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encephalo-

The brain.

Greek enkephalos, inside the head.

Encephalitis is inflammation of the brain, caused by infection or an allergic reaction, an encephalopathy is a disease that affects the way the brain functions (as in bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE or mad cow disease), and encephalomyelitis (Greek muelos, marrow) is inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, typically due to acute viral infection. Encephalography is a technique for recording the structure or electrical activity of the brain, whose results may be recorded on an encephalogram. In anatomy and zoology, the encephalon is the formal name for the brain; the usual adjective is encephalic.

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