The auriculotemporal nerve is a branch of which division of the trigeminal nerve?

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The auriculotemporal nerve arises from the mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve. The trigeminal nerve splits into three divisions: ophthalmic (V1), maxillary (V2), and mandibular (V3). The auriculotemporal nerve is a branch of V3, which contains both sensory fibers to the lower face and motor fibers to the muscles of mastication. It supplies sensation to the temple and external ear and even carries postganglionic parasympathetic fibers to the parotid gland. The other divisions don’t give rise to this nerve, and the facial nerve is a different cranial nerve entirely.