Special Senses / VISUAL EXPLAINER
How Do Smell Nerves Cross the Bony Roof of Your Nose?
Olfactory receptor neurons send axons from specialized nasal epithelium through openings in the cribriform plate to the olfactory bulb. This neural route is different from odor molecules arriving at the nasal surface and from the bulb’s onward output tract.
READ THE IMAGE
What the illustration shows
Original teaching poster titled How Do Smell Nerves Cross the Bony Roof of Your Nose? A regional cutaway shows a gold olfactory bulb above a perforated cribriform plate. Multiple fine gold olfactory axon bundles continue from sensory cells in the upper nasal epithelium through separate occupied bony openings toward the bulb. Nasal airspace lies below the mucosal surface. A small sagittal head locator highlights the upper nasal roof; a circular inset enlarges one bundle passing through bone. Text explains that the nerve signal crosses the bone, while odor molecules do not travel up the axons. Simplified regional anatomy, not to scale. Gold AllHumanBody.com and the full slogan complete the poster.
How to interpret this poster
- A schematic route, not a validated count of openings, axons or glomeruli.
- Meninges and fine tissue geometry are not resolved; selected superior mucosa does not represent all nasal lining.
- No odor molecules traveling inside axons, diagnostic claim or injury advice.
- AI-assisted educational illustration; not physician certification, microscopy, a diagnosis or individualized medical advice.
- Fine annotations need enlargement; the full description provides an accessible text alternative.
- Display the full uncropped illustration; do not trim titles, legends or boundary annotations.
AI-assisted educational illustration, adapted into web-sized images without changing its composition. This is general education, not an individual diagnosis or treatment recommendation.
EVIDENCE / CONTEXT
Sources and what they support
- Neuroscience Online: Chemical Senses: Olfaction and Gustation ↗
Olfactory epithelial neurons, cribriform passage and bulb/tract distinction.