Olfactory Nerve (CN I), Inferior View

Description

Seen from an inferior (basal) perspective, the paired olfactory bulbs lie on the orbital surface of the frontal lobes, immediately superior to the cribriform plate region of the ethmoid, with the olfactory tracts coursing posteriorly toward the olfactory trigone and anterior perforated substance. Delicate olfactory fila traverse the cribriform foramina to reach the bulbs, forming the peripheral-to-central continuum of cranial nerve I. Adjacent basal anatomy is typically present in this view, including the optic nerves and chiasm posterior to the bulbs, the ventral brainstem in the midline, and color-coded basal vessels tracking along the inferior cerebral surface. Small structures, tight spacing. This inferior vantage matters because it makes the mechanical vulnerability of CN I obvious: shear forces across the cribriform plate can avulse the fila during anterior skull base trauma, producing anosmia and sometimes cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea. For endoscopic endonasal and anterior cranial fossa approaches, the relationship of the bulbs and tracts to the frontal lobe undersurface and the anterior ethmoidal region is a practical surgical map, and it also clarifies why olfactory groove meningiomas and planum sphenoidale lesions often present with early smell disturbance. Use this artwork for neuroanatomy teaching on cranial nerves, for ENT and neurosurgery lectures covering skull base trauma and endoscopic corridors, and for textbook figures discussing anosmia workup alongside basal brain vasculature. It also fits radiology correlation pages that pair the cribriform plate region on CT with basal brain anatomy on MR. Anatomical accuracy verified by SciePro's Medical Advisory Board.