Definition of "afferent" []

• Carrying inward to a central organ or section, as nerves that conduct impulses from the periphery of the body to the brain or spinal cord. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Thus: a given inhibitory tetanus exerted on a certain set of motoneurones fails to prevent their excitation in response to strong stimulation of a given afferent nerve; but when the stimulation of the excitatory afferent is weaker the given standard inhibitory tetanus does prevent the response of the motor neurones to the excitatory stimulation."
• "The fibres which come ultimately from the dorsal aspect of the spinal marrow are those which carry inwards the effect of a stimulus applied towards their ultimate termination, and are therefore called afferent, or sensory."
• "According to their function, the former set have been called afferent, as conveying impressions towards the centre; the latter efferent, as conveying the respondent movement from the centre."