mushroom body

noun

Either of a pair of structures in the brains of insects and some other arthropods thought to be involved in learning and memory.

Similar
corpora pedunculata
OriginGerman pilzhutförmiger Körper →
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Meanings

nounmushroom body (plural mushroom bodies)

plural mushroom bodies

  1. biologyEither of a pair of structures in the brains of insects and some other arthropods thought to be involved in learning and memory.

    In fruit flies the cyclic AMP system seems to be especially active in brain regions called mushroom bodies, toadstool-shaped extrusions of neurons in the fruit fly brain.

    1999, Matt Ridley, Genome, Harper Perennial, published 2004, page 226

    Synonyms: corpora pedunculata

Synonyms & antonyms

nounEither of a pair of structures in the brains of insects and some other arthropods thought to be involved in learning and memory.

Similar
corpora pedunculata

Origin

  1. Germanpilzhutförmiger Körper
  2. Englishmushroom body

From mushroom + body, after German pilzhutförmiger Körper.

More words from German

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

mushroom body. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mushroom%20body

MLA

“mushroom body.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mushroom%20body. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mushroom body,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mushroom%20body.

Source: mushroom body on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.