| wrinkle | A wrinkle is a fold, ridge or crease in the skin. Skin wrinkles typically appear as a result of aging processes such as glycation or, temporarily, as the result of prolonged (more than a few minutes) immersion in water. Wrinkling in the skin is caused by habitual facial expressions, aging, sun damage, smoking, poor hydration, and various other factors. With prolonged water exposure, the outer layer of skin starts to absorb water. The skin doesn't expand evenly, causing it to wrinkle. Depletion of water in the body, as occurs with dehydration, can also cause this puckering of the skin. Cortisol causes degradation of skin collagen [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrinkle]. | — |
| whole body | The main part of an animal body especially as distinguished from limbs and head [Brenda]. | — |
| white matter | White matter is one of the two components of the central nervous system and consists mostly of glial cells and myelinated axons that transmit signals from one region of the cerebrum to another and between the cerebrum and lower brain centers. White matter tissue of the freshly cut brain appears pinkish white to the naked eye because myelin is composed largely of lipid tissue veined with capillaries. Its white color is due to its usual preservation in formaldehyde. A 20 year-old male has around 176,000 km of myelinated axons in his brain [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_matter]. | — |
| vulva | The vulva (from the Latin vulva, plural vulvae, see etymology) consists of the external genital organs of the female mammal. This article deals with the vulva of the human being, although the structures are similar for other mammals [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulva]. | — |
| vitreous humor | The clear colorless transparent jelly that fills the eyeball posterior to the lens [Brenda]. | — |
| visual apparatus | The visual apparatus consists of nervous tissues immediately concerned in giving rise to sensations, supported, protected, and nourished by other parts. Its essential parts are, (1) the retina, a thin membrane lying in the eyeball and containing microscopic elements which are so acted upon by light as to stimulate (2) the optic nerve; this nerve ends (3) in a part of the brain (visual centre) which when stimulated arouses in our consciousness a feeling or sensation of sight. The visual centre may be excited in very many ways, and quite independently of the optic nerve or the retina; as is frequently seen in delirious persons, in whom inflammation or congestion of the brain excites directly the visual centre and gives rise to visual hallucinations [Newell Martin, 1895: http://bookdome.com/health/anatomy/Human-Body/The-Human-Visual-Apparatus.html]. | — |
| visual | The visual system is the part of the central nervous system which enables organisms to process visual detail, as well as enabling several non-image forming photoresponse functions. It interprets information from visible light to build a representation of the surrounding world. The visual system accomplishes a number of complex tasks, including the reception of light and the formation of monocular representations; the construction of a binocular perception from a pair of two dimensional projections; the identification and categorization of visual objects; assessing distances to and between objects; and guiding body movements in relation to visual objects. The psychological manifestation of visual information is known as visual perception, a lack of which is called blindness. Non-image forming visual functions, independent of visual perception, include the pupillary light reflex (PLR) and circadian photoentrainment [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_system]. | — |
| visceral column | A column of gray matter in the hindbrain and spinal cord of the embryo, represented in the adult by the dorsal nucleus of the vagus, the superior and inferior salivatory and Edinger-Westphal nuclei and the visceral motor neurones of the spinal cord [Wikipedia: http://www.mondofacto.com/facts/dictionary?general+visceral+efferent+column]. | general viseral efferent column |
| vestibule | The vestibule is the central part of the osseous labyrinth, and is situated medial to the tympanic cavity, behind the cochlea, and in front of the semicircular canals. The etymology comes from the Latin vestibulum, literally an entrance hall [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestibule_of_the_ear]. | vestibule of the ear |
| vestibular nuclei | The vestibular nuclei are the cranial nuclei for the vestibular nerve [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestibular_nuclei]. | — |
| vermis | The cerebellar vermis (Latin for worm) is located in the medial, cortico-nuclear zone of the cerebellum, residing in the posterior fossa of the cranium. The primary fissure in the vermis curves ventrolaterally to the superior surface of the cerebellum, dividing it into anterior and posterior lobes. Functionally, the vermis is associated with bodily posture and locomotion. The vermis is included within the spinocerebellum and receives somatic sensory input from the head and proximal body parts via ascending spinal pathways [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebellar_vermis]. | — |
| vermiform appendix | A narrow blind tube usually about three or four inches (7.6 to 10.2 centimeters) long that extends from the cecum in the lower right-hand part of the abdomen, has much lymphoid wall tissue, normally communicates with the cavity of the cecum, and represents an atrophied terminal part of the cecum [Brenda]. | — |
| ventromedial nucleus | The ventromedial nucleus (sometimes referred to as the ventromedial hypothalamus or VMH) is a nucleus of the hypothalamus [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventromedial_nucleus]. | — |
| ventromedial column | The axons in the ventromedial column of the spinal cord that are involved in the control of posture and locomotion and are under brain stem control [Quizlet: http://quizlet.com/dictionary/ventromedial%2Bpathway/]. | — |
| ventrolateral column | — | — |
| ventricular system | The ventricular system is a set of structures containing cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. It is continuous with the central canal of the spinal cord [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventricular_system]. | — |
| ventricle | In the heart, a ventricle is one of two large chambers that collect and expel blood received from an atrium towards the peripheral beds within the body and lungs [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventricle_(heart)]. | — |
| ventral thalamic nuclei | An area in the thalamus in the ventrolateral nuclear group consisting of a number of nuclei [Neurp: http://neuro.imm.dtu.dk/services/jerne/brede/WOROI_244.html]. The most rostral of the subdivisions of the ventral nucleus, receiving projections from the globus pallidus and projecting to the premotor and frontal cortex [Biology-Online: http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Ventral_anterior_nucleus_of_thalamus]. | nucleus ventralis; anterior thalami |
| ventral posterior thalamic nucleus | The ventral posterior nucleus is the somato-sensory relay nucleus in thalamus of the brain. The ventral posterior nucleus receives neuronal input from the medial lemniscus, spinal lemniscus, spinothalamic tracts, and trigeminothalamic tract. It projects to the somatosensory cortex and the ascending reticuloactivation system. Functions in touch, body position, pain, temperature, itch, taste, and arousal [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventral_posterior_nucleus]. | — |
| ventral intermediate thalamic nucleus | The composite middle third of the ventral nucleus receiving in its various parts distinctive projections from the contralateral half of the cerebellum (by way of the superior cerebellar peduncle) and the ipsilateral globus pallidus; nearly all parts of the nucleus project to the motor cortex [MediLexicon: http://www.medilexicon.com/medicaldictionary.php?t=61784]. | nucleus ventralis intermedius; nucleus ventralis lateralis; ventral lateral nucleus of thalamus |
| ventral column | — | — |
| ventral anterior thalamic nucleus | The ventral anterior nucleus is a nucleus of the thalamus [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventral_anterior_nucleus]. | — |
| ventral | Standard anatomical terms of location are designations employed in science that deal with the anatomy of animals to avoid ambiguities that might otherwise arise. They are not language-specific, and thus require no translation. They are universal terms that may be readily understood by zoologists who speak any language [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatomical_terms_of_location]. | — |
| venous media | The middle coat of blood vessel walls, composed principally of thin, cylindrical, smooth muscle cells and elastic tissue. It accounts for the bulk of the wall of most arteries. The smooth muscle cells are arranged in circular layers around the vessel, and the thickness of the coat varies with the size of the vessel [[MeSH: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/cgi/mesh/2012/MB_cgi?mode=&term=+L+o+w+e+r+ +l+i+m+b+&field=entry]. | — |
| venous intima | The innermost coat of blood vessels, consisting of a thin lining of endothelial cells longitudinally oriented and continuous with the endothelium of capillaries on the one hand and the endocardium of the heart on the other [Medical Dictionary: http://www.medical-dictionary.cc/what-does/venous-intima-mean]. | — |
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