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Glite Dictionary
🧠 Affecting nerves 💊 A nerve drug
neuroactive

neuroactive

1 7.8
Affecting the brain and nerves
  • adjective
  • /ˌnʊroʊˈæktɪv/
  • Specialized
translation icon : neuroactivo
  • The neuroactive compounds in the venom can influence the nervous system of prey.
  • neuroactive drugs

Examples

  • He took a neuroactive drug that helped alleviate his chronic pain.

  • I started thinking about neuroactive drugs, like norepinephrine and adrenaline.

    Unforgettable (1996)

  • NK1 receptors bind substance E, which is a neuroactive peptide.

    Academic text (2005)

  • However, some questions, such as the opioid of choice, its combination with other classes of neuroactive drugs, the time to administration in the course of herpetic painful complications, the duration of treatment, and so on, remain to be explored and may represent the basis of further research.

    Academic text (2007)

  • Researchers are studying the effects of neuroactive substances on brain function.

Synonyms

neurotropic
vsneuroactive
  • Specialized
9.9

A virus or toxin that mainly affects the brain and nerves

is broader, affecting or interacting with the nervous system generally

Surface Forms

neuroactive positive

Morphology

neuroactive = active (semi-transparent) = neuro + active

The word is compositional from the combining form neuro- plus 'active', but the scientific prefix may not be fully familiar to an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Neuroactive is made of the part neuro- meaning 'nerve', the same root you see in neuron, and the word active meaning 'acting'. So neuroactive describes something that 'acts on the nerves', which is why it is used for things that affect the nervous system.