The initial appearance of the cranial nerves and related neuronal migration in staged human embryos

The initial development of the cranial nerves was studied in 245 human embryos of stages 10-23 (4-8 postfertilizational weeks). Significant findings in the human embryo include the following. (1) Neuronal migration is a characteristic feature in the development of all the cranial nerves at stages 13-18, with the exception of the somatic efferent group. (2) The somatic efferent and the visceral efferent neurons are arranged respectively in ventrolateral and ventromedial columns (stages 13-17). (3) The ventrolateral column gives rise to somatic efferent nuclei; the neurons of the hypoglossal nerve develop rapidly and show a segmental organization as four roots that innervate three of the four occipital somites (stage 13); the abducent nucleus becomes displaced rostrally by a change in the rhombomeric pattern at stage 16. (4) The ventromedial column, originally continuous in rhombomeres 2-7, gives rise to visceral efferent and pharyngeal efferent nuclei. (5) All the 'true' cranial nerves (III-XII) are recognizable by stage 16. (6) In a primary migration the visceral efferent neurons proceed mediolaterally and accumulate dorsolaterally as nuclei (stages 13, 14); they differentiate into salivatory nuclei (stages 16, 17). (7) A secondary migration involves the pharyngeal efferent neurons (of nerves V and IX-XI), which also proceed mediolaterally and then form ventrolateral nuclei (stages 17, 18). (8) The facial complex shows a distinctive development in that its neural crest arises from the lateral wall of the neural folds/tube. Moreover, the migration of its pharyngeal efferent neurons is delayed, which may be related to the formation of the internal genu, and the motor nucleus begins to appear only at stage 23. (9) The sequence of appearance of afferent constituents is: cranial ganglia (stage 12), mesencephalic trigeminal nucleus (stage 15), vestibular nuclei (stages 18-22), and cochlear nuclei (stage 19). The unsatisfactory term special is avoided and the term pharyngeal for air-breathing vertebrates replaces branchial. The six functional categories used here are vestibulocochlear, somatic afferent, visceral afferent, visceral efferent, pharyngeal efferent, and somatic efferent, together with appropriate abbreviations. The cardiac and hypoglossal neural crests are included, and it is emphasized that all the ectodermal placodes develop within the 'ectodermal ring'.