HealthAugust 29, 2026

ventral

VEN-truhl

Definition

Relating to the underside, front, or abdominal surface of an organism or a specific body structure.

Etymology

Derived from the Latin 'venter' meaning 'belly' or 'womb.' In anatomy, it has been used since the 17th century to denote the front or lower side of the body.

In the news

The article uses this term to name the 'ventral tegmental area,' a specific midbrain region, to highlight its role in processing reward and motivation differently based on the type of sweetener ingested.

Brain scans reveal how artificial sweeteners affect our reward circuits differently than sugar

Read the full article ↗

PsyPost

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