What is the anatomy of the olfactory pathway?
• In the olfactory bulb, the axons of receptor cells synapse on dendrites of mitral and tufted cells (forming a glomerulus).
• The axons of mitral and tufted cells compose the olfactory tract, which soon divides into medial and lateral stria. Medial stria fibers cross to the contralateral side via the anterior commissure, while the lateral stria fibers terminate in the anterior perforated substance, amygdaloid complex, and lateral olfactory gyrus (which is the primary olfactory cortex).
• From the lateral olfactory gyrus (prepiriform area), fibers project to the entorhinal cortex, the medial dorsal nucleus of the thalamus, and the hypothalamus.
