olfactory bulb

Introduction

The expanded rostral extremity of the olfactory tract, lying on the cribriform plate of the ethmoid bone.

Function

• component of limbic system
• associated with odor identification
• mediates link between central olfactory brain structures*

* olfactory cortex, hypothalamus, hippocampus, parahippocampal cortex, insular cortex, medial orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala, dorsomedial thalamic nucleus

Afferents

• it contains synapses of olfactory nerve (CN I) afferents

Efferents

• olfactory tubercle via the olfactory tract & intermediate olfactory striae

Pathology

• olfactory bulb volume may serve as a preclinical marker for adults at risk for neurodegenerative diseases* later in life

* also see olfaction & Alzheimer's disease

More general terms

• brain structure

Additional terms

• cribriform plate of ethmoid bone, (cribrum, sieve bone, sieve plate)
• olfactory nerve (CN I)
• olfactory tract
• olfactory tubercle

Component of

• limbic system