Which cranial structures of brain are sensitive to pain?
Although all pain is registered in the brain, the brain itself is not pain sensitive.
The arachnoid, ependyma, and dura (except portions near blood vessels) are also insensitive to pain.
The following are sensitive to pain: cranial nerves V, VII, IX, and X; the circle of Willis and proximal continuations; meningeal arteries; large veins in the brain and dura; and structures external to the skull (including scalp and neck muscles, cutaneous nerves and skin, the mucosa of paranasal sinuses, external auditory canal and tympanic membrane, orbital structures and eyeballs, salivary glands, teeth, temporomandibular joints, cervical nerves and roots, and the external carotid arteries and branches).
