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barbiturate

(Encyclopedia)barbiturate bärbĭchˈərātˌ [key], any one of a group of drugs that act as depressants on the central nervous system. High doses depress both nerve and muscle activity and inhibit oxygen consumpti...

paralysis

(Encyclopedia)paralysis or palsy pôlˈzē [key], complete loss or impairment of the ability to use voluntary muscles, usually as the result of a disorder of the nervous system. The nervous tissue that is injured m...

anatomy

(Encyclopedia)anatomy ənătˈəmē [key], branch of biology concerned with the study of body structure of various organisms, including humans. Comparative anatomy is concerned with the structural differences of pl...

Kandel, Eric Richard

(Encyclopedia)Kandel, Eric Richard, 1929–, American neurobiologist, b., Vienna, Austria, M.D. New York Univ., 1956. Kandel was at the Harvard Medical School (1960–65) and New York Univ. (1965–74) before joini...

Gall, Francis Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Gall, Francis Joseph, 1758–1828, Austrian anatomist and founder of phrenology. He devoted most of his life to a minute study of the nervous system, especially the brain. With the collaboration of a ...

La Mettrie, Julien Offray de

(Encyclopedia)La Mettrie, Julien Offray de zhülyăNˈ ôfrāˈ də lä mĕtrēˈ [key], 1709–51, French physician and philosopher. On the basis of personal observation he claimed that psychical activity is purel...

tubercle

(Encyclopedia)tubercle to͞oˈbərkyo͞olˌ [key] [Lat.,=little swelling], small, usually solid, nodule or prominence. In anatomy the term is applied to natural prominences in certain muscles, to nerve nuclei of th...

lead poisoning

(Encyclopedia)lead poisoning or plumbism plŭmˈbĭzˌəm [key], intoxication of the system by organic compounds containing lead. These enter the body by respiration (of dust, fumes, or sprays) or by ingestion of f...

electric shock

(Encyclopedia)electric shock, effect of the passage of a current of electricity through the body. Fatality may result from shocks of from 1 to 2 amperes and 500 to 1,000 volts. However, the effect of electric shock...

endorphins

(Encyclopedia)endorphins ĕndôrˈfĭnz [key], neurotransmitters found in the brain that have pain-relieving properties similar to morphine. There are three major types of endorphins: beta endorpins, found primaril...