Neuroscience

49 ideas, each explained on one page with a 60-second lesson you can play right there.

Allostatic load Allostatic load is the cumulative physical wear and tear on your body caused by chronic or repeated stress.
Amygdala The amygdala is a pair of almond-sized clusters of neurons located deep inside the temporal lobes of the brain.
Amyloid beta Amyloid beta is a small protein fragment naturally produced and released by brain cells every day.
Animal echolocation Animal echolocation uses sound emission and returning echoes to measure object distance, size, and velocity in air and water.
Artificial consciousness Artificial consciousness is the idea that a non-biological machine or artificial intelligence could have subjective, inner experiences.
Attachment in adults Adult attachment theory shows how early caregiver bonds shape trust, emotional distance, and relationship stability in adulthood.
Attachment Styles Attachment styles describe patterns infants use to stay close to caregivers, shaping expectations in future relationships.
Automaticity Automaticity is the ability to carry out actions and mental tasks without thinking about the low-level steps.
Basal ganglia The basal ganglia are a group of interconnected structures deep beneath the cerebral cortex.
Benjamin Libet Benjamin Libet was an American neuroscientist who studied human consciousness at the University of California, San Francisco.
Chronotype A chronotype is a person's natural biological tendency to sleep and be active at specific times during a 24-hour day.
Circadian Rhythm Circadian rhythms are roughly 24-hour internal biological cycles.
Cognitive Distortions A cognitive distortion is an exaggerated or irrational thought pattern that causes you to perceive reality inaccurately.
Cue-dependent forgetting Cue-dependent forgetting happens when memories remain stored in the brain but cannot be recalled without the right retrieval cues.
Dementia Dementia is an umbrella term for a progressive decline in mental abilities caused by physical damage to the brain, which interferes with daily life.
Dopamine Dopamine is a chemical messenger that nerve cells use to communicate with one another.
Earworm An earworm is a catchy piece of music or a phrase that continuously loops in your mind without your deliberate choice.
Electroreception Electroreception is the biological ability to detect electrical fields in the surrounding environment.
Encoding specificity principle Information is easiest to retrieve when the physical, auditory, or mental state at recall matches the conditions present during learning.
Enteric nervous system The enteric nervous system is a mesh of 500 million neurons lining your digestive tract that runs your digestion.
Extinction (psychology) Extinction stops a learned behavior by withholding reinforcement or cues, creating a new memory rather than erasing the old one.
Fight-or-flight response How the fight-or-flight response instantly redirects blood, releases glucose, and suppresses digestion during perceived threats.
Forgetting curve The forgetting curve shows that memory loss is steepest right after learning.
Freudian Unconscious The Freudian unconscious is the part of the mind holding hidden thoughts, drives, and memories that a person cannot inspect directly.
Frisson Frisson is a brief physical reaction to rewarding stimuli like music or art that creates skin tingling, goosebumps, and pleasure.
Human echolocation Human echolocation is the ability to detect and map objects by producing sounds and listening to the returning echoes.
Immunology Immunology is the branch of biology and medicine that studies how immune systems protect organisms from disease.
Imprinting (psychology) Imprinting is a rapid learning process during a brief early window that permanently shapes an animal's social and mating preferences.
Involuntary memory Involuntary memory is a type of memory that occurs when everyday sensory cues trigger past recollections without conscious effort.
Learned helplessness Helplessness is the brain's default reaction to uncontrollable stress, while experiencing control is what has to be learned.
Levels-of-processing effect The levels-of-processing effect is the finding that how well you remember something depends on how deeply you analyze it during encoding.
Melatonin Melatonin is a hormone produced in the brain that tells the body when it is dark outside.
Memory Consolidation Memory consolidation is the brain process that stabilizes newly learned information so it can be stored as a long-term memory.
Myenteric plexus The myenteric plexus is a mesh-like network of nerve cells embedded between the muscle layers of your digestive tract.
Operant Conditioning Operant conditioning is a learning process where voluntary actions change based on the rewards or punishments that follow them.
Oxytocin Oxytocin is a peptide hormone, a small chemical messenger made of amino acids, produced in the brain's hypothalamus.
Prairie Vole The prairie vole is a small, burrowing rodent native to the grasslands of North America.
Prion A prion is an infectious misfolded protein that forces healthy proteins of the same type to fold into its own abnormal shape.
Psychological stress Psychological stress is a reaction to perceived demands.
REM Sleep REM sleep is a distinct phase of sleep where the brain acts nearly awake while the body's skeletal muscles are paralyzed.
Reminiscence bump Adults over forty recall a disproportionate number of autobiographical memories from adolescence and early adulthood.
Self-Control Self-control is the ability to regulate your thoughts, emotions, and behavior when facing immediate temptations and impulses.
Serotonin Serotonin is a chemical messenger that nerve cells use to communicate with each other and with the rest of the body.
Slow-Wave Sleep Slow-wave sleep is the deepest stage of non-REM sleep, defined by large delta waves that help the brain consolidate declarative memories.
Tau protein Tau protein stabilizes the internal skeleton of nerve cells, but clumps into neurofibrillary tangles during dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Testing effect Testing yourself on material builds stronger long-term memory than rereading it, even without receiving feedback on what you got wrong.
TRPV1 Receptors TRPV1 receptors are ion channels in sensory nerve cells that detect scalding heat, acids, and pungent chemicals like capsaicin.
Vagus nerve The vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve in your body, running from your brainstem down into your chest and abdomen.
Working Memory Working memory is the cognitive system that holds and manipulates information temporarily so you can reason and make decisions.