Definition of Olfactory nerve

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Olfactory nerve: A nerve that registers smells by carrying the impulses for the sense of smell from the nose to the brain. Olfactory nerves continually regenerate -- through all of childhood and adulthood. The olfactory nerves are the only nerves in the human body known to possess this remarkable capacity for self-renewal.

The olfactory nerve is the first cranial nerve. The cranial nerves emerge from or enter the skull (the cranium), as opposed to the spinal nerves which emerge from the vertebral column. There are twelve cranial nerves.

The word "olfactory" comes from the Latin "olfactare", to sniff at and "olfacere", to smell. (What the olfactory nerves do is really nothing to sniff at.)