olfactory cortex

n. Cortical areas involved in olfactory reception and processing. The olfactory bulb situated in the base of the frontal lobes is the nerve involved in conducting the olfactory information from the olfactory epithelium to the brain (I cranial nerve). Olfactory information is directed to the olfactory cortex, or piriform cortex, in the temporal lobes. The pirifom cortex is included in the rhinencephalon (“olfactory brain”). The function of the piriform cortex relates to olfactory recognition. Olfactory information is also directed to the amygdala and the hypothalamus by the accessory olfactory bulb. – AA