Nose

In amphibians and doubly breathing nostrils open in small sacs, which, in turn, communicate with the oral cavity through the choans . These bags contain a small amount of olfactory epithelium . It should be noted at the same time that in breezing nostrils do not participate in the process of respiration, in contrast to amphibians - although their corresponding organs are structurally similar. Amphibians also have a vomeronasal organ lined with olfactory epithelium, however, unlike similar structures of amniotes , it is quite simple in structure and, as a rule, weakly connected with other elements of the nasal system (except for salamanders ) ^[1] .

In reptiles, the nasal chamber is usually larger, and the choans are located much deeper. In crocodiles, it is especially long, which allows the animal to breathe, partially immersed under water. The nasal cavity of reptiles is divided into three components: the vestibule (vestibule), the main olfactory chamber and the nasopharynx. The olfactory cavity is lined with the corresponding epithelium and contains several nasal concha, increasing the area of ​​the receptor surface. The vomeronasal organ is well developed in lizards and snakes ; they no longer communicate with the nasal cavity and opens directly into the oral cavity. In turtles , on the contrary, it is smaller and retains its original connection with the nose, while in adult crocodiles it is completely absent ^[1] .

The nose of the birds is similar to that found in reptiles; nostrils are located on the upper part of the beak , closer to the base, and in many species they are covered with a horny protective layer. The olfactory cavity is small, although it contains three nasal concha, sometimes characterized by a complex structure, like mammals ; the sense of smell in birds, respectively, is poorly developed. The vomeronasal organ is either underdeveloped or absent, depending on the particular species ^[1] .

In most mammals, the nasal cavity is extremely voluminous, occupying, as a rule, half the total length of the skull . In some orders , however, the nose is secondarily reduced (in particular, in primates , bats , cetaceans ), and these animals, respectively, have a relatively weak sense of smell. The increase in the nasal cavity of mammals is due in part to the development of the palate , which divided the oral cavity and contributed to the transformation of its former upper part into a component of the nasal system. The nasal concha are complex, form annularly convoluted forms that contribute to heating the air before it enters the lungs . The nasal cavity also expands into neighboring bones of the skull, forming additional cavities - paranasal sinuses ^[1] .

The mammalian vomeronasal organ is similar to that of reptiles. In most species, it is located at the bottom of the nasal cavity and either opens into it (in rodents ), or communicates with the oral cavity through two nasal channels. In bats and many primates, including humans, it is absent ^[1] .

The visible part of the nose, called the outer nose, consists of the root, back, apex and wings. The basis of the external nose is the nasal bones - the frontal process of the upper jaw, the lateral cartilage and the large pterygoid cartilage of the nose, covered with muscles, which are designed to compress the nasal openings and pull down the wings of the nose. Although the outer nose is covered with the same skin as the face, due to the abundance of sebaceous glands, the skin in this place is thick and inactive.

Before being in the nasal cavity, air first enters its vestibule. The nasal septum, formed by the vertical plate of the ethmoid bone, the vomer and the cartilage, divides the nasal cavity into two parts. Although outwardly the nose looks symmetrical, in many people the nasal septum is curved. This slight deviation is considered to be the norm, although it represents the asymmetry of the skull.

The anatomy of the nasal cavity is more complex. There are four walls of the nasal cavity: lateral (lateral), internal (medial), upper and lower. The most complex structure is the side wall of the nose, formed by several bones and carrying nasal concha. It consists of nasal bones, the upper jaw, the lacrimal bone, the ethmoid bone, the lower nasal concha, the vertical plate of the palatine bone and the pterygoid process of the sphenoid bone. On the side wall there are three longitudinal protrusions formed by shells. The largest of them is the lower nasal concha (independent bone), and the middle and upper concha are outgrowths of the ethmoid bone.

The space between the nasal septum and nasal concha is called the common nasal passage; in the lateral sections of the nasal cavity, respectively, three nasal concha there are three nasal passages. The lower nasal passage from above is limited by the lower nasal concha, from below - by the bottom of the nasal cavity. In the lower nasal passage, at a distance of 10 mm from the front end of the shell, there is an opening of the nasolacrimal canal. The wing of the nose, in addition to large cartilage, includes connective tissue formations, from which the posterior lower sections of the nasal openings (nostrils) are formed.

The size and shape of the external nose are an important diagnostic feature in anthropological studies, as they are highly variable: racial, age-gender, individual.

The shape of the nose is determined by the structure of both its bone base and cartilage and soft tissues. The bone skeleton is formed by the frontal processes of the maxillary bones and nasal bones; cartilage - consists of several cartilages: unpaired cartilage of the nasal septum supplements the bone septum of the soft nose; the front edge of this cartilage largely determines the shape of the back of the nose. In the side walls, supplementing their bone base, lateral cartilages lie; wing cartilages are located in the thickness of the wings; small, irregularly shaped surplus and sesamoid cartilages are located in the wings of the nose and in the side walls. The shape of the nose is determined by the shape of its individual elements: nose, back, wings, tip and nostrils.

Nasal Index

Of particular importance for racial diagnosis is not so much the absolute size of the nose (length and width), but their percentage ratio - the nasal index.

The nasal index (the percentage of width to length when measuring length from the nasion point - see Craniometric points ) varies in groups from 60 to 110; individual variations are even wider. The following heading is accepted for the nasal index:

• leptorinia - up to 69.9 (narrow high nose);
• mesorinia - 70.0-84.9 (average);
• chamerinia - 85.0-99.9 (low wide);
• hyperchamerinia - above 100.0.

The most pronounced leptorinia is found in a number of European groups , in the Eskimos ; widespreadness is characteristic of blacks , Melanesians , African pygmies , Australians , Tasmanians . In women, on average, with smaller absolute sizes, the nose is relatively wider than in men.

Adaptation of the nose and its functions

The anthropological literature indicates the relationship of the nasal index with the climate: the distribution of leptorin forms in cold and dry climates, chamerinic forms in hot and humid climates. Indeed, there are significant coincidences between the map of the distribution of the nasal pointer over the globe and the map of temperature and humidity.

Apparently, in the process of the formation of anthropological signs, the relative width of the nose had some adaptive value, because a stronger protrusion from the plane of the face of the bone nose distinguishes a person from other primates, performing the following functions:

• heating the flow of cold air during nasal breathing, without which the human brain and its nasopharynx would be subjected to excessive cooling, and the preservation of this warm air;
• plays the role of a filter that traps dust and germs with the help of the mucous membrane and hairs;
• plays the role of a voice resonator, giving it sonority and an individual timbre;
• a common function for the noses of all animals is to distinguish odors using olfactory cells located in the mucous membrane.

It is possible that the size and strong protrusion of the outer nose had a certain value in relatively high altitude areas, where some thinness of the air required a large area of ​​the nasal opening, and low temperature favored an increase in the volume of the nasal inlet as a heating chamber.

The olfactory system

The human olfactory system consists of receptor cells, which are bipolar cells with cilia and a non-myelinated axon. Receptor axons form the olfactory nerve, piercing the base of the skull and entering the olfactory bulb. Olfactory cells are constantly updated and live for about 2 months ^[2] .

When odorous substances enter the mucus, these substances bind to olfactory non-receptor proteins for a short time. Reaching the cilia of the olfactory receptor, the molecules of the substances interact with the olfactory receptor protein located in them, which activates the GTP-binding protein (G-protein), which, in turn, activates the cAMP adenylate cyclase enzyme. When the concentration of cAMP in the plasma membrane of the receptor cell increases in the cytoplasm, sodium channels open. As a result, a depolarization receptor potential is generated, which leads to a pulsed discharge in the axon of the receptor ^[2] .

Each receptor cell is able to respond by physiological excitation to its characteristic spectrum of odorous substances. This broad spectrum allows cells to respond to millions of different spatial configurations of odorous molecules. Until recently, it was believed that the low selectivity of an individual receptor is due to the presence of many types of olfactory receptor proteins, but it has recently been found that each olfactory cell has only one type of membrane receptor protein that can bind many odorous molecules of different spatial configurations. This greatly simplifies the transmission and processing of odor information. The presence of only one olfactory protein in each receptor is due to the fact that each olfactory cell expresses only one of the hundreds of olfactory protein genes and that only the maternal or paternal allele is expressed within the given gene. Differences in the thresholds for the perception of certain odors are most likely associated with functional differences in the mechanisms of expression of the olfactory receptor protein gene ^[2] .

Electrophoretogram

From the surface of the olfactory epithelium, the total electrical potential, which is called the electro-olfactogram, is recorded. It is a monophasic negative wave lasting several seconds and with an amplitude of up to 10 mV. On the electrophoretogram, one can often see a slight positive deviation of the potential preceding the main negative wave. With a sufficient duration of exposure, a large negative wave is recorded at its termination ^[2] .

Olfactory information coding

Depending on the quality and intensity of the stimulus, single receptors respond with an increase in impulse frequency. This dependence was revealed during studies using microelectrodes. Each olfactory receptor responds to many odorous substances and gives "preference" to some of them. Scientists suggest that the coding of odors and their recognition in the centers of the olfactory sensory system can be based on these properties of receptors. Electrophysiological studies of the olfactory bulb showed that with different odors the spatial mosaic of the excited and inhibited sections of the bulb changes. Perhaps this is the coding method for olfactory information ^[2] .

Central projection of the olfactory system

Afferent fibers do not switch in the thalamus and do not go to the opposite side of the large brain, and the olfactory tract emerging from the bulb consists of several bundles directed to different parts of the forebrain. The connection of the olfactory bulb with the departments of the olfactory brain is carried out through several switchings, and the presence of a significant number of centers of the olfactory brain is not necessary for the identification of odors. For this reason, most of the nerve centers into which the olfactory tract is projected can be regarded as associative centers that provide a link between the olfactory sensory system and other sensory systems. On the basis of this connection, the organization of a number of complex forms of behavior is ensured - food, defensive, sexual, etc. ^[2]

Sensitivity of the human olfactory system

The sensitivity of the human olfactory system is extremely high, since one olfactory receptor can be excited by one odorous molecule, and the excitation of a small number of receptors leads to sensations in humans. The threshold for distinguishing the intensity of the action of substances is estimated by people rather roughly and less than the threshold of dogs in which these indicators are 3-6 times above. Adaptation in the olfactory system depends on the air flow rate over the olfactory epithelium and on the concentration of odorous substance ^[2] .

Russian surnames :

• Lomonosov
• Kurnosov
• Nosov

Sayings :

• "A curious Barbara in the bazaar tore off his nose"
• “The curious one of these days pinched his nose in the doorway”

Literary works, music and cinema:

• N.V. Gogol “The Nose” (see also: Nose (film) ) is a famous work, in a sense fantastic.
• Ryunosuke Akutagawa's “Nose” is a story about a priest with a very large nose.
• M. Bakhtin. Carnival images of the nose // Creativity of François Rabelais and folk culture of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. M., 1990, p. 350—352
• G. Kabakova. Nose // Slavic antiquities. T.3. M., 2004, p. 435-436
• Dmitry Dmitrievich Shostakovich - opera Nose.
• Edmond Rostand - the image of Cyrano de Bergerac in the play of the same name.
• A. N. Tolstoy - “The Golden Key, or The Adventures of Pinocchio .”

The following types of nose diseases are:

• Rhinitis (acute runny nose) - a syndrome of inflammation of the nasal mucosa . Infectious rhinitis is caused by various microbes and viruses ; the development of rhinitis contributes to hypothermia, severe dust and gas contamination. Rhinitis is a common symptom of other diseases (e.g., flu , diphtheria , measles ). Rhinitis is divided into infectious and non-infectious (vasomotor rhinitis). The first type includes: acute rhinitis, chronic rhinitis, chronic catarrhal rhinitis, chronic hypertrophic rhinitis and atrophic rhinitis . The second type includes: neurovegetative rhinitis and allergic rhinitis
• Hematoma of the nasal septum - hemorrhage under the mucous membrane of the nasal septum with the formation of a hematoma . In the future, with the infection of a hematoma, an abscess may form. The cause of the development of hematoma of the nasal septum is often injuries . Sharp difficulty in nasal breathing ; with the development of an abscess of the nasal septum, an increase in body temperature , headache. With anterior rhinoscopy , soft sack-like protrusions of a bright red color are visible. With purulent fusion of the cartilage of the nasal septum, a retraction of the nasal dorsum is noted. In the treatment of hematoma, blood suction and tight nasal tamponade are performed; in the treatment of an abscess, its wide opening and nasal tamponade are performed, antibiotic therapy; retraction of the nasal dorsum is corrected surgically ( plastic surgery - cartilage transplantation, etc.).
• Epistaxis (epistaxis) is bleeding from the nasal cavity , which can usually be seen when blood flows through the nostrils. There are two types of nosebleeds: anterior (most frequent) and posterior (less frequent, but requiring more attention from the doctor). Sometimes, in more severe cases, blood can rise through the nasolacrimal canal and flow out through the orbit . Fresh and clotted blood can also drain into the stomach , causing nausea and vomiting . Epistaxis is extremely rarely fatal; for example, in the United States in 1999, only 4 deaths from epistaxis out of 2.4 million deaths were recorded. ^[3] Perhaps the most famous death from nosebleeds is the death of Attila , who was choked with blood in a dream after a stormy feast over her own wedding. ^[four]
• Sinusitis - inflammation of one or more of the sinuses , occurs as a complication in acute cold , flu , measles , scarlet fever and other infectious diseases.

• Sinusitis - inflammation of the maxillary (maxillary) sinus , occurs as a complication of acute rhinitis , flu , measles , scarlet fever and other infectious diseases. The paranasal sinuses are a formation in the form of small caves that communicate with the nasal cavity. Another name for this formation is the maxillary sinus , or the maxillary sinus ( novolat. Sinus Highmori ^[5] ). The main cause of sinusitis is an infection - bacteria or viruses penetrate into the maxillary sinus through the nasal cavity, through the bloodstream, and most often due to pathological processes in the periapical areas of the upper teeth and cause an inflammatory process.
• Acute ethmoiditis with damage to the bone walls is observed mainly with scarlet fever. Adverse outflow conditions due to swelling of the mucous membrane can lead to the formation of empyema. Disease of the anterior cells of the ethmoid labyrinth usually proceeds simultaneously with the defeat of the maxillary and frontal sinuses, and the posterior ones with inflammation of the sphenoid sinus. With difficult outflow of pus, the inflammatory process can spread to the orbit. In such cases, the eyelids swell, and the eyeball deviates outwardly (empyema of the anterior ethmoid cells) or protrudes and deviates outwardly (empyema of the posterior ethmoid cells).
• Sphenoiditis is rare and usually due to the spread of the inflammatory process from the ethmoid labyrinth - its posterior cells. Headache most often it is localized in the crown of the head, in the depths of the head and neck, the orbit. With chronic lesions, pain is felt in the crown of the head, and with large sizes of the sinuses, it can spread to the back of the head. With unilateral sphenoiditis, unilateral lateral pharyngitis is observed. Sometimes patients complain of a rapid decrease in vision, which is associated with involvement of the optic nerves in the process of intersection. Chronic sphenoiditis can occur with mild symptoms. Of great importance in the diagnosis of sphenoiditis is an X-ray examination.
• Frontitis is an inflammation of the frontal sinus. The reasons are the same as with inflammation of the maxillary sinus. It is much more severe than inflammation of the other sinuses. Inadequate drainage of the frontal sinus due to hypertrophy of the middle shell, curvature of the nasal septum, contributes to the transition of acute frontal sinusitis into a chronic form. It is characterized by pain in the forehead, especially in the morning. The pain is often unbearable, acquires a neuralgic character. In severe cases - eye pain, photophobia and decreased sense of smell. Headache subsides after emptying of the sinus and resumes as the outflow is difficult. In acute influenza frontitis, the body temperature is increased, sometimes the color of the skin over the sinuses is changed, swelling and swelling in the forehead and upper eyelid are observed, which are a consequence of local blood circulation disorder (collateral edema). Sometimes the inflammatory process goes to the periosteum and bone with its necrosis and the formation of sequesters, fistulas. With necrosis of the back wall of the sinus, an extradural abscess, brain abscess, or meningitis can develop.

• Curvature of the nasal septum - the deviation of the septum to both sides or one side of the midline. It is manifested by difficulty or lack of nasal breathing through one or both nasal passages. The difficult outflow of secretion from the sinuses increases the tendency to the occurrence of inflammatory and allergic diseases of the respiratory system.
• Abscess of the nasal septum
• Foreign bodies of the nose
• Burns and frostbite of the nose
• Polypous rhinitis
• Nose injuries
• Furuncle nose

• Otorhinolaryngology
• Rhinoplasty
• Conhotomy
• Trunk

Khomutov A.E. Anthropology. - Rostov n / a: Phoenix, ed. 3rd, 2004.S. 39, 40, 222, 338. ISBN 5-222-05286-9

• Nose (biol.) - article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia .
• Nose and nasal cavity // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Aesthetic analysis of the proportions of the external nose
• Dependence of the shape of the nose on the nasal bones and cartilage
• Clinical anatomy of the nose and paranasal sinuses