fasciculus

noun

fas·​cic·​u·​lus fə-ˈsi-kyə-ləs 

fa-

plural fasciculi fə-ˈsi-kyə-ˌlī 

fa-

1

: a slender bundle of anatomical fibers (such as nerve fibers)

2

: fascicle sense 2

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

But the children in the two groups exhibited differences in the arcuate fasciculus and the ILF: In strong readers, these nerve connections started weak, then strengthened; the neuron bundles got more myelinated. —Ashley P. Taylor, Discover Magazine, 10 Oct. 2012

This scan shows the difference between a control brain scan (yellow) and the scan of vets (red) in the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus. —Florence Williams, Discover Magazine, 30 July 2014

In particular, damage to a bundle of axons called the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus correlated with the severity of pain and fatigue. —Gemma Tarlach, Discover Magazine, 20 Mar. 2013

Our mental calendar involves circuits in the left angular gyrus, important for sequence discrimination and connected to the same hippocampal place cell or grid cell via a band of fibers: the inferior longitudinal fasciculus. —Scientific American, 1 June 2020

This view shows the three major tracts involved with language and literacy skills: the arcuate fasciculus, shaded in white, which connects brain areas involved with receptive and expressive language. —Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 4 Nov. 2019

Connecting Broca’s area with Wernicke’s is a neural network: a thick, curving bundle of billions of nerve fibres, the arcuate fasciculus, which integrates the production and the comprehension of language. —Rachel Aviv, The New Yorker, 25 May 2018

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Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from Latin

First Known Use

1713, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

fasciculus

noun

fas·​cic·​u·​lus fə-ˈsik-yə-ləs, fa- 

plural fasciculi -ˌlī 

: a slender bundle of fibers:

a

: a bundle of skeletal muscle cells bound together by fasciae and forming one of the constituent elements of a muscle

b

: a bundle of nerve fibers that follow the same course but do not necessarily have like functional connections (as in some subdivisions of the funiculi of the spinal cord) compare tract sense 2

c

: tract sense 2