The sense of smell is called olfaction. The olfactory neurons are bipolar neurons located in the superior part of the nasal cavity. At the end of the olfactory neurons are olfactory vesicles (bulbs), which contain olfactory hairs which bind to odor molecules, called odorants. When an odorant stimulates olfactory cells, olfactory cells send signal up the olfactory axon which synapses with interneurons located in the glomerulus (olfactory bulb). The interneuron then sends its action potential through the mitral neuron which sends its information to the olfactory cortex located within the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. It is the area of the brain, where the smell is perceived.
Axons of olfactory receptor cells pass through the cribriform plate and into the roof of the nasal cavity and together form olfactory nerve.
Olfactory bulb is a relay station where the olfactory glomeruli are located and where the axons make synapses with mitral neurons.
Axons of mitral neurons form olfactory tract and go to the olfactory cortex (piriform cortex, amygdala, entorhinal cortex)
