unmyelinated

[ uhn-mahy-uh-luh-ney-tid ]

adjective

, Anatomy.

1. pertaining to nerve fibers that are not covered with a myelin sheath.

Word History and Origins

Origin of unmyelinated¹

First recorded in 1915–20; un- ¹ + myelinated

Example Sentences

C fibre These unmyelinated nerve fibres are found only in hairy skin.

From Nature

Myelin is often likened to the plastic coating around electrical wires—it insulates the neural circuits, making them about a hundred times faster than unmyelinated circuits.

From Literature

On campuses, which are notoriously precarious and unmyelinated ecosystems, victimization can be as real as the predations of the high-school locker room.

From The New Yorker

The auditory nerve contains myelinated fibers, which are used to perceive loudness and to process speech, as well as unmyelinated ones.

From New York Times

This fatty white substance insulates axons with a myelin sheath, speeding up the transmission of electrical impulses by a factor of up to at least 50, compared to unmyelinated axons.

From Scientific American