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- Glossary
Dendrite
Tree-like branching area of nerve cells whose extensions act as a kind of antenna for receiving electrical impulses from other cells.
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- Glossary
Dendritic spines
Mushroom- or button-shaped protrusions on dendrites, at the tip of which there is usually a synapse, which is the site of communication between two nerve cells. The spines increase the surface area of dendrites, which thus have space for additional synapses. They play an important role in synaptic plasticity. The dendritic spines can swell and shrink depending on activation.
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- Glossary
Dermatome
Describes an area of skin that is connected to exactly one spinal nerve (a nerve originating in the spinal cord).
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- Glossary
Macula
The area of the retina with the highest density of photoreceptors. Due to this high "resolution," we see very sharply here. The diameter of the macula in humans is approximately 5 mm. The fovea centralis is located in the center of the macula.
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- Glossary
Olfactory epithelium
An area of olfactory cells measuring approximately 5 cm² located at the rear of the nasal septum. The axons (long, fiber-like extensions of nerve cells) of the olfactory cells form the olfactory nerve and travel through the ethmoid bone to the olfactory bulb.
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- Glossary
Field of view
The area of the outside world that can be perceived when the head is held still and the gaze is straight ahead. In humans, it is approximately 180° horizontally, of which about 120°–140° is binocular; vertically, it is approximately 135°. Rabbits achieve 360° thanks to their sideways-facing eyes, although their binocular field of vision – i.e., the intersection of both eyes – only covers 30°.
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- Glossary
Fusiform gyrus
The fusiform gyrus is located in the inferior, i.e., inner temporal lobe and plays an important role in object recognition. Facial recognition is believed to take place in the right fusiform gyrus, which is why this structure is also referred to as the fusiform face area.
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- Glossary
Parahippocampal gyrus
The parahippocampal gyrus runs along the hippocampus in the lower, inner temporal lobe. Its anterior part is covered by the entorhinal cortex. It is connected to numerous areas of the cerebral cortex and projects to the hippocampus, which it also acts as a gateway to. This means that it is involved in the consolidation of explicit memory content, among other things. In addition, the posterior part of the parahippocampal gyrus contains the parahippocampal place area (PPA), which responds particularly to complex visual scenes such as rooms, landscapes, or streets and thus plays an important role in spatial orientation and location recognition.
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- Glossary
Heschl's gyrus
Heschl's gyrus is an area in the temporal lobe that was first described by Richard Heschl in 1855. It is the seat of the primary auditory cortex, i.e., the hearing center in the cerebral cortex.
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- Glossary
Hippocampus
The hippocampus is the largest part of the archicortex and an area in the temporal lobe. It is also an important part of the limbic system. Functionally, it is involved in memory processes, but also in spatial orientation and learning. It comprises the subiculum, the dentate gyrus, and the Ammon's horn with its four fields CA1-CA4. Changes in the structure of the hippocampus due to stress are associated with chronic pain. The hippocampus also plays an important role in the amplification of pain through anxiety.
