XII — Hypoglossal nerve

Looks like

A nerve leaving the medulla and curving down and forward under the jaw into the tongue.

What it does

Moves the tongue for speech, chewing and swallowing.

Keeping it well

Damage makes the tongue point towards the weak side when stuck out; a wasting, twitching tongue can be motor neurone disease.

Related conditions

• Amyloidosis (AL and ATTR)
• Botulism
• Chickenpox (varicella)
• Chronic neuropathic pain
• Chronic pain syndrome
• Fibromyalgia
• Guillain-Barré syndrome
• Lyme disease
• Myasthenia gravis
• Peripheral neuropathy
• Rabies
• Restless legs syndrome
• Shingles (herpes zoster)
• Tetanus
• Vitamin B1, C and other deficiencies