Definition of "cephalic"

Of or relating to the head.  quotations

1. Of or relating to the brain.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • I was at the Mathematical School, where the Maſter taught his Pupils after a Method ſcarce imaginable to us in Europe. The Propoſition and Demonſtration were fairly written on a thin Wafer, with Ink compoſed of a Cephalick Tincture. This the Student was to ſwallow upon a faſting Stomach, and for three days following eat nothing but Bread and Water. As the Wafer digeſted, the Tincture mounted to his Brain, bearing the Propoſition along with it.

     1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author Permitted to See the Grand Academy of Lagado. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], part III (A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdribb, Luggnagg, and Japan), page 78

   • 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, pages 1364–1383

2. Of or relating to the cephalon (the head of a trilobite).  examples

(anatomical terms of location and direction) Toward the head; in bipeds such as humans, this direction corresponds to superior.  examples

Headlike; cephaloid.  examples