ampulla

(noun)

the dilated end of a duct

Related Terms

Examples of ampulla in the following topics:

  • Balance and Determining Equilibrium

    • The base of each semicircular canal, where it meets with the vestibule, connects to an enlarged region known as the ampulla.
    • The ampulla contains the hair cells that respond to rotational movement, such as turning your head from side to side when saying "no."
    • The stereocilia of these hair cells extend into the cupula, a membrane that attaches to the top of the ampulla.
    • The semicircular canals contain several ampullae, with some oriented horizontally and others oriented vertically.
    • By comparing the relative movements of both the horizontal and vertical ampullae, the vestibular system can detect the direction of most head movements within three-dimensional (3-D) space.

  • Vestibulocochlear (VIII) Nerve

    • Three of these are the cristae, located in the ampullae of the semicircular canals.
    • An illustration of the inner ear showing its semicircular canal, hair cells, ampulla, cupula, vestibular nerve, and fluid.

  • Female Duct System

    • Ciliated cells predominate throughout the tube, but are most numerous in the infundibulum and ampulla.
    • The egg is caught by the fimbriated end and travels to the ampulla where typically the sperm are met and fertilization occurs.

  • Defecation Reflex

    • The rectal ampulla acts as a temporary storage facility for the unneeded material.

  • Phylum Echinodermata

    • The ring canal connects the radial canals (there are five in a pentaradial animal), and the radial canals move water into the ampullae, which have tube feet through which the water moves.
    • Ampullae

  • Accessory Sex Glands

    • Each seminal gland forms as an outward growth of the wall of ampulla of each vas deferens.
    • Prostate with seminal vesicles and seminal ducts, viewed from the front and above, including the urethra, seminal vesicle, vas deferens, ampulla, ejaculatory duct, and isthmus.

  • Gnathostomes: Jawed Fishes

    • Organs called ampullae of Lorenzini enable sharks to detect the electromagnetic fields that are produced by all living things, including their prey.

  • Sensory Modalities

    • The vestibular nerve conducts information from sensory receptors in three ampulla, each of which sense fluid motion in three semicircular canals caused by a three-dimensional rotation of the head.