ScienceSeptember 3, 2026

innervation

in-ner-VAY-shun

Definition

The distribution or supply of nerves to a specific part of the body, organ, or anatomical region.

Etymology

Derived from the Latin 'in-' (into) and 'nervus' (sinew or nerve), the term entered English in the 19th century to describe the physiological process of supplying nerves to a body part.

In the news

The article uses the term to describe the density of nerve fibers in different body areas, which researchers analyzed to see if it explained why certain regions are more ticklish than others.

Research suggests how ticklish a body region is tracks how rarely it gets touched — in a survey of 448 Chinese-, Dutch- and Greek-speaking volunteers the hotspots were the armpits, the sides of the trunk and the soles of the feet, while the palms were among

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