Those bones of the skull enclosing the brain, as distinguished from the bones of the face. SYN: brain box, braincase, cranial vault, cranium cerebrale, cerebral cranium. [neuro- + G. kranion, skull]
- cartilaginous n. in the embryo, that part of the base of the skull first laid down in cartilage and then ossified.
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neu·ro·cra·ni·um .n(y)u̇r-ō-'krā-nē-əm n, pl -ni·ums or -nia -nē-ə the portion of the skull that encloses and protects the brain
neu·ro·cra·ni·al -nē-əl adj
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n.
the part of the skull that encloses the brain.
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neu·ro·cra·ni·um (noor″o-kraґne-əm) [TA] brain box; the portion of the cranium that encloses the brain; cf. viscerocranium. neurocranial adj
Neurocranium, comprising membranous and cartilaginous portions; the former, the calvaria, includes the frontal and parietal and portions of the temporal, occipital, and sphenoid bones; the latter, the chondrocranium, includes the ethmoid and portions of the occipital, temporal, and sphenoid bones.
Medical dictionary. 2011.