Olfactory nerve

The olfactory nerve, also known as the

first cranial nerve, cranial nerve I, or
simply CN I, is a cranial nerve that
contains sensory nerve fibers relating to
the sense of smell.
 Olfactory nerve

The olfactory nerve

Details

Innervates Smell

Identifiers

Latin nervus olfactorius

MeSH D009832 (https://me

shb.nlm.nih.gov/reco
rd/ui?ui=D009832)

NeuroNames 32 (http://braininfo.rp
rc.washington.edu/c
 entraldirectory.aspx?I
D=32)
TA98 A14.2.01.004 (http
s://ifaa.unifr.ch/Publi
c/EntryPage/TA98%2
0Tree/Entity%20TA9
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4%20Entity%20TA9
8%20EN.htm)
A14.2.01.005 (http
s://ifaa.unifr.ch/Publi
c/EntryPage/TA98%2
0Tree/Entity%20TA9
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8%20EN.htm)

TA2 6181 (https://ta2view

er.openanatomy.or
 g/?id=6181)
FMA 46787 (https://biopor
tal.bioontology.org/o
ntologies/FMA/?p=cl
asses&conceptid=htt
p%3A%2F%2Fpurl.or
g%2Fsig%2Font%2Ff
ma%2Ffma46787)

Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy

The afferent nerve fibers of the olfactory

receptor neurons transmit nerve
impulses about odors to the central
nervous system (olfaction). Derived from
the embryonic nasal placode, the
olfactory nerve is somewhat unusual
among cranial nerves because it is
capable of some regeneration if
damaged. The olfactory nerve is sensory
in nature and originates on the olfactory
mucosa in the upper part of the nasal
cavity.[1] From the olfactory mucosa, the
nerve (actually many small nerve
fascicles) travels up through the
cribriform plate of the ethmoid bone to
reach the surface of the brain. Here the
fascicles enter the olfactory bulb and
synapse there; from the bulbs (one on
each side) the olfactory information is
transmitted into the brain via the
olfactory tract.[2] The fascicles of the
olfactory nerve are not visible on a
cadaver brain because they are severed
upon removal.[3] : 548

Structure

The specialized olfactory receptor

neurons of the olfactory nerve are
located in the olfactory mucosa of the
upper parts of the nasal cavity. The
olfactory nerves consist of a collection of
many sensory nerve fibers that extend
from the olfactory epithelium to the
olfactory bulb, passing through the many
openings of the cribriform plate, a sieve-
like structure of the ethmoid bone.
The sense of smell arises from the
stimulation of receptors by small
molecules in inspired air of varying
spatial, chemical, and electrical
properties that reach the nasal
epithelium in the nasal cavity during
inhalation. These stimulants are
transduced into electrical activity in the
olfactory neurons, which then transmit
these impulses to the olfactory bulb and
from there they reach the olfactory areas
of the brain via the olfactory tract.

The olfactory nerve is the shortest of the

twelve cranial nerves and, similar to the
optic nerve, does not emanate from the
brainstem.[2]
Function

The olfaction system works to ensure

that people can successfully identify an
extensive range of odorants and
distinguish odors from one another.[4][5]
Odorants interact with the olfactory
receptor neurons (ORNs) at the periphery
and transmit olfactory information to the
central nervous system via axons at the
basal surface.[4][5] These axons
aggregate, forming the olfactory
nerve.[4][5][6] Therefore, the olfactory
nerve works to transduce sensory stimuli
in the form of odorants and encode them
into electrical signals, which are relayed
to higher-order centers through synaptic
transmission.[4][6]

Odor Transduction

Odorants bind to specific odorant

receptor proteins contained to the outer
surface of olfactory cilia within the
olfactory epithelium.[4][5] Odorant binding
to the cilia of an ORN evokes an
electrical response, kickstarting odor
transduction.[4] An individual ORN
contains several microvilli, olfactory cilia,
which protrude from a knoblike structure
at the apical surface involved in dendritic
processes.[4] The olfactory cilia lack the
cytoskeletal features of motile cilia and
are, therefore, more similar to microvilli
like that found in the lungs or gut.[4]
Olfactory cilia are actin-rich protrusions
supported by scaffolding proteins which
help to localize odorant receptors and
provide an increased cellular surface for
odorant binding<.ref name=":02" />

Homologous to G-protein-coupled
receptors (GPCRs), olfactory receptor
molecules consist of seven trans-
membrane, hydrophobic domains and a
cytoplasmic domain with a carboxyl
terminal region that interacts with G-
proteins and odorants.[4][5] Once an
odorant is bound to an odor receptor
protein, the alpha subunit of an olfactory-
specific heterotrimeric G-protein, Golf,
dissociates and activates olfactory-
specific adenylate cyclase, adenylyl
cyclase III (ACIII).[4][5] Activation of ACIII
leads to an increase in cyclic AMP
(cAMP), which depolarizes the neuron
due to an influx of Na+ and Ca2+ by
opening cyclic nucleotide-gated ion
channels.[4][5] The neuron is further
depolarized by a Ca2+-activated Cl-
current travelling from the cilia, where the
depolarization first occurred, to the axon
hillock of the ORN.[4][5] At the axon
hillock, voltage-gated Na+ channels open
and generate an action potential that is
transmitted to the olfactory bulb.[4][5]
After transmission, the ORN membrane
is repolarized by calcium/calmodulin
kinase II-mediated mechanisms that
work to extrude Ca2+ and transport Na+
via an Na+/Ca2+ exchanger, diminish
cAMP levels by activating
phosphodiesterases, and restore
heterotrimeric Golf.[4]

ORN axons are responsible for relaying

odorant information to CNS through
action potentials.[4][6] The ORN axons
leave the olfactory epithelium and travel
ipsilaterally to the olfactory bulb where
the ORN axons coalesce into multiple
clusters, called glomeruli, which together
form the olfactory nerve.[4][5][6] The ORN
axons of each glomerulus synapse with
apical dendrites of mitral cells, the
primary projection neurons of the
olfactory bulb, which create and send
action potentials further into the
CNS.[4][5][6]

Regeneration of Olfactory Nerves

ORNs directly interact with odorants

inhaled into the olfactory epithelium
which can also subject the ORNs to
damage through continuous exposure to
harmful substances such as airborne
pollutants, microorganisms, and
allergens.[4][6][7] Therefore, ORNs
maintain a normal cycle of degeneration
and regeneration.[4][7] The olfactory
epithelium consists of three main cell
types: supporting cells, mature ORNs,
and basal cells.[4][7] Regeneration of
ORNs requires the division of basal cells,
neural stem cells, to produce new
receptor neuronsd.[4][6][7] This
regeneration process makes ORNs
unique when compared to other
neurons.[4]

ORN Specificity

In the nasal passages, inhaled odorant

molecules interact with receptor proteins
on localized neuronal cilia of ORNs.[5][6]
These dendritic extensions, cilia, express
one type of protein receptor, although
individual odorants can interact with
multiple different receptor proteins.[5][6]
As new ORNs mature, they have
decreased expression levels of multiple
olfactory receptor genes, contrasting
with mature ORNs firm rule of one
neuron—one expressed olfactory
receptor gene.[4][6] Moreover, different
odors activate specific ORNs in a
molecular and spatial manner due to
receptor specificity.[4] Some ORNs
contain receptor proteins with high
affinity for some odorants, with distinct
odor selectivity to a specific chemical
structure, while other receptor proteins
are less selective.[4]
Clinical significance

Examination

Damage to this nerve leads to

impairment or total loss anosmia of the
sense of smell To simply test the
function of the olfactory nerve, each
nostril is tested with a pungent odor. If
the odor is smelled, the olfactory nerve is
likely functioning. On the other hand, the
nerve is only one of several reasons that
could explain if the odor is not smelled.
There are olfactory testing packets in
which strong odors are embedded into
cards and the responses of the patient to
each odor can be determined.[2]
Lesions

Lesions to the olfactory nerve can occur

because of "blunt trauma", such as coup-
contrecoup damage, meningitis, and
tumors of the frontal lobe of the brain.
These injuries often lead to a reduced
ability to taste and smell. Lesions of the
olfactory nerve do not lead to a reduced
ability to sense pain from the nasal
epithelium. This is because pain from the
nasal epithelium is not carried to the
central nervous system by the olfactory
nerve - it is carried to the central nervous
system by the trigeminal nerve.

Aging and smell

A decrease in the ability to smell is a
normal consequence of human aging,
and usually is more pronounced in men
than in women. It is often unrecognized
in patients except that they may note a
decreased ability to taste (much of taste
is actually based on reception of food
odor). Some of this decrease results
from repeated damage to the olfactory
nerve receptors due likely to repeated
upper respiratory infections. Patients
with Alzheimer's disease almost always
have an abnormal sense of smell when
tested.[2]

Pathway to the brain

Some nanoparticles entering the nose
are transported to the brain via olfactory
nerve. This can be useful for nasal
administration of medications.[8] It can
be harmful when the particles are soot[9]
or magnetite[10] in air pollution.[11]

In naegleriasis, "brain-eating" amoeba

enter through the olfactory mucosa of
the nasal tissues and follow the olfactory
nerve fibers into the olfactory bulbs and
then the brain.

Additional images
Olfactory nerve, deep dissection, inferior
view

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media

related to Nervus olfactorius.
Anterior olfactory nucleus
Phantosmia

References

1. Mcgraw Hill's Anatomy and Physiology

 Revealed
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(2015). The Clinical Anatomy of the
Cranial Nerves: The Nerves of "On Old
Olympus Towering Top". Ames, Iowa:
Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1118492017.
3. Saladin K (2012). "The Cranial Nerves".
Anatomy and Physiology: The Unity of
Form and Function (6th ed.). New York
City: Mcgraw-Hill. p. 548. ISBN 978-1-
61906-437-9.
4. Purves D, Augustine GJ, Fitzpatrick D
(2018). Neuroscience (Sixth ed.). New
York Oxford: Oxford University Press,
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5. Branigan B, Tadi P (2023). "Physiology,
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"The Olfactory System as Marker of
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7. Mermelstein S, Pereira VE, Serrano PL,
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"Olfactory nerve: from ugly duckling to
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9. Matsui Y, Sakai N, Tsuda A, Terada Y,
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(2009). "Tracking the pathway of diesel
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10. Maher BA, Ahmed IA, Karloukovski V,
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(September 2016). "Magnetite pollution
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External links

"Cranial Nerve I - Olfactory Nerve" (http

s://web.archive.org/web/20160303222
022/http://www.yale.edu/cnerves/cn1/
cn1_1.html) . Cranial Nerves. Yale
School of Medicine. 22 March 1998.
Archived from the original (http://www.
yale.edu/cnerves/cn1/cn1_1.html) on
2016-03-03.

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