Olfactory Analyzer

the system of receptor organs, conducting pathways, and brain centers that effect the reception and analysis of olfactory stimuli in vertebrates. The peripheral division of the olfactory analyzer consists of the olfactory organs and the olfactory nerves. The central division is located in the forebrain and consists of the olfactory bulb, which is connected by branches from the olfactory tract with nerve centers that are located in the paleocortex and in the subcortical nuclei. The olfactory analyzer, in contrast to other analyzers, has not been significantly modified over the course of evolution, and in mammals the neocortex is not connected with the olfactory analyzer. No chiasma exists in the conducting pathways of the olfactory analyzer; therefore, a unilateral lesion of the olfactory centers results in an impairment of olfaction on the side of the injury.