Akademik

carotid body n a small body of vascular tissue that adjoins the carotid sinus, functions as a chemoreceptor sensitive to change in the oxygen content of blood, and mediates reflex changes in respiratory activity called also carotid gland, glomus caroticum

a small mass of tissue in the carotid sinus containing chemoreceptor that monitor levels of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen ions in the blood. If the oxygen level falls, the chemoreceptors send impulses to the cardiac and respiratory centres in the brain, which promote increases in heart and respiration rates. It can give rise to carotid body tumours, which are a form of paraganglioma.