Olfactory receptor neurons continue to be born (from basal cells in the olfactory epithelium) throughout life (their average life span being 30-60 days). Each new receptor neuron must extend their new apical dendrites into the olfactory mucosa below and send their new axons through the cribriform plate above to their termination within the glomeruli in the olfactory bulb. The only other confirmed site of neurogenesis in the adult human brain is in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus(Lab 8).
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