Research overview: the feline olfactory bulb and accessory bulb

Odor signals from the nose and vomeronasal organ are first processed in the brain by the main and accessory olfactory bulbs. This overview surveys the role of these structures in cats, where the main bulb receives input from the olfactory epithelium and the accessory bulb receives vomeronasal input. The bulbs organize incoming odor information and relay it to higher brain regions involved in feeding, social behavior, and memory. The survey relates the size and organization of the feline olfactory bulb to the cat's reliance on smell. It frames the dual main-and-accessory arrangement as the central counterpart to the peripheral split between ordinary olfaction and the vomeronasal system. Understanding the olfactory bulb connects receptor activation in the nose to perception and behavior, completing the early stages of the pathway by which cats translate the chemical landscape into meaningful information about food, territory, and other cats.