch a ride with X. Classic exam trap.
The exception you MUST know:
See that muscle labeled stylopharyngeus running with CN IX? It’s the ONLY pharyngeal muscle NOT innervated by the plexus. It’s CN IX alone.

Which one do you always forget? Superior, middle, or inferior?
Save this for Head & Neck block. It will come back.


CN X - The Vagus Nerve: Laryngeal Branches Made STICKY ...
09/15/2026

CN X - The Vagus Nerve: Laryngeal Branches Made STICKY
If you remember ONE thing about the vagus and the voice box, remember this:
RED = Sensory. GREEN = Motor.
And the vagus gives you TWO nerves to the larynx, but one takes a detour:
1. Superior Laryngeal Nerve (high, direct)
It splits into:
→ Internal laryngeal nerve - SENSORY to larynx ABOVE the vocal folds. This is why you cough when something touches above your cords.
→ External laryngeal nerve - MOTOR to ONE muscle: cricothyroid. It tenses your vocal cords = high pitch. Damage = can’t hit high notes.[red][green]
2. Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve (low, loops)
It dives down, loops, and comes back up. Why “recurrent”? That U-turn you see.
→ MOTOR to ALL other intrinsic laryngeal mm (except cricothyroid)
→ SENSORY to larynx BELOW the vocal folds.[green][red]
CLINICAL STICKY POINT:
Recurrent laryngeal nerve injury = hoarse voice, weak cough, risk of aspiration. Why is the LEFT more vulnerable? It loops under the aortic arch, not just the subclavian. Think: longer loop = more exposure in chest surgeries.
Quick check for you: If a patient loses sensation above the vocal folds after a procedure, which branch was hit?
Save this for your head & neck exam. Your future self will thank you.
larynx

Now that we have reviewed all CNs, let’s get into some of the fun details. First up….the spinal accessory nerve! Unlike ...
09/11/2026

Now that we have reviewed all CNs, let’s get into some of the fun details. First up….the spinal accessory nerve! Unlike other CNs, CN XI has a cranial root (brainstem) and a spinal root (C1-5) by which it originates. The spinal roots ascend through the foramen magnum to get into the skull where it then pick up the cranial root and these both travel out the jugular foramen as the spinal accessory nerve to get to the muscles this nerve innervates. the trapezius and sternocleidomastoid.

CN XII is PURE MOTOR but super functional. 👅 ...
09/10/2026

CN XII is PURE MOTOR but super functional. 👅
If your patient can’t move their tongue well, they can’t swallow safely, speak clearly, or keep that airway open.
PT Breakdown:
The hypoglossal nerve innervates almost every tongue muscle. Test it by having them protrude their tongue.
Deviates TOWARD the weak side. Remember: the tongue licks the lesion.
Why test it?
Dysphagia & aspiration risk
Dysarthria (those T, D, L sounds)
Weak genioglossus = airway collapse in OSA
Jaw/neck compensation
Pro tip: Add tongue press to cheek for strength testing - you’re already testing cheek muscles for CN VII, now test against them.
Have you been checking tongue strength in your neuro exams?

CN XI but make it STICK 🧠 The...
09/08/2026

CN XI but make it STICK 🧠
The Spinal Accessory Nerve is not even from the cranium. It starts in your SPINAL CORD (C1-C5), climbs INTO the skull, then escapes out the Jugular Foramen with CN IX & X.
Then it does TWO things:
1️⃣ SCM → Turns your head to the OPPOSITE side
2️⃣ TRAPEZIUS → Shrugs your shoulders and holds your scapula up
Injury? Think: Drooping shoulder, can’t shrug, weak head turn. Classic after neck procedures in the posterior triangle.
Test it in 5 sec: Resisted shrug + resisted head turn.
Mnemonic: Spinal Accessory = Shrug + Accessory? No. Shrug + Turn = Spinal T*rap?
What do you use? 👇

09/04/2026

We did this webinar not too long ago and it’s so relevant to CN X so reposting a clip! If you are interesting in learning more about POTS check out Alexis Cutchins, MD. If you want to see the anatomy, consider our 5 day dissection course through The Jones Institute.

CN X: THE VAGUS NERVE 🧠💨❤️ Crania...
09/04/2026

CN X: THE VAGUS NERVE 🧠💨❤️
Cranial nerve 10 is not just a nerve — it’s an entire nervous system. 75% of your parasympathetic fibers run through it.
If you see POTS, Long COVID, whiplash, or patients who are “stuck in sympathetic” — you are already treating vagus.
PT Pearls you can use tomorrow:
1. It’s sensory, not just motor. 80% afferent. That GI, heart, lung info is why your diaphragmatic breathing and slow exhale work actually works — you’re driving vagal afferents to Nucleus Solitarius.
2. Voice is your window. Recurrent laryngeal nerve (branch of X) innervates all intrinsic laryngeal muscles except cricothyroid. New hoarseness after neck trauma/intubation/thyroid surgery = CN X, not just “laryngitis.”
3. Occipitomastoid area matters. Vagus exits jugular foramen right by the occipital bone. Gentle occipitomastoid / suboccipital inhibition techniques are showing autonomic shifts in PM&R literature — HRV, sympathetic tone.
4. Breath as treatment: Extended exhale (inhale 4, exhale 6-8), humming, gargling — all stimulate vagal motor output via nucleus ambiguus. Great adjunct for dysautonomia rehab.
Don’t diagnose dysphagia. Screen it, document it, refer it. Your job: rule out cervical contributions, retrain breathing/autonomic regulation, and build graded exercise tolerance for POTS.
Save this for your next complex neuro / dysautonomia case.


CN IX is small but mighty. 👀 ...
09/02/2026

CN IX is small but mighty. 👀
We all memorize CN X for swallowing, but CN IX is the sensory side that actually feels the swallow. No sensation = no protection.
As PTs we won’t isolate CN IX, but we WILL see its dysfunction: absent gag, poor pharyngeal awareness, glossopharyngeal breathing patterns in SCI, and that patient who gets dizzy when you touch their neck.
That’s carotid sinus via CN IX. That’s a red flag.

CN VIII in 30 seconds 👇 The v...
09/01/2026

CN VIII in 30 seconds 👇
The vestibulocochlear nerve is PURE sensory with 2 distinct jobs:
Cochlear branch = hearing
Vestibular branch = balance, motion, gravity
When it’s irritated, your patient doesn’t say “my CN VIII” — they say “I’m dizzy, nauseous, ringing in my ears, and I can’t walk in the grocery store.”
PT screen to know:
Whisper / Rinne & Weber for hearing. Head Impulse, Dix-Hallpike, and Dynamic Visual Acuity for vestibular.
Pathologies to keep on your radar: BPPV, vestibular neuritis/labyrinthitis, Meniere’s, schwannoma.
Save this for your next dizzy eval — and tell me, what’s your go-to vestibular test?

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