Medical-Terminology-Online.com

· afferents – sensory nerves that send signals from the PNS to the CNS
· analgesic – pain relieving
· antagonist – opposes the action of something else
· anterior lateral tract (ALT) of spinal cord dorsal horn - tracts to the front and side of the spinal cord- that is, if there were front-right and front-left corners, that’s where they’d be. Includes the spinothalamic and spinoreticular tracts, numbers 15 and 13 respectively in the drawing below check out this great page of nervous system definitions and some good, some funny drawings
· blood coagulation system – series of linked glycoproteins that upon activation induce the generation of downstream enzymes ultimately forming fibrin. This process is primarily important to arrest bleeding (hemostasis).
· bradykinin - A nonapeptide (Arg-Pro-Pro-Gly-Phe-Ser-Pro-Phe-Arg) produced by activation of the kinin system in a variety of inflammatory conditions. It is a potent vasodilator and also increases vascular permeability, stimulates pain receptors, and causes contraction of a variety of extravascular smooth muscles. It is produced by the action of plasma kallikrein, trypsin, or plasmin on high-molecular-weight kininogen, a plasma a2-globulin, and is destroyed by several kininases in the lungs and other tissues.
· Chemotactic – Relating to the characteristic movement or orientation of an organism or cell along a chemical concentration gradient either toward or away from the chemical stimulus.
· Cytokines - Any of several regulatory proteins, such as the interleukins and lymphokines, that are released by cells of the immune system and act as intercellular mediators in the generation of an immune response.
· dorsal horn of spinal cord – longitudinal subdivision of gray matter in the dorsal part of each lateral half of the spinal cord that receives terminals from some afferent fibers of the dorsal roots of the spinal nerves called also dorsal column, posterior column, posterior gray column, posterior horn

· dorsal lateral funiculus (DLF) – longitudinal bundle of thin, unmyelinated and poorly myelinated fibers capping the apex of the posterior horn of the spinal gray matter, composed of posterior root fibers and short association fibers that connect neighboring segments of the posterior horn.
· DRG – dorsal root ganglion, aka spinal ganglion - ganglion of the posterior root of each spinal segmental nerve, containing the cell bodies of the unipolar primary sensory neurons. Any of the sensory ganglia situated on the dorsal root of each spinal nerve.
· Fasciculus - bundle of anatomical fibers, as of muscle or nerve
· Fibrin - An elastic, insoluble, whitish protein produced by the action of thrombin on fibrinogen and forming an interlacing fibrous network in the coagulation of blood.
· Funiculus - A slender cordlike strand or band, especially a bundle of nerve fibers in a nerve trunk. Any of three major divisions of white matter in the spinal cord, consisting of fasciculi.
· Ganglion - A group of nerve cells forming a nerve center, especially one located outside the brain or spinal cord.
· Golgi tendon organ - A proprioceptive sensory nerve ending embedded among the fibers of a tendon, often near the musculotendinous junction. a spindle-shaped sensory end organ within a tendon that provides information about muscle tension called also neurotendinous spindle
· Gray matter - an area of unmyelinated neurons where cell bodies and synapses occur. In the spinal cord the synapses between sensory and motor and interneurons occurs in the gray matter. The cell bodies of the interneurons and motor neurons also are found in the gray matter.
· HPA axis - The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis) is a major part of the neuroendocrine system that controls reactions to stress. It is the mechanism for a set of interactions among glands, hormones and parts of the mid-brain that mediate a general adaptation syndrome. [FYI, research shows that at 10 Hz but not 100 Hz, EA suppresses inflammation by activating the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) and the nervous system.]
· Humoral pathways – In humoral immunity, as opposed to cell mediated immunity, antibodies are secreted (in response to an antigen) by B cells circulate as soluble proteins in blood plasma and lymph. Some immunoglobulins will cross the blood brain barrier. Acupuncture therapy has been shown to produce global changes in immunological function including stimulation of circulating cytokine concentrations.
· Immune complement system – aka the complement system - Immune system blood proteins, produced in the liver, that circulate in the blood and tissues.
· Intrafusal muscle - modified muscle fibers which, surrounded by fluid and enclosed in a connective tissue envelope, compose the muscle spindle. Muscle spindles are found within the fleshy portions of muscles, composed of 3-10 intrafusal muscle fibers. Muscle spindles are encapsulated by connective tissue, and are aligned parallel to extrafusal muscle fibers, unlike Golgi tendon organs, which are oriented in series. The muscle spindle has both sensory and motor components. Primary and secondary sensory fibers spiral around and synapse on the central portions of intrafusal fibers, providing the sensory component of the structure via stretch-sensitive excitatory ion-channels of the axons. The motor component is provided by a gamma motoneuron that innervates the spindle and causes a slight contraction of the end portions of the intrafusal muscle fibers when activated.

· Kinins - Kinins are blood plasma proteins that influence smooth muscle contractions, affect blood pressure (especially hypotension), increase blood flow throughout the body, increase the permeability of small capillaries, and stimulate pain receptors.
· LPH - Lipotropic hormone (LPH) may be cleaved to form melanocyte stimulating hormone and endorphins which have analgesic effects
· Mast cells - Resident cell of connective tissue that contains many granules rich in histamine and heparan sulphate. Release of histamine from mast cells is responsible for the immediate reddening of the skin in a weal and flare response. Very similar to basophils and possibly derived from the same stem cells.
· Motor point - A point on the skin where the application of an electrical stimulus, via an electrode, will cause the contraction of an underlying muscle.
· Myelinated nerves - Not all fibers in a nerve will be myelinated, but most of the voluntary fibers are. The myelin sheath does several things: 1) It provides insulation to help prevent short circuiting between fibers. Diseases which destroy the myelin sheath lead to inability to control muscles, perceive stimuli etc. One such disease is multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disorder in which your own lymphocytes attack the myelin proteins. [See Beta Interferon and Multiple Sclerosis]. 2) The myelin sheath provides for faster conduction. 3) The myelin sheath provides for the possibility of repair of peripheral nerve fibers. Schwann cells help to maintain the micro-environments of the axons and their tunnel (the neurilemma tunnel) permits re-connection with an effector or receptor. (See below) CNS fibers, not having the same type of myelination accumulate scar tissue after damage, which prevents regeneration.

Naloxone - Narcan counters the effects of overdosing on opioids like heroin and morphine- it also antagonizes enkephalin (ENK) and endorphin and causes acupuncture no longer to relieve pain.
· Neuron - An excitable cell specialized for the transmission of electrical signals over long distances. Neurons receive input from sensory cells or other neurons and send output to muscles or other neurons. Neurons can be the longest cells known, a single axon can be several metres in length. Although signals are usually sent via action potentials, some neurons are nonspiking.
· Neuromodulator - something (as a polypeptide which is a chain of amino acids) that potentiates or inhibits the transmission of a nerve impulse but is not the actual means of transmission itself. Secreted in larger amounts and diffuse for longer distances than NTs, modulating activity of many neurons in particular area (most composed of peptides)
· Neurohormone - any hormone produced by neurosecretory cells, usually in the brain. Neurohormonal activity is distiguished from that of classical neurotransmitters as it can have effects on cells distant from the source of the hormone. Neurohormones include: Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH), Corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH), Thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH), Prolactin inhibiting hormone, Dopamine
· Neurokinin 1 (NK1) - The neurokinin-1 (NK-1) receptor and its ligand, substance P, are important to both nociception and hyperalgesia (altered perception of pain, pain from normal sensations).
· Neurotransmitter - Neurotransmitters are chemicals that are used to relay, amplify and modulate electrical signals between a presynaptic and a postsynaptic neuron. A chemical is classified as a neurotransmitter if it meets the following conditions: It is synthesized endogenously; It is available in sufficient quantity in the presynaptic neuron to exert an effect on the postsynaptic neuron; Externally administered, it must mimic the endogenously released substance; A biochemical mechanism for inactivation must be present. Detected by receptors in membrane of another cell located short distance away.
· Nociceptive – pain sensing or pain perceiving.
· Paravertebral ganglia - also termed the sympathetic chain or trunk, are a series of ganglia which lie in a line lateral and parallel to the vertebral bodies of the spinal column. The ganglia are interconnected to each other and extend from the base of the skull to the sacrum. They make contact with: ganglia which lie superiorly or inferiorly within the chain, the spinal cord and associated spinal nerve via grey and white rami communicantes, prevertebral ganglia.
· Proprioception - The unconscious perception of movement and spatial orientation arising from stimuli within the body itself; composed of information from sensory neurons located in the inner ear (motion and orientation) and in the joints and muscles (stance). There are specific nerve receptors for this form of perception.
· Spinal motor reflexes - much motor behavior is based on spinal reflexes; reflex arc: sensory input –> neural integration –> motor output; may be simple or complex pattern of output- more
· Spinal nerves - At 31 places along the spinal cord the dorsal and ventral roots come together to form spinal nerves. Spinal nerves contain both sensory and motor fibers, as do most nerves. Spinal nerves are given numbers which indicate the portion of the vertebral column in which they arise. There are 8 cervical (C1-C8), 12 thoracics (T1-T12), 5 lumbar (L1-L5), 5 sacral (S1-S5), and 1 coccygeal nerve. Nerve C1 arises between the cranium and atlas (1st cervical vertebra) and C8 arises between the 7th cervical and 1st thoracic vertebra. All the others arise below the respective vertebra or former vertebra in the case of the sacrum. Since the actual cord ends at the second lumbar vertebra, the later roots arise close together on the cord and travel downward to exit at the appropriate point. These nerve roots are called the cauda equina because of their resemblance to a horses tail. More spinal cord and peripheral nerves
· Substance P - neurotransmitter that, among other things, plays an essential role in transmitting pain signals. Antagonized by capsaicin.
· Supraspinal – above the spine… where descending control comes from.
· Sympathetic neural reflexes - stimulate sympathetic NS?
· synaptic junctures
· Tachykinin – Any member of a group of polypeptides, widely scattered in vertebrate and invertebrate tissues, that have in common four of the five terminal amino acids: Phe-Xaa-Gly-Leu-Met-NH2; pharmacologically, they all cause hypotension in mammals, contraction of gut and bladder smooth muscle, and secretion of saliva… fast contraction of smooth muscle – subst P is one kind
· unmyelinated cutaneous neurons
· vasodilatory - something that dilates blood vessels.
· White matter - an area of myelinated fiber tracts. Myelination in the CNS differs from that in nerves.

Also see great Nervous System biology and physiology notes