Meanings
- not comparablePertaining to the retrotrapezoid nucleus; parafacial.
Orexin A activates retrotrapezoid neurons in mice.
2012, Orexin/Hypocretin System, →ISBN, page 442 more examples
Apart from the pre-Botzinger complex principally involved in controlling inspiratory motor activity, the retrotrapezoid-parafacial respiratory group (RTN/pFRG) appears to play at least a modulatory role and may be a conditional oscillator that controls active expiration.
2012, Stephen G. Spiro, Gerard A Silvestri, Alvar Agustí, Clinical Respiratory Medicine, →ISBNThe pFRG partially overlaps in the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN), which was originally identified in adult cats and rats.
2015 July 6, “A Phox2b BAC Transgenic Rat Line Useful for Understanding Respiratory Rhythm Generator Neural Circuitry”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI
Origin
From retro- + trapezoid, in reference to the location of the retrotrapezoid nucleus relative to the trapezoid body.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
retrotrapezoid. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retrotrapezoid
“retrotrapezoid.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retrotrapezoid. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “retrotrapezoid,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retrotrapezoid.
Source: retrotrapezoid on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.