Ligand
A molecule that binds to another. Often, a soluble molecule such as a hormone or neurotransmitter that binds to a receptor.
Read Also:
- Ligature
Material used to tie something in surgery. Ligatures are used to tie off blood vessels, and they may be made of silk, gut, wire, or other materials.
- Lightening
Not to be confused with a discharge of atmospheric electricity, lightening refers to the sensation that a pregnant woman feels when the baby drops. This is the time when the presenting (lowermost) part of the fetus descends into the maternal pelvis. Lightening classically occurs 2 to 3 weeks before labor begins. However, it may not […]
- Lightning injuries
A major source of injury and death from the environment, lightning is one of the top three causes of death from environmental origins. Lightning-related injuries are estimated to account for 3000 admissions to burn units each year in the US. Lightning is neither a direct current nor an alternating current. It is a unidirectional, massive, […]
- Lights, flashing
A sensation that is created when the clear, jelly-like substance that fills the middle of the eye (vitreous humor) shrinks and tugs on the retina. These flashes of light can appear off and on for several weeks or months. As a person ages, flashes are likely to occur increasingly often. Flashes usually do not reflect […]
- Lilliputian hallucination
An hallucination in which things, people, or animals seem smaller than they would be in real life. Lilliputian refers to the “little people” who lived (fictionally) on the island of Lilliput in Jonathan Swift’s 1726 masterpiece Gulliver’s Travels. The term “Lilliputian hallucination” was coined by John Todd, an English psychiatrist (1914-1987) who also called it […]