stimulation

1. Arousal of the body or any of its parts or organs to increased functional activity. 2. The condition of being stimulated. 3. In neurophysiology, the application of a stimulus to a responsive structure, such as a nerve or muscle, regardless of whether the strength of the stimulus is sufficient to produce excitation. [see stimulant]

- dorsal column s. electrical s., either percutaneously or by direct application of electrodes to the dorsal columns of the spinal cord.

- fetal scalp s. intrapartum test for fetal well-being; acceleration of the fetal heart rate in response to digital or forceps s. of scalp is associated with a normal scalp blood pH.

- Ganzfeld s. illumination of the entire retina in the electroretinogram. [Ger. Ganzfeld, whole field]

- percutaneous s. electrical s. of the peripheral nerves or spinal cord by the application of electrodes to the skin.

- photic s. the use of a flickering light at various frequencies to influence the pattern of the occipital electroencephalogram and also to activate latent abnormalities.

- vagal nerve s. an adjunctive treatment for patients with intractable epilepsy, particularly complex partial or secondarily generalized seizures; s. is delivered to the left vagus nerve in the neck, usually in 30-s bursts every 512 min by a stimulator implanted in the anterior chest wall.

* * *

stim·u·la·tion .stim-yə-'lā-shən n

1) the act or process of stimulating

2) the stimulating action of various agents on muscles, nerves, or a sensory end organ by which activity is evoked esp the reaction produced in a sensory end organ by a stimulus that initiates a nerve impulse and results in functional activity of an effector (as a muscle or gland) <gastric secretion induced by \stimulation of the sense of smell>

* * *

stim·u·la·tion (stim″u-laґshən) [L. stimulatio, from stimulare to goad] the act or process of stimulating; the condition of being stimulated.