nervous impulse
1
5.8
- noun
- /ˈnɜrvəs ˈɪmpʌls/
- Specialized
:
impulso nervioso
- During the experiment, the researchers measured the speed of a nervous impulse traveling from the brain to the hand.
Examples
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In other words, as the white screen moves, the actual sense cells engaged with initiating the nervous impulses directly relating to the screen will be changing from moment to moment.
Blog text (32) -
When the white screen is exposed, nervous impulses from these sense cells are sent on their way up to the visual area of the cortex, where it has been demonstrated that there is practically a point-to-point projection of the images falling upon the retina.
Blog text (32) -
The doctor explained how a nervous impulse travels along the nerve fibers to communicate signals in the body.
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Understanding how a nervous impulse works can help us learn more about how our senses react to stimuli.
Synonyms
18
6.1
An electrical signal that travels along a nerve to send information
1
4.9
An electrical signal that travels along a nerve to carry messages in the body
1
6.5
An electrical signal that travels along a nerve to send information
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'nervous' (relating to nerves) + 'impulse' (a brief signal), so a learner who knows both words can infer an electrical signal along a nerve. This formation is cross-linguistically common (e.g. Spanish 'impulso nervioso', French 'impulsion nerveuse') and follows regular scientific noun + noun modifier patterns, making it immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Nervous impulse comes from the image of nerves as tiny wires and an impulse as a quick push of electricity. So nervous meaning the nerves and impulse meaning a sudden push together mean a short electrical 'signal' that moves along a nerve to send a 'message'.