What does «motilidad» mean in Spanish?
- In biology, the ability of an organism to move independently, using metabolic energy. This contrasts with motility, which describes the ability of an object to be moved. Motility is genetically determined, but can be affected by environmental factors. For example, muscles give animals motility, but consumption of hydrogen cyanide (the environmental factor in this case) would adversely affect the physiology of the muscles, causing them to stiffen, resulting in rigor mortis. In addition to animal locomotion, most animals are motile (some move by passive locomotion). The term is applied to bacteria and other microorganisms, and to some multicellular organisms, as well as to some mechanisms of fluid flow in multicellular organs and tissues. Motile marine animals are commonly called free-swimming and nonparasitic motile organisms are called free-living.
- (motilidad gastrointestinal) The ability of an organism to move food through its digestive tract. There are two types of intestinal motility: peristalsis and segmentation. This motility is produced by contraction of the smooth muscles of the gastrointestinal tract that mix the luminal contents with various secretions (segmentation) and move the contents through the digestive tract from the mouth to the anus (peristalsis).
- (motilidad gastrointestinal) In psychology, ability to perform complex and coordinated movements; motricity.