body
(bod'ē 
)
- A complete organism, living or dead; the sum of its physical components. SYN: soma (1).
- The trunk (1).
- The principal mass of any structure.
- A distinct mass.
- The largest or most important part of any organ.
SEE: limbic system for illus.
anococcygeal b.The muscle and fibrous tissue lying between the coccyx and the anus.
aortic b.A chemoreceptor in the wall of the aortic arch that detects changes in blood gases, esp. oxygen, and pH. It is innervated by the vagus nerve and stimulates reflex changes in heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure that restore normal blood oxygen levels.
asbestos b.A beaded, dumbbell-shaped body formed when a macrophage engulfs asbestos fibers.
SEE: Barr body.
basal b.A small intercellular granule to which proteins that form cilia or flagella attach. SYN: basal granule; blepharoplast.
carotid b.Any of the chemoreceptors at the bifurcation of each common carotid artery, which detect changes in blood gases (esp. oxygen) and pH. They stimulate reflex changes in heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure that restore normal blood oxygen levels. They are innervated by the glossopharyngeal nerves. SYN: carotid gland ; glomus caroticum.
chromaffin b.Any of the bodies composed principally of chromaffin cells, arranged serially along both sides of the dorsal aorta and in the kidney, liver, and gonads. They are ectodermal in origin, having the same origin as cells of the sympathetic ganglia. SYN: paraganglion.
ciliary b.A body directly behind the iris of the eye. It secretes the aqueous humor and contains the ciliary muscle that changes the shape, and thus the refractive power, of the lens by tightening and relaxing the tension on the lens zonule. SYN: ciliary apparatus.
SEE: eye for illus.
coccygeal b.An arteriovenous anastomosis at the tip of the coccyx formed by the middle sacral artery. SYN: glomus coccygeum.
denticulate b.The corpus dentatum of the cerebellum.
SEE: Donovan body.
SEE: foreign body.
fruiting b.The reproductive cap of a fungus. It contains the fungal spores.
SEE: under Highmore, Nathaniel.
hyaline b.A homogeneous body resulting from colloid degeneration and found in degenerate cells.
SEE: hyaline degeneration.
inclusion b.Any of the microscopic structures made of a dense, occasionally infective core surrounded by an envelope, seen in the cytoplasm and nuclei of cells infected with some intracellular pathogens. These bodies are seen in cells infected with herpesviruses (esp. cytomegalovirus), smallpox, lymphogranuloma venereum, psittacosis, and other organisms.SYN: cell inclusion.;
SEE: Negri bodies.
ketone b.Any of the substances that increase in the blood as a result of faulty carbohydrate metabolism. Among them are beta-hydroxybutyric acid, acetoacetic acid, and acetone. They increase in people with untreated or inadequately controlled diabetes mellitus and are the primary cause of acidosis. They may also occur in other metabolic disturbances. SYN: acetone body.
lateral geniculate b.One of two masses of gray matter forming elevations on the lateral portion of the posterior aspect of the thalamus. Each is the termination of afferent fibers from the retina, which it receives through the optic nerves and tracts.
SEE: medial geniculate body.
loose b.A fragment of bone or cartilage within the joint of a patient with severe degenerative or neuropathic arthritis.
SEE: Luys body.
SEE: Mallory body.
malpighian b.A splenic lymph nodule or renal cell.
mammillary b.A spherical body of hypothalamic nuclei that bulges out of the base of the brain behind the pituitary gland on either side of the midline. It is an integral component of the limbic circuitry, receiving signals from the hippocampus via the fornix and sending signals to the anterior thalamus via the mammillothalamic tract.
SEE: medial mammillary nucleus; limbic system for illus.
medial geniculate b.One of two masses of gray matter forming elevations on the lateral portion of the posterior aspect of the thalamus. Each is the termination of afferent fibers from the retina, which it receives through the optic nerves and tracts.
SEE: lateral geniculate body.
SEE: under Nissl, Franz.
pacchionian b.Arachnoid granulation.
SEE: Papp-Lantos bodies.
parolivary bNuclei in the medulla oblongata, lying close to the olivary bodies.
perineal b.A body of tissue that separates the anus from the vestibule and the lower part of the vagina.
SEE: pineal gland .
polar b.A small nonfunctional cell produced in oogenesis resulting from the divisions of the primary and secondary oocytes.
postbranchial b.Ultimobranchial body.
psammoma b.A laminated calcified body seen in certain types of tumors and sometimes associated with chronic inflammation.
restiform b.One of the inferior cerebellar peduncles of the brain, found along the lateral border of the fourth ventricle. These two band s of fibers, principally ascending, connect the medulla oblongata with the cerebellum.
SEE: Ross body.
SEE: Russell body.
Variant: striated body
Corpus striatum.trapezoid b.A transverse sheet of secondary sensory axons that originate in the cochlear nuclei and that cross the midline just dorsal to the pons in the rostral hindbrain. About half of the cochlear axons remain ipsilateral and ascend toward the inferior colliculus via the lateral lemniscus. Those cochlear axons that cross the midline in the trapezoid body also join the (contralateral) lateral lemniscus and run toward the inferior colliculus.
ultimobranchial b.One of two embryonic pharyngeal pouches usually considered as rudimentary fifth pouches. They become separated from the pharynx and incorporated into the thyroid gland , where they give rise to parafollicular cells that secrete calcitonin, a hormone that lowers the blood calcium level. SYN: postbranchial body.
vertebral b.A short column of bone forming the weight-supporting portion of a vertebra. The roots of a vertebral arch project from the dorsolateral surfaces of this body.