View source for Rhinencephalon

{{wiktionary|rhinencephalon}}
{{wiktionary|smell-brain}}

{{Infobox brain
| Name            = Rhinencephalon
| Latin           = rhinencephalon
| Image           = Gray732.png
| Caption         = Scheme of rhinencephalon
| Image2          =
| Caption2        =
| IsPartOf        =
| Components      =
| Artery          =
| Vein            =
| Acronym         =
}}

In [[animal anatomy]], the '''rhinencephalon''' (from the Greek, ῥίς, ''rhis'' = "nose", and ἐγκέφαλος, ''enkephalos'' = "brain"), also called the '''smell-brain''' or '''olfactory brain''', is a part of the [[brain]] involved with smell (i.e. [[olfaction]]). It forms the [[paleocortex]] in the [[human brain]].{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

==Components==
The term ''rhinencephalon'' has been used to describe different structures at different points in time.<ref name="isbn0-8493-8631-4">{{cite book |first=Terence R. |last=Anthoney |title=Neuroanatomy and the neurologic exam: a thesaurus of synonyms, similar-sounding non-synonyms, and terms of variable meaning |publisher=CRC Press |location=Boca Raton |year=1994 |page=311 |isbn=0-8493-8631-4 }}</ref>

One definition includes the olfactory bulb, olfactory tract, [[anterior olfactory nucleus]], [[anterior perforated substance]], [[medial olfactory stria]], [[lateral olfactory stria]], parts of the [[amygdala]] and [[prepyriform area]].<ref>http://braininfo.rprc.washington.edu/AncilDefinition.aspx?ID=2078&questID=2078{{Dead link|date=November 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}{{full|date=September 2018}}</ref>

Some references classify other areas of the brain related to perception of smell as rhinencephalon, but areas of the human brain that receive fibers strictly from the [[olfactory bulb]] are limited to those of the [[paleopallium]]. As such, the rhinencephalon includes the olfactory bulb, the [[olfactory tract]], the [[olfactory tubercle]] and [[striae]], the [[anterior olfactory nucleus]] and parts of the [[amygdala]] and the [[piriform cortex]].{{clarify|post-text=(see [[Talk:Rhinencephalon#Confusing paragraph|talk]])|date=January 2011}}

==In different species==
The development of the rhinencephalon varies among species.  A small area where the [[frontal lobe]] meets the [[temporal lobe]] and the area of cortex on the [[uncus]] of the [[parahippocampal gyrus]] (both belonging to the olfactory cortex) have a different structure (so called "allocortex") than most of the [[telencephalon]] and are [[phylogenetically]] older (so called [[paleocortex]]).<ref>{{cite book |first1=Anton |last1=Širca |first2=Mija |last2=Meznarič-Petruša |title=Anatomija : skripta za študente medicine. Del 2, Živčevje |year=1997 |location=Ljubljana |publisher=Medicinska fakulteta |page=29 |language=sl |trans-title=Anatomy: the script for students of medicine. Part 2, Nervous system |isbn=978-961-90305-5-4}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite web|url=http://www.yale.edu/cnerves/cn1/cn1_5.html|title=1-5|publisher=[[Yale School of Medicine]]|work=Cranial Nerves|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303222022/http://www.yale.edu/cnerves/cn1/cn1_5.html|archive-date=2016-03-03}}

{{Basal forebrain}}
{{Olfactory system}}

[[Category:Neuroanatomy]]
[[Category:Olfactory system]]


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