cephalic

Etymology

From Middle French céphalique, from Latin cephalicus (“head”), from Ancient Greek κεφαλικός (kephalikós, “capital”), from κεφαλή (kephalḗ, “head”).

adj

1. Of or relating to the head.
   1. Of or relating to the brain.
      Cephalic phase responses (CPRs) are conditioned anticipatory physiological responses to food cues. They occur before nutrient absorption and are hypothesized to be important for satiation and glucose homeostasis. Cephalic phase insulin responses (CPIRs) and pancreatic polypeptide responses (CPPPRs) are found consistently in animals, but human literature is inconclusive. We performed a systematic review of human studies to determine the magnitude and onset time of these CPRs. 2020, Marlou P Lasschuijt, Monica Mars, Cees de Graaf, Paul A M Smeets, “Endocrine cephalic phase responses to food cues: a systematic review”, in Advances in Nutrition, volume 11, number 5, →DOI, →PMID, pages 1364–1383
   2. Of or relating to the cephalon (the head of a trilobite).
2. (anatomical terms of location and direction) Toward the head; in bipeds such as humans, this direction corresponds to superior.
3. Headlike; cephaloid.