cephalo-, cephal-; -cephalic, -cephalism, -cephalous, -cephalus; -cephaly

1. A reference to having a head of medium breadth, with a cephalic index between 76 and 80.

The cephalic index is a rating scale which is used to measure the size of the head.

The rating on the cephalic index is obtained by multiplying the maximum width of the head by 100 and dividing that number by the maximum length of the head and the numbers between 75 and 80 are considered normal.

2. Having the cranial cavity of medium capacity which is neither megacephalic (abnormally large head) nor microcephalic (abnormally small head).
3. Etymology: from the Greek word mesos, "middle" + the Greek word kephale, "head" + Greek ikos, "pertaining to". Put the words together and you have "pertaining to (a) medium head."

1. The anterior part of the embryonic hindbrain, which gives rise to the cerebellum and pons.
2. The cerebellum and pons of the adult brain.

A neurological disorder in which the circumference of the head is smaller than average for the age and gender of the infant or child.

Microcephaly may be congenital or it may develop in the first few years of life. The disorder may stem from a wide variety of conditions that cause abnormal growth of the brain, or from syndromes associated with chromosomal abnormalities.

Infants with microcephaly are born with either a normal or reduced head size. Subsequently the head fails to grow while the face continues to develop at a normal rate, producing a child with an abnormally small head, a large face, a receding forehead, and a loose, often wrinkled scalp.

As the child grows older, the smallness of the skull becomes more obvious, although the entire body also is often underweight and dwarfed. Development of motor functions and speech may also be delayed.

Having a well-proportioned head in which the ratio between the vertical and transverse diameters is from 70 to 75.

1. Pertaining to, or forming, the front of the head.
2. Relating to or located on or near the front of the head or the brain; for example, of an embryo.

That portion of the cerebrum concerned with reception and integration of olfactory (smelling) impulses; the anterior inferior part of the forebrain that is chiefly concerned with olfaction.

An abnormal narrowness of the head.