Visual Library

CN 1 · Olfactory Nerve

Smell · Cranial Nerve I

Soft translucent profile showing gold olfactory nerve filaments crossing the cribriform plate from the upper nasal cavity to the olfactory bulb, with the tract continuing behind it.
The smell pathway in gold: fine CN I fibers cross from the nasal roof to the olfactory bulb. The bulb and tract carry the pathway onward. Structures are enlarged here to make the connections easier to see.
What it does

CN I carries smell information from sensory neurons high in the nasal cavity. Odor molecules activate these cells, beginning the signals that help us recognize aromas and experience flavor.

Follow the pathway

Tiny bundles of receptor-cell axons form CN I and pass through openings in the cribriform plate to the olfactory bulb. There, they connect with bulb neurons whose axons form the olfactory tract, carrying information onward to olfactory brain regions.

Explore the anatomy

NIH · How smell works
NCBI Bookshelf · The olfactory bulb
Anatomy of the olfactory system

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