Block V West Visayas State University – College of Medicine – Batch 2020

Module 3
Lecture 6
11 / 29 /
16
OLFACTORY SENSE
Dr. Jerry C. Alabado, MD, DPBNS, FAFNI

TOPIC OUTLINE
I. Introduction
II. Gonadal Differentiation
III. Ductal System Development
A. Indifferent Stage
B. Genital Ducts in Female
C. Genital Ducts in Male
D. Vestigial Remnants
BOOK REFERENCE
IV.Development of External Genitalia
A. Indifferent Stage
B. External Genitalia in Females
C. External Genitalia in Males
V. Genital Homologues
VI. Congenital Anomalies
Review Questions
Appendices
LECTURER
I. THE OLFACTORY SYSTEM
A. THE OLFACTORY EPITHELIUM
• Olfactory Membrane
1. has a surface area of 2.4 cm2
• Olfactory Mucosa
1. Innervated by:
OLD TRANS ─ Olfactory nerve (CN I)
─ Trigeminal nerve (CN V)
2. when stimulated ,it is responsible for irritative
character of some odorants such as ammonia
3. odorants molecules come in contact with the
olfactory mucosa by sniffing, which produces
turbulence in the air flow and transporting
molecules to receptor cells
• Olfactory cells
1. Receptor cells for smell sensation
2. aka olfactory nerve cells
3. bipolar nerve cells derived from the CNS itself
4. about 100 million olfactory cells are
interspersed among the sustentacular cells on
the olfactory epithelium
• Sustentacular cells
1. the glia-like supporting cells of the olfactory system
2. the mucosal ends of olfactory cells form a knob
with 4-25 olfactory hairs
• Olfactory hairs
1. aka olfactory cilia
2. 0.3 um in diameter and 200 um in length
3. project into the mucus coating the nasal cavity’s
inner surface
• Bowman’s glands
1. Found among the olfactory cells
2. Secrete mucus onto the olfactory membrane
surface
• Basal cells
1. Other cells of the olfactory epithelium
2. Continually divide to produce new olfactory
receptor cells that have short life spans

B. THE OLFACTORY CILIA

• Olfactory Cilia
1. respond to olfactory chemical stimuli
Figure 1. A Diagram of the Components of the Olfactory System
2. Like tastebuds, they can respond to more than
(Old Trans) one odorant.
3. Have receptor proteins, long molecules that thread
• The Olfactory System their way through the membrane about 7 times,
1. lies in the superior part of each nostril folding inward and outward
2. medially, it folds downward along the surface of the ─ The inside folding is coupled to a G-protein
superior septum with 3 sub-units
3. laterally, it folds over over the superior turbinate • General odor qualities that can be sensed:
and even over a smaller portion of the upper 1. Camphoraceous (eucalyptus)
surface of the middle turbinate. 2. Musky
3. Floral

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 4. Pepperminty 8. Each bulb has several thousand glomeruli.
5. Ethereal (pears) 9. Each glomerulus is the terminus for about
6. Pungent (vinegar) 25,000 axons from olfactory cells, as well as
7. Putrid dendrites from 25 large mitral cells and 60
smaller tufted cells.

C. THE OLFACTORY BULB

• Olfactory Bulb 10. Olfactory bulbs contain
1. Located on the ventral surface of the frontal lobe in ─ Perigranular cells
the olfactory sulcus Inhibitory neurons connecting one
2. Attached to the rest of the brain by the olfactory glomerulus to another
tract ─ Granule cells
Principal interneurons to the olfactory bulb
3. Consists of five well-defined layers:
─ Olfactory nerve layer
─ Glomerular layer • Mitral cells
most superficial layer 1. principal cells of the olfactory bulb
consists of mitral cell dendritic glomeruli, 2. project through the olfactory tract and lateral
olfactory nerve fibers, and periglomerular olfactory stria to the primary olfactory
cells cortex and amygdala
─ External plexiform layer 3. excite granule cells by releasing glutamate
Composed of cell bodies of tufted cells, • Tufted cells
primary and secondary dendrites of 1. smaller than the mitral cells and have thinner axons
mitral cells and apical dendrites of 2. excite granule cells by releasing glutamate
granule cells • Mitral & tufted cell bodies
Apical dendrites of granule cells form 1. lie in the olfactory bulb superior to the glomeruli
reciprocal dendrodendritic synapses 2. their dendrites receive synapses from the
(GABA) with the secondary dendrites of olfactory neurons.
tufted and mitral cells 3. their axons course through the olfactory tract to
These synapses modulate tufted and transmit signals to the CNS.
mitral cell output through lateral and
feedback inhibition
In turn, mitral and tufted cells form
excitatory (glutamate) synapses
with granule cell dendrites
─ Mitral cell layer
A thin layer containing the cell bodies of
mitral cells, axons of tufted and mitral
cells, centrifugal fibers
─ Granule cell layer
Contains multiple small, round neurons
that lack axons, primary and collateral
axons of tufted and mitral cells,
centrifugal fibers
Long dendritic processes of the neurons
reach the more superficial layers and
inhibit mitral cells and tufted cells
Small, distal processes make contact with
the exiting mitral cell axons.

4. The olfactory bulb & tract are anterior
outgrowths of brain tissue from the brain's base.
5. lies over the cribriform plate, separating the
brain cavity from the upper nasal cavity.
6. Cribriform plate perforations allow the small
nerves to pass from the olfactory membrane to
the olfactory bulb.
7. Olfactory cells' axons from the olfactory membrane
terminate at multiple globular glomeruli within
the olfactory bulb.
Figure 2. Another Diagram of the Components of the Olfactory System
(Old Trans)
II. THE PROCESS OF OLFACTION
1. Odorant substance comes in contact with
olfactory membrane & diffuses into the mucus
2. Odorant substance then binds with receptor
proteins in the olfactory cilium membrane,
specifically on the protein that folds outwards

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 3. On excitation of the receptor protein, an alpha
subunit breaks away from the G-protein
4. Alpha subunit activates adenylyl cyclase attached
to the inside of the ciliary membrane near the
receptor cell body
5. Activated adenylyl cyclase converts many
intracellular adenosine triphosphate into cyclic
adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)
6. cAMP activates a nearby gated sodium ion
channel
7. Gated sodium ion channel opens & allows
many sodium ions to pour through the membrane
into the receptor cell cytoplasm
8. Sodium ions increase electrical potential in the
positive direction
9. Olfactory neuron excitation & action potential
transmission into CNS via olfactory nerve
Figure 3. Summary of olfactory signal transduction. Binding of the
odorant to a G-coupled protein receptor causes activation of
adenylate cyclase, which converts adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to
cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). The cAMP activates a
gated sodium channel that increases sodium influx and depolarizes
the cell, exciting the olfactory neuron and transmitting action potentials
to the central nervous system
III. MECHANISM OF EXCITATION
• Mechanism of excitation that greatly multiplies the
effect of even the weakest odorant:
1. Activation of the receptor protein activates the
G-protein complex.
2. This in turn activates multiple molecules of
adenylyl cyclase.
3. This causes formation of many more cAMP
molecules.
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4. cAMP opens more sodium ion channels
(cascading effect).
• Odorant characteristics affecting degree of
stimulation:
1. Only volatile substances that can be sniffed
into the nostrils can be smelled.
2. Stimulating substance must be at least slightly
water soluble (can pass through the mucus).
3. Stimulating substance must be slightly lipid
soluble (lipid constituents of the cilium itself are
a weak barrier to nonlipid-soluble odorants).
• Unstimulated olfactory cell membrane's
potential is -55 mV (where most cells generate
continuous action potentials at slow rates, from 1
every 20 seconds to 2 or 3 per second).
• Depolarized olfactory cell membrane's potential
is -30 mV or less (where cells generate action
potentials of 20-30 per second).
• Rate of olfactory nerve impulses corresponds to
logarithm of stimulus strength.
IV. MECHANISM OF ADAPTATION
• Olfactory receptors adapt about 50% in the 1st second
after stimulation, and very slowly afterwards.
• It is almost certain that most additional adaptation to
smell occurs within the CNS.
• Postulated neuronal mechanism for adaptation:
1. Centrifugal nerve fibers pass from the olfactory
regions of the brain backward along the olfactory
tract.
2. Centrifugal nerve fibers terminate on special
inhbitory granule cells in the olfactory bulb.
3. After onset of an olfactory stimulus, CNS develops
strong feedback inhibition to suppress relay of
smell signals through the olfactory bulb.
V. AFFECTIVE NATURE OF SMELL
• There are at least 100 primary sensations of smell.
• Odor blindness for a substance represents lack of
appropriate receptor proteins for that substance.
• Smell has the affective quality of pleasantness or
unpleasantness:
1. A person who has previously eaten food that
disagreed with him/her is nauseated by that same
food's smell on a second occasion.
2. Perfume of the right quality can be a powerful
stimulant of human emotions.
3. In some lower animals, odors are the primary
excitant of sexual drive.
VI. THRESHOLD FOR SMELL
• Even minute quantities of stimulating agents can elicit
smell sensations.
• Methylmercaptan can be smelled even when only a
25-trillionth of a gram is present in each ml of air. This
is mixed with natural gas to give the gas an odor that
can be detected when even small amounts leak from a
pipeline [Side Note: LPG example].
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 VI. THRESHOLD FOR SMELL
• Concentrations 10-50x above the threshold evoke
maximum intensity of smell.
• Smell is concerned more w/ detecting presence or
absence of odors than quantitative detection of
intensities.

VII. THE OLFACTORY PATHWAY

• Olfactory portions were among the 1st brain structures
developed in primitive animals.
• Part of the brain that originally subserved olfaction
evolved into the limbic system (basal brain structure;
controls emotions & other aspects of human behavior).
• Integrated signals pass along the olfactory tract and
centrally diverge to pass to the anterior commissure
(some efferent projections course to the contralateral
olfactory bulb) or terminate in the ipsilateral olfactory
trigone (aka olfactory tubercle).
• Axons then project to the primary olfactory cortex
(consisting of piriform cortex), entorhinal cortex Figure 4. Neural connections of the olfactory system
& amygdala. (Old Trans)
• The primary olfactory cortex (aka Brodmann’s
area 34) overlies the uncus.
• Olfactory tract enters the brain at the anterior • Review Questions
junction, between mesencephalon & cerebrum. 1. The homologue of the ventral surface of
• It divides into pathways, one going to the medial the penis
olfactory area, the other to the lateral olfactory a. Clitoris
area. b. Labia minora
c. Hymen
d. Labia majora
VIII. THE MEDIAL OLFACTORY AREA 2. What is the most common cause of female
• Medial Olfactory Area DSD?
1. It divides into pathways, one going to the medial a. Excessive androgen exposure of embryo
olfactory area, the other to the lateral usually due to Congenital Adrenal
olfactory area. Hyperplasia
Olfactory portions were among the 1st brain structures b. Abnormalities in androgen receptor
developed in primitive animals (androgen-insensitivity syndrome)
c. Maternal virilizing ovarian tumors
(Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor)
d. Insufficient androgen exposure

REFERENCES
1. Langman’s Embryology, 13th Edition
2. Dr. Contrevida’s Lecture
3. Upclass Notes

FREEDOM WALL

APPENDIX

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