Anatomy and Physiology HAP101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 17: Special Senses, Olfactory Receptor, Olfactory Bulb
10 Dec 2016
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Lo 17. 1: describe the structure of the olfactory receptors and other cells involved in olfaction. Olfaction: the sense of smell, which the nose is responsible for. The olfactory receptors are contained within a region called the olfactory epithelium occupies the superior part of the nasal cavity, covering, the inferior surface of the cribriform plate and extending along the superior nasal concha. The smell receptors are sensitive to seven types of sensations that can be characterized as camphor, musk, flower, mint, ether, acrid, or putrid. The olfactory epithelium consists of three kinds of cells: olfactory receptor cells: these are first-order neurons of this pathway. Each cell is a bipolar neuron with an exposed knob-shaped dendrite and an axon projecting through the cribriform plate that ends in the olfactory bulb. Extending from those dendrites are several olfactory cilia the sites for olfactory transduction (conversion of stimulus energy into a graded potential in a sensory receptor).
