neuropil
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈnjʊəroʊˌpɪl/
- Specialized
- In the human brain, the neuropil densely packs unmyelinated nerve fibers, crucial for processing information.
- excitatory neuropil
- inhibitory neuropil
- neuropil activity
Examples
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This technique identifies all deposits of beta-amyloid within the neuropil, not just those plaques greater than 30 µm in diameter.
Academic text (1995) -
Our results suggest that the overall area of beta-amyloid positive plaques and neuropil deposits may contribute to the cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease.
Academic text (1995) -
Numerous large-scale plaques are present, as well as neuropil deposits of varying size.
Academic text (1995) -
This technique also allows for the detection of smaller neuropil deposits of beta-amyloid that could not be counted manually.
Academic text (1995) -
Here we find that goal-directed behavior produces broadly distributed task-related activity throughout the neocortex, reflected both in widespread single-cell and in neuropil activity.
Academic text (2016) -
A small focus of a neuropil-like structure with rare glial cells and corpora amylacea was located adjacent to the skeletal muscle (Figure 2, C).
Academic text (2004) -
Together, these data supported the hypothesis that ALM-mediated initiation of goal-directed licking behavior is necessary for the elicitation of cortex-wide activity in superficial neuropil.
Academic text (2016) -
This difference revealed that the conjunction of licking behavior in the setting of immediate or anticipated reward, but not licking in itself, produced the observed globally distributed neuropil activity dynamics. # Cell-Type-Specific Interneuron Activity Dynamics #
Academic text (2016) -
Measuring both these signals in superficial neuropil throughout the cortex using wide-field microscopy is therefore important to test theories of the widespread broadcast of task-related information during goal-directed behavior.
Academic text (2016) -
Research shows that increased neuropil in specific brain regions is linked to enhanced cognitive abilities.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A thick network of tangled nerve fibers and cell branches in the brain or spinal cord
Surface Forms
Morphology
neuropil = neuro + pil
The word is a technical coinage built with the combining form neuro- and a rare bound element pil-, but the second element is not a familiar English word, so the meaning is not predictable for most learners.
Etymology
Neuropil combines neuro-, the same root as neuron, meaning 'nerve', and -pil, a part that suggests a 'dense mass' or 'felt' of tiny threads, so think of it as a 'felt' of nerve threads, which matches its meaning as a dense network in the brain.