Nerve, first cranial
The first cranial nerve is the olfactory nerve, the nerve that carries impulses for the sense of smell from the nose to the brain.</P> 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.</P> The word 'olfactory' comes from the Latin 'olfactare', to sniff at and 'olfacere', to smell.