Figure 2.

Basic anatomy of the nose, olfactory epithelium, and olfactory bulb.

Left: Air, including aerosols and odorants, enters into the nasal cavity and a portion reaches the olfactory neuroepithelium located within the olfactory clefts on sectors of the nasal septum and superior and middle turbinates. The highly vascular turbinates warm, cleanse, and filter the air. Right: Olfactory receptor proteins are located on the olfactory cilia. The olfactory neuroepithelium is comprised of multiple cell types, which germinate from basal cells. The axons of the receptor cells extend through the bony cribriform plate to synapse with other cell types in globe-like structures within the olfactory bulb, the first relay station of the olfactory pathway. Copyright © 2022 Shima Moein.