Canalization

noun

1. The act or an instance of canalizing.
2. A system of canals.
3. The construction of canals, or the establishment of communication by means of canals.
4. Specifically The conversion of a natural stream or a chain of lakes or marshes into a continuous canal, suitable for navigation, by means of weirs, barrages, locks, short cuttings, etc, Canalized rivers are common in France; in the United States the Monongahela and Kanawha rivers afford instances. The Suez canal is in part the result of the canalization of natural bodies of water. Also spelled canalisation.
5. In neurology, figuratively, the formation or opening of a path of nervous conduction or nervous discharge.