Vasomotor

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Vasomotor \Vas`o*mo"tor\, a. [L. vas a vessel + motor that which
     moves fr. movere to move.] (Physiol.)
     Causing movement in the walls of vessels; as, the vasomotor
     mechanisms; the vasomotor nerves, a system of nerves
     distributed over the muscular coats of the blood vessels.
     [1913 Webster]


  
     {Vasomotor center}, the chief dominating or general center
        which supplies all the unstriped muscles of the arterial
        system with motor nerves, situated in a part of the
        medulla oblongata; a center of reflex action by the
        working of which afferent impulses are changed into
        efferent, -- vasomotor impulses leading either to dilation
        or constriction of the blood vessels.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  vasomotor
       adj : relating to the nerves and muscles that cause the blood
             vessels to constrict or dilate