CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does central nervous system mean? 

• CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (noun)
  The noun CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM has 1 sense:

1. the portion of the vertebrate nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord

  Familiarity information: CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The portion of the vertebrate nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

central nervous system; CNS; systema nervosum centrale

Hypernyms ("central nervous system" is a kind of...):

system (a group of physiologically or anatomically related organs or parts)

Meronyms (parts of "central nervous system"):

glia; neuroglia (sustentacular tissue that surrounds and supports neurons in the central nervous system; glial and neural cells together compose the tissue of the central nervous system)

brain; encephalon (that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord)

corticospinal tract; pyramidal motor system; pyramidal tract (any of the important motor nerves on each side of the central nervous system that run from the sensorimotor areas of the cortex through the brainstem to motor neurons of the cranial nerve nuclei and the ventral root of the spinal cord)

medulla spinalis; spinal cord (a major part of the central nervous system which conducts sensory and motor nerve impulses to and from the brain; a long tubelike structure extending from the base of the brain through the vertebral canal to the upper lumbar region)

Meronyms (substance of "central nervous system"):

substantia alba; white matter (whitish nervous tissue of the CNS consisting of neurons and their myelin sheaths)

Holonyms ("central nervous system" is a part of...):

nervous system; systema nervosum (the sensory and control apparatus consisting of a network of nerve cells)

 Context examples 

Representative examples of tumor metastases from other organs to the central nervous system include lung and breast carcinoma.

(Adult Central Nervous System Neoplasm, NCI Thesaurus)

A germ cell tumor of the central nervous system occurring in adults.

(Adult Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumor, NCI Thesaurus)

A primitive neuroectodermal tumor arising from the central nervous system, occurring in adults.

(Adult Central Nervous System Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor, NCI Thesaurus)

A mature or immature teratoma affecting the central nervous system and occurring in adults.

(Adult Central Nervous System Teratoma, NCI Thesaurus)

An ependymal tumor of the central nervous system occurring in adults.

(Adult Ependymal Tumor, NCI Thesaurus)

Exposure to Michler's ketone affects the central nervous system.

(Michler's Ketone, NCI Thesaurus)

This gene plays a role in the regulation of neurotransmitter release from nerves and neurons in the central nervous system.

(ADRA2A Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

This neoplasm tends to grow rapidly and may metastasize outside the central nervous system. (From Donnet et al., J Neurooncol 1999 Mar;42(1):79-83)

(Meningeal Sarcoma, NCI Thesaurus)

The maleate salt of acepromazine, a phenothiazine derivative with depressant effect on the central nervous system.

(Acepromazine Maleate, NCI Thesaurus)

The active principal metabolite of phenacetin, Acetaminophen appears to inhibit prostaglandin biosynthesis in the central nervous system and less in peripheral tissues.

(Acetaminophen #3, NCI Thesaurus)