Quick Facts
Origin: Nasal mucosa.
Course: Through the cribriform plate, medial to the olfactory tract along the inferior surface of the brain, to the olfactory trigone.
Branches: None.
Supply: Unknown.
Related parts of the anatomy
Origin
The terminal nerve fibers originate in the nasal mucosa.
Course
The fibers of the terminal nerve run from the nasal mucosa through the medial cribriform plate towards the crista galli, the site at which their ganglia are located. Fibers then run on the inferior surface of the brain medial to the olfactory bulb and tract. Terminal nerve fibers enter the telencephalon (cerebrum) with those of the olfactory nerve at the olfactory trigone and terminate in the hypothalamus and amygdala (Peña-Melián et al, 2019; Sonne & Lopez-Ojeda, 2019).
Branches
There are no named branches.
Supplied Structures
The terminal nerve fibers are thought to be sensory in nature. They target the hypothalamus, possibly influencing reproductive behaviors through regulation of the release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Peña-Melián et al, 2019; Sonne & Lopez-Ojeda, 2019).
List of Clinical Correlates
—Unverified/possible relationship to Kallmann syndrome
Learn more about this topic from other Elsevier products
Terminal Nerve
A chemical released from a nerve terminal that carries signals from a neuron to another neuron or muscle cell.
