ABSTRACT
The content of the neurological examination of the motor cranial nerves is a reflection
of the current understanding of the neuroanatomy and clinical neurophysiology of the
brain stem. The history of the neuroanatomy of the cranial nerves extends from Galen's
investigations c. 200 CE to the determination of the innervations of the facial nerve
by Charles Bell in the early 19th century. Scientific clinical neurophysiology first
appears in the work of John Hughlings Jackson in the mid- to late 19th century. The
modern model of the organization and function of the nervous system results in a clinical
examination that can be called neurological. The codification of the technique of
the neurological examination of the cranial nerves mirrors the institutional and social
history of neurology and is reflected in the changing role of neurology textbooks
in the 19th and 20th centuries. The texts develop through stages of classification,
pedagogy, reference, and institutionalization and illustrate the development of a
specialized medical discipline.
KEYWORD
History of neurological examination - history of neurology - history of medicine -
history of science
