Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Conducting nerve impulses in a direction opposite to normal: In physiology and neuroscience, "antidromic" describes the conduction of an electrical impulse along a nerve fiber in the reverse of its usual or physiological direction.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The researcher stimulated the axon to produce an antidromic action potential.
  • Antidromic conduction can be experimentally induced in sensory neurons.

Advanced Usage

• Technical/Medical Context: The term is almost exclusively used in specialized scientific literature concerning neurophysiology, neurology, and pain research.
  • Antidromic vasodilation refers to the widening of blood vessels caused by nerve impulses traveling backward from the sensory nerve endings.

Variants and Related Words

• Antidromically (adverb): In an antidromic manner.
  • The signal propagated antidromically.

Synonyms

• Retrograde conduction: A more descriptive synonym often used in medical contexts.

Antonyms

• Orthodromic: Conducting nerve impulses in the normal, forward direction.

Adjective

1. conducting nerve impulses in a direction opposite to normal