afferent
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
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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 branch that enters the glomerulus is called the afferent arteriole.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
Outer hair cells connect to only 10 percent of the afferent neurons, and each afferent neuron innervates many hair cells.
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
In proprioception, proprioceptive and kinesthetic signals travel through myelinated afferent neurons running from the spinal cord to the medulla.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
They may therefore be regarded as the equivalent of an intraspinal tract connecting the deep ends of the afferent neurones from the skin with higher nervous centres.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 4 "Bradford, William" to "Brequigny, Louis" by Various
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