AFFERENT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does afferent mean? 

• AFFERENT (noun)
  The noun AFFERENT has 1 sense:

1. a nerve that passes impulses from receptors toward or to the central nervous system

  Familiarity information: AFFERENT used as a noun is very rare.

• AFFERENT (adjective)
  The adjective AFFERENT has 1 sense:

1. of nerves and nerve impulses; conveying sensory information from the sense organs to the CNS

  Familiarity information: AFFERENT used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• AFFERENT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A nerve that passes impulses from receptors toward or to the central nervous system

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

afferent; afferent nerve; sensory nerve

Hypernyms ("afferent" is a kind of...):

nerve; nervus (any bundle of nerve fibers running to various organs and tissues of the body)

Meronyms (parts of "afferent"):

afferent neuron; sensory neuron (a neuron conducting impulses inwards to the brain or spinal cord)

afferent fiber; sensory fiber (a nerve fiber that carries impulses toward the central nervous system)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "afferent"):

dorsal horn; dorsal root; posterior horn; posterior root (one of two roots of a spinal nerve that passes dorsally from the spinal cord and that consists of sensory fibers)

fillet; lemniscus (a bundle of sensory nerve fibers going to the thalamus)

Derivation:

afferent (of nerves and nerve impulses; conveying sensory information from the sense organs to the CNS)

• AFFERENT (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of nerves and nerve impulses; conveying sensory information from the sense organs to the CNS

Context example:

afferent impulses

Similar:

centripetal; receptive; sensory (of a nerve fiber or impulse originating outside and passing toward the central nervous system)

corticipetal; corticoafferent (of a nerve fiber or impulse originating outside and passing toward the cerebral cortex)

Domain category:

physiology (the branch of the biological sciences dealing with the functioning of organisms)

Antonym:

efferent (of nerves and nerve impulses; conveying information away from the CNS)

Derivation:

afferent (a nerve that passes impulses from receptors toward or to the central nervous system)

 Context examples 

The subcapsular sinus receives lymph from the afferent lymph vessels and passes it to the cortical sinus.

(Lymph Node Subcapsular Sinus, NCI Thesaurus)

Tetanic stimulation of afferents in the CA1 region of the hippocampus induces glutamate release and activation of glutamate receptors in dendritic spines.

(Long-Term Potentiation Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/KEGG)

Merkel cells are closely associated with an expanded terminal bulb of an afferent myelinated nerve fiber.

(Merkel cell, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

The cerebellum contributes a large number of afferent fibers to the pons.

(Murine Pons, NCI Thesaurus)

A minimally invasive, experimental form of electroanalgesia based upon the theory that rapid electrical stimulation of A-delta and C pain fibers can lead to nociceptive afferent input depression.

(Piezo-Electric Current Therapy, NCI Thesaurus)

Optic nerve neoplasms tend to cause unilateral visual loss and an afferent pupillary defect and may spread via neural pathways to the brain.

(Optic Nerve Neoplasm, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Abnormal, tangled collections of dilated blood vessels that result from congenitally malformed vascular structures in which arterial afferents flow directly into venous efferents without the usual resistance of an intervening capillary bed.

(Arteriovenous Malformation, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Increased extracellular cGMP levels may also exert an antinociceptive effect, through an as of yet not fully elucidated mechanism, that may involve modulation of nociceptors found on colonic afferent pain fibers.

(Linaclotide, NCI Thesaurus)

Twelve pairs of nerves that carry general afferent, visceral afferent, special afferent, somatic efferent, and autonomic efferent fibers.

(Cranial Nerve, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Cutting off the afferent nerve supply.

(Deafferentation, NCI Thesaurus)