Intro | Amygdala | Mammillary Body | Olfactory Bulb | Cingulate Gyrus | Dentate Gyrus | Fornix | Hippocampus | Septum | Thalamus
Part 1: Image-Mapped Tutorial
Part 2: Matching Self-Test
Part 3: Multiple-Choice Self-Test
The Olfactory Bulbs are protrusions at the end of the olfactory nerves that receive input from the olfactory receptors. They are located on the undersurface of each frontal lobe, found at the front or anterior end of the cerebrum. The olfactory system (underlying our sense of smell) is a chemical sense of far-reaching effects; helping us, for example, to detect good and spoiled food and even receptive mates! Our sense of smell is intimately tied with emotional memories, as evidenced by the richness of memories we may retrieve upon encountering the cologne or perfume once worn by a lover. More detail on the Olfactory system is provided with Figure 18.
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Each olfactory bulb rests on a thin and perforated piece of bone the forms the upper surface of the nasal cavity. The perforations allow the odiferous and volatile molecules to access the receptor sites on the bulbs. The bulbs are quite complex with complicated circuitry, and are unique to other sensory receptors in that they are actually a part of the brain.