Olfactory nerve

Olfactory nerve
The nerve that carries impulses for the sense of smell from the nose to the brain. The olfactory nerve is the first cranial nerve. The cranial nerves emerge from or enter the skull (the cranium), as opposed to the spinal nerves which emerge from the vertebral column. There are twelve cranial nerves. The word "olfactory" comes from the Latin "olfactare", to sniff at and "olfacere", to smell.

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olfactory nerve n either of the pair of nerves that are the first cranial nerves, that serve to conduct sensory stimuli from the olfactory organ to the brain, and that arise from the olfactory cells as discrete bundles of unmyelinated fibers passing in small groups (in humans, about 20) through the cribriform plate of the ethmoid bone and terminating in the olfactory bulb called also first cranial nerve

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the first cranial nerves (I): the special sensory nerve of smell. Fibres of the nerve run upwards from smell receptors in the nasal mucosa high in the roof of the nose, through minute holes in the skull, join to form the olfactory tract, and pass back to reach the brain.

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1. nervus olfactorius. 2. (in the pl.) fila olfactoria.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Olfactory nerve — Nerve: Olfactory nerve The Olfactory Nerve …   Wikipedia

  • olfactory nerve — n. either of the first pair of cranial nerves that arise in the mucous membranes within the upper part of the nose and transmit impulses concerned with the sense of smell to the forebrain …   English World dictionary

  • olfactory nerve — the first cranial nerve (I): the special sensory nerve of smell. Fibres of the nerve run upwards from smell receptors in the nasal mucosa high in the roof of the nose, through minute holes in the skull, join to form the olfactory tract, and pass… …   The new mediacal dictionary

  • olfactory nerve — noun a collective term for numerous olfactory filaments in the nasal mucosa • Syn: ↑nervii olfactorii, ↑first cranial nerve • Hypernyms: ↑cranial nerve • Part Holonyms: ↑sensory system …   Useful english dictionary

  • olfactory nerve — cranial nerve I, conducting odour stimuli from the olfactory organ to the brain …   Dictionary of ichthyology

  • olfactory nerve — noun Date: 1670 either of the pair of nerves that are the first cranial nerves and that arise in the olfactory neurosensory cells of the nasal mucous membrane and pass to the anterior part of the cerebrum …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • olfactory nerve — olfac′tory nerve n. anat. either one of the first pair of cranial nerves, consisting of sensory fibers that conduct to the brain the impulses from the mucous membranes of the nose • Etymology: 1660–70 …   From formal English to slang

  • olfactory nerve fiber layer — the outermost layer of the olfactory bulb, composed of axons of the olfactory cells before they terminate in the adjacent glomerular layer …   Medical dictionary

  • olfactory nerve — Anat. either one of the first pair of cranial nerves, consisting of sensory fibers that conduct to the brain the impulses from the mucous membranes of the nose. [1660 70] * * * …   Universalium

  • Olfactory epithelium — Section of the olfactory mucous membrane. Plan of olfactory neurons …   Wikipedia

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