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Glite Dictionary
👁️ Retina-related 👁️ A retinal neuron
amacrine

amacrine

1 9.9
A cell in the retina that has no long nerve fiber and changes signals between other retinal cells
  • noun
  • /əˈmɑːkrɪn/
  • Specialized
: célula amacrina
  • Researchers found that amacrine cells can influence the way we perceive contrast in our visual field.

Examples

  • The amacrine cells in the retina play a crucial role in processing visual information by modulating signals between the bipolar and ganglion cells.

  • And then when we come down to the amacrine cells, OK, some of these amacrine cells produce action potentials, some don't.

  • Understanding the function of amacrine cells helps scientists learn more about how the retina processes images.

Synonyms

interneuron
vsamacrine
  • Specialized
2 7.1

A nerve cell in the brain or spinal cord that passes signals between other nerve cells

is a retinal neuron without a long axon that modulates signals to ganglion cells

Surface Forms

amacrine singular
amacrines plural

Morphology

amacrine = a + macr + ine

As a technical biomedical term formed from classical combining forms, its internal parts are not transparent to typical learners and the noun sense is specialised rather than predictable from the components.

Etymology

Amacrine gets its name from Greek parts a- meaning 'not' and macr- meaning 'long', like in macro. An amacrine cell is 'not long', and that name fits because this retinal nerve cell lacks a long axon.