decerebrate

English

Etymology

From de- +‎ cerebrate.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈsɛɹəbɹət/

heteronym?

Adjective

decerebrate (not comparable)

1. (biology) Having the cerebrum removed.
   • 1908, C. S. Sherrington, “On plastic tonus and proprioceptive reflexes”, in Quarterly Journal of Experimental Physiology‎^[1], page 117:

     In this respect the decerebrate condition offers some resemblance to the cataleptic state.

   • 1937, Christian A. Ruckmick, “Psychology tomorrow”, in Psychological Review‎^[2], volume 44, page 148:

     Take for instance the startling example of the experiments of Wever and Bray, when tones were led into the external meatus of the ear of a decerebrate cat and then greatly amplified electrical currents were tapped from the eighth cranial or auditory nerve.

   • 1997 November 7, Gonzalo Viana Di Prisco et al., “Role of Sensory-Evoked NMDA Plateau Potentials in the Initiation of Locomotion”, in Science‎^[3], volume 278, number 5340, →DOI, pages 1122–1125:

     All brain tissue rostral to the diencephalon was removed, making the preparation a decerebrate one.

Verb

decerebrate (third-person singular simple present decerebrates, present participle decerebrating, simple past and past participle decerebrated)

1. To remove the cerebrum in order to eliminate brain function.
   • 1876, “Is craniotomy, cephalotripsy, or cranioclasm, preferable to the Cæsarean section in pelves ranging from one and a half to two and a half inches?”, in Transactions of the New York Academy of Medicine‎^[4], page 206:

     […] and the correct principles of delivering it through the different straits of the pelvis after the head has been decerebrated and crushed.

   • 1891 October, “The New Hypnotics”, in The Dental & Surgical Microcosm‎^[5], volume 1, number 2:

     The method employed was to decerebrate a frog, to wait till the shock of this operation had so far passed off, to ligate the iliac artery and vein of one limb […]

   • 2014, Shih-Chii Liu, Event-Based Neuromorphic Systems‎^[6], page 94:

     This conceptual experiment can be physically demonstrated by decerebrating or spinalizing an animal and using a neuromuscular blockade or deafferentiation to remove rhythmic sensory feedback.

Translations

to remove the cerebrum

• Finnish: poistaa isotaivot
• French: décérébrer (fr)
• Italian: decerebrare (it)
• Polish: odkorowywać impf, odkorować pf

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

decerebrate

1. inflection of decerebrare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

decerebrate f pl

1. feminine plural of decerebrato