Breaking his nose, take someone by the nose, laughing in his face … are all expressions we use every day. But what is this body planted on your face?
You probably do not have one of Cyrano de Bergerac. And yet, even if its size is smaller, your nose is very useful you every day. What is it exactly? To get up to speed, learn the many roles of this organ in its own right.
Anatomy of the nose
The nose is formed of cartilage in its anterior part and has a bone in its posterior portion, consisting of nasal bones in the middle and upper jaw on the sides.
Both nasal cavity to communicate with the outside world before the two orifices of the nostrils and the back with the nasopharynx, the upper end of the pharynx, through the two choanae. They are divided by a thin partition, called nasal cartilage and mainly lined by mucous membrane, which is called the pituitary in the upper part and encompasses many cells sensitive to odors. The ethmoid bone separates the frontal lobe of the brain. The outer wall consists of 3 bony, 3 cones upper, middle and bottom, also covered with mucous. A hole, the middle meatus, provides drainage of the maxillary sinus. Another, the inferior meatus communicates with the nasolacrimal duct.
The organ of smell
If man can differentiate odors 3 000, because some 5 million olfactory receptors are concentrated in the 6 cm2 of mucosa covering the ceiling of the nasal cavity. Captured at this level, odors are transmitted by thousands of nerve fibers to the olfactory bulb. Located immediately above the nasal cavity, the small structure serves as a relay before other fibers in turn carry the message to the sensory cortex on the temporal side of the brain. After decoding the information, the smell is finally perceived.
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