Editing Olfactory system (section)

==== Transduction ====
{{anchor|Transduction}}
[[File:Action potential propagation animation.gif|thumb|Action potential propagated by olfactory stimuli in an axon.]]

[[Olfactory receptor neurons|Olfactory sensory neurons]] in the epithelium detect odor molecules dissolved in the mucus and transmit information about the odor to the brain in a process called [[sensory transduction]].<ref name=Rodriguez>{{citation|last=Rodriguez-Gil|first=Gloria|title=The Sense of Smell: A Powerful Sense|date=Spring 2004|access-date=27 March 2016|url=http://www.tsbvi.edu/seehear/summer05/smell.htm}}</ref><ref name="Bushak">{{citation |last=Bushak |first=Lecia |title=How Does Your Nose Do What It Does? The Inner Workings Of Our Sense Of Smell |date=5 March 2015 |url=http://www.medicaldaily.com/how-does-nose-smell-inner-workings-our-sense-smell-324566 |website=[[Medical Daily]] |access-date=6 August 2016}}</ref> Olfactory neurons have [[cilia]] (tiny hairs) containing [[olfactory receptor]]s that bind to odor molecules, causing an electrical response that spreads through the [[sensory neuron]] to the [[Olfactory nerve|olfactory nerve fibers]] at the back of the [[nasal cavity]].<ref name=Boroditsky>{{citation|date=27 July 1999|first=Lera|last=Boroditsky|title=Taste, Smell, and Touch: Lecture Notes|website=Psych.Stanford.edu|url=http://www-psych.stanford.edu/~lera/psych115s/notes/lecture11/|access-date=6 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009020907/http://www-psych.stanford.edu/~lera/psych115s/notes/lecture11/|archive-date=9 October 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Olfactory nerves and fibers transmit information about odors from the peripheral olfactory system to the central olfactory system of the brain, which is separated from the epithelium by the [[cribriform plate]] of the [[ethmoid bone]]. Olfactory nerve fibers, which originate in the epithelium, pass through the cribriform plate, connecting the epithelium to the brain's [[limbic system]] at the [[olfactory bulbs]].{{sfn|Mori|2014|page=182|ps=, "The Study of Humans Uncovers Novel Aspects in Brain Organization of Olfaction (Chapter 9.2)"}}