Which nerve provides general sensation to the anterior two-thirds of the tongue?

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The front two-thirds of the tongue receive general sensation (touch, pain, temperature) from fibers carried by the lingual nerve. This nerve is a branch of the mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve (V3) and provides somatic afferent input from the anterior two-thirds of the tongue. It’s the pathway that relays tactile and other somatic sensory information to the brain.

Taste from the same region is a separate modality carried by the chorda tympani, a branch of the facial nerve, which joins the lingual nerve and conveys special visceral afferent fibers for taste. The other nerves don’t supply general sensation to this region: the hypoglossal nerve is motor to tongue muscles, the glossopharyngeal nerve supplies general sensation and taste to the posterior one-third, and the chorda tympani handles taste (not general sensation) for the anterior two-thirds.