In this 20-minute video, I walk through how I memorized the entire facial nerve (cranial nerve VII) using a memory palace. The facial nerve is a key player in neuroanatomy and pops up repeatedly during gross anatomy in medical school. I explain how I capture the nuclei, branches, and key practical points in an efficient way.
This video covers: palace selection, loci selection, image creation, deciding what to encode, Anki card creation, writing mnemonics, reviewing mnemonics. Selected images and diagrams below.
3x World Memory Champion Alex Mullen discusses his memory palace-based mnemonics for learning the anatomy of the facial nerve (cranial nerve VII).
Selected Images
(Palace: Ole Miss Chapel Quad)
Superior Salivatory Nucleus: Salvador Dali
Rostral Solitary Nucleus: Statue with upturned nose
Internal Acoustic Meatus: Meat inside cafeteria
Geniculate ganglion: genuflecting person
Greater petrosal nerve: Muhammad Ali on Stone path
Pterygopalatine ganglion: Pterodactyl
Lacrimal Gland: Tear
Stapedius: Stampede
Bell palsy: Bell
Stylomastoid foramen: Stylus Mast
Posterior ear: Ear
Posterior Auricular Nerve: Aunt
Posterior Belly of Digastric: Back belly
Facial Motor Branches: To Zanzibar By Motor Car
Petrotympanic fissure: Stone crushing Tympani
Anterior 2/3 tongue: Tongue
Sublingual and Submandibular Glands: Saliva
Diagrams
Here's my facial nerve nerve schematic (adapted from this original lecture by Peter Ward) and my corresponding palace sketch: