10 Common Causes of Double Vision
Article Sources
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6. Cranial Nerve Palsies
The body has twelve pairs of nerves that emerge directly from the brain and control most motor and sensory functions of the head and neck. These are known as cranial nerves (CN) and, like any other nerve in the body, they are susceptible to injury. A cranial nerve palsy involves a decrease or loss of the nerve’s function.
Binocular diplopia or double vision can occur due to CN palsies. Cranial nerves III (oculomotor), IV (trochlear), and VI (abducens) control the position of our eyes by innervating the muscles that move them. However, if these nerves are injured by any sort of brain damage they can cause a variety of ocular signs and symptoms related to impaired eye movements. CN III, IV, VI palsies can share many possible causes such as aneurysms, microvascular CN palsies (blood flow is blocked in tiny blood vessels that supply the nerves), trauma, infections (i.e. meningitis), and tumors.
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