dorsal root

American  

[dawr-suhl root] / ˈdɔr səl ˌrut /

noun

plural

dorsal roots

1. Physiology. one of the two roots that come from the spinal cord and merge to form each spinal nerve; the component of a spinal nerve that transmits sensation. Compare ventral root.

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Example Sentences

These overstimulated immune cells then move toward the dorsal root ganglia -- the sensory nerve hubs that link the limbs to the spinal cord -- and release inflammatory compounds that irritate and damage nerves.

From Science Daily • Nov. 21, 2025

Using mouse antibodies that glom on to proteasomes, and other methods, the investigators found the proteasomes on the surface of neurons in the spinal cord, dorsal root ganglia, sciatic nerve and peripheral nerves innervating skin.

From Science Daily • Apr. 12, 2024

When dorsal root ganglia—clusters of neurons that innervate non‑ face areas—were examined, they showed only trace amounts of the supersensitive short form of TRPV1.

From Scientific American • Feb. 4, 2015

Those are axons of sensory neurons in the dorsal root ganglia that enter the spinal cord through the dorsal nerve root.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

What would be the effect of cutting or breaking the dorsal root of a spinal nerve? the ventral root? the entire spinal cord?

From A Guide for the Study of Animals by Lucas, Frederic