olfactory tract
Acronym: lot
The term olfactory tract refers a bundle of nerve fibers that connect the olfactory bulb with olfactory nuclei and the olfactory cortex of the ventral endbrain. It contains axons from the second neurons in the olfactory system, which are identified histologically by fiber and myelin stains. The tract originates on the lateral aspect of the olfactory bulb. In the human and the macaque it runs in the olfactory peduncle, in close relation to the anterior olfactory nucleus, onto the ventral posterior surface of the frontal lobe. There it passes lateral to the olfactory tubercle around the junction between the frontal and temporal lobes onto the anteromedial part of the temporal lobe, where it overlies the piriform area and the amygdala ( Price-2004 ). In the rat ( Swanson-2004 ) and the mouse ( Hof-2000 ) it runs directly from the lateral aspect of the olfactory bulb to overlie the anterior olfactory nucleus and the piriform area lateral to the olfactory tubercle and thence to the cortical amygdalar nucleus. It is part of the olfactory system, which mediates the sensation of smell. Most authors continue to refer to the structure as the 'lateral olfactory tract', though the medial olfactory tract and the intermediate olfactory tract to which it was originally contrasted are no longer deemed to exist ( Price-1990 )

Also known as: lateral olfactory stria, lateral olfactory tract, Tractus olfactorius lateralisNeuroNames ID : 284


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