afferent
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
-
Carrying sensory information toward a central organ or part, as a nerve that conducts impulses from the periphery of the body to the central nervous system.
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Compare efferent
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of afferent
1830–40; < Latin afferent- (stem of afferēns, present participle of afferre ), equivalent to af- af- + fer- (stem of ferre to carry) + -ent- -ent
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The cortical radiate arteries branch into numerous afferent arterioles, and then enter the capillaries supplying the nephrons.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
Thus, action potentials transmitted over a sensory receptor’s afferent axons encode one type of stimulus, and this segregation of the senses is preserved in other sensory circuits.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
The afferent, bipolar neurons that convey auditory information travel from the cochlea to the medulla, through the pons and midbrain in the brainstem, finally reaching the primary auditory cortex in the temporal lobe.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
Stimulation of the sensory receptor activates the associated afferent neuron, which carries information about the stimulus to the central nervous system.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
The principal vein is a vena 698 cava passing backwards ventrally from the cephalic region and dividing into two afferent branchial veins, each of which receives a pallial and an abdominal vein.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 6 "Celtes, Konrad" to "Ceramics" by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
