Cribriform plate

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Bone: Cribriform plate
Ethmoid bone from above.
Latin	lamina cribrosa ossis ethmoidalis
Gray's	subject #36 153
Dorlands / Elsevier	l_02/12476029

The cribriform plate of the ethmoid bone (horizontal lamina) is received into the ethmoidal notch of the frontal bone and roofs in the nasal cavities.

Projecting upward from the middle line of this plate is a thick, smooth, triangular process, the crista galli, so called from its resemblance to a cock's comb.

The long thin posterior border of the crista galli serves for the attachment of the falx cerebri.

Its anterior border, short and thick, articulates with the frontal bone, and presents two small projecting alæ, which are received into corresponding depressions in the frontal bone and complete the foramen cecum.

Its sides are smooth, and sometimes bulging from the presence of a small air sinus in the interior.

On either side of the crista galli, the cribriform plate is narrow and deeply grooved; it supports the olfactory bulb and is perforated by foramina for the passage of the olfactory nerves. The foramina in the middle of the groove are small and transmit the nerves to the roof of the nasal cavity; those at the medial and lateral parts of the groove are larger—the former transmit the nerves to the upper part of the nasal septum, the latter those to the superior nasal concha.

At the front part of the cribriform plate, on either side of the crista galli, is a small fissure which is occupied by a process of dura mater.

Lateral to this fissure is a notch or foramen which transmits the nasociliary nerve; from this notch a groove extends backward to the anterior ethmoidal foramen.

Additional images

Base of the skull. Upper surface.

Roof, floor, and lateral wall of left nasal cavity.

Nerves of the orbit. Seen from above.

External links

• Cross section at UV skull/x-front
• cribriform+plate+of+ethmoid+bone at eMedicine Dictionary

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant. Template:Skull

v • d • e Foramina of the skull (and canals, fissures, meati, and hiati)
Anterior cranial fossa	to Orbit: ethmoidal foramina (anterior, posterior) to Nasal cavity: olfactory foramina (CN-I) - foramen cecum
Middle cranial fossa	to Orbit: optic canal (CN-II) - superior orbital fissure (CN-III,IV,V1,VI) to Pterygopalatine fossa: foramen rotundum (CN-V2) - pterygoid canal to Infratemporal fossa: foramen ovale (CN-V3) - foramen spinosum/carotid canal other: foramen lacerum - hiatus for greater petrosal nerve - hiatus for lesser petrosal nerve - sphenoidal emissary foramen
Posterior cranial fossa	internal auditory meatus/facial canal/stylomastoid foramen (CN-VII,VIII) - jugular foramen (CN-IX,X,XI) - foramen magnum (CN-XI) - hypoglossal canal (CN-XII) - condylar canal - mastoid foramen
Orbit	to Nasal cavity: nasolacrimal canal to Face: supraorbital (notch, foramen) - infraorbital (foramen, groove) - zygomatic foramen (-facial, -temporal) to Pterygopalatine fossa: inferior orbital fissure
Pterygopalatine fossa	to Nasal cavity: sphenopalatine foramen to Oral cavity: greater palatine canal/greater palatine foramen - lesser palatine canals/lesser palatine foramina to Infratemporal fossa: pterygomaxillary fissure to Nasopharynx: palatovaginal canal
Nasal cavity	to Oral cavity: incisive canals - incisive foramen
Other	external acoustic meatus - mandibular foramen - mental foramen - parietal foramen - petrotympanic fissure - semilunar hiatus