Olfactory System, Sagittal View
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The olfactory system
Landmarks: midline nasal cavity, temporal lobe, anterior corpus callosum, frontal lobe, cribriform plate and olfactory epithelium.
- The cribriform plate separates the cranial vault from the nasal cavity.
- Fracture to the cribriform plate (or more commonly to the ethmoid air cells posterolateral to the cribriform plate) is a common cause of rhinorrhea — cerebrospinal fluid leak from the nasal cavity.
olfactory bulb & tract
- Lie underneath the frontal lobe.
- The olfactory bulb is often distinguished as the main olfactory bulb because the majority of vertebrates also have an accessory olfactory system. However, the role and existence of the accessory olfactory system (aka vomeronasal system) in humans is disputed.