Mind Over Matter
This term describes the ability to concentrate your thoughts on one particular task while ignoring distractions.
Focus (or attention)
This type of word or phrase reads the same backward and forward, with "racecar" and "level" being popular examples.
Palindrome
These specialized nerve cells carry electrical and chemical signals throughout the brain and nervous system.
Neurons
The human brain is divided into two main halves, known by this scientific term.
Hemispheres
Often associated with the brain's reward system, this neurotransmitter plays important roles in motivation, learning, and movement.
Dopamine
This type of memory allows you to temporarily remember information, such as a phone number, for a brief period.
Short-term memory
This strange sensation makes someone feel as though they have already experienced a situation, even when it is actually new to them.
Déjà vu
This frustrating mental experience occurs when you know a word or someone's name but cannot quite remember it, even though you feel the answer is close.
Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
This psychological phenomenon happens when a person's expectations influence their behavior in ways that help make those expectations come true.
Self-fulfilling prophecy
This word puzzle involves rearranging the letters of one word to create another, such as turning "listen" into "silent."
Anagram
The brain and spinal cord together make up this major division of the nervous system.
Central nervous system
The left hemisphere of the brain primarily controls voluntary movements on this side of the body.
The right side
These branch-like extensions of a neuron receive signals from other nerve cells and carry them toward the cell body.
Dendrites
This mental process involves bringing previously stored information back into conscious awareness.
Memory retrieval
Magicians frequently use this technique to direct an audience's attention away from the secret actions behind a trick.
Misdirection
This common behavior involves delaying or avoiding tasks, even when you know completing them would be beneficial.
Procrastination
This psychological phenomenon occurs when a person experiences improvement in symptoms after receiving an inactive treatment because they expect it to help.
Placebo effect
This mental phenomenon makes it difficult to name the ink color of a word when the word itself spells a different color.
Stroop effect
This seahorse-shaped brain structure plays a crucial role in forming new memories of events and experiences.
Hippocampus
Named after a French physician, this brain region, typically located in the left frontal lobe, plays an important role in speech production.
Broca's area
This long, cable-like part of a neuron carries electrical impulses away from the cell body.
Axon
This type of long-term memory allows you to ride a bicycle, type on a keyboard, or play an instrument without consciously remembering every individual movement.
Procedural memory
This natural gap in human vision occurs where the optic nerve exits the retina, but the brain usually fills in the missing information.
The blind spot
Authors and creative writers experience this mental obstacle when they struggle to come up with ideas or put words on paper.
Writer's block
Athletes sometimes use this mental technique to rehearse movements or performances in their minds without physically performing them.
Mental imagery (or mental rehearsal)
In a traditional 3-by-3 magic square using the numbers 1 through 9, every row, column, and diagonal adds up to this number.
15
Sometimes called the brain's sensory relay station, this structure routes most sensory information to the cerebral cortex, with smell being a notable exception.
Thalamus
Named after a German neurologist, this brain region in the language-dominant hemisphere is traditionally associated with understanding language.
Wernicke's area
This neurotransmitter is involved in regulating mood, sleep, appetite, and several other bodily functions
Serotonin
This initial stage of memory formation involves transforming incoming information into a form the brain can store.
Encoding
This psychological phenomenon occurs when people fail to notice significant differences between two images or scenes, especially when a brief interruption separates them.
Change blindness
This mental condition occurs when the amount or complexity of information being processed exceeds a person's available cognitive resources.
Cognitive overload
This ability allows the brain to reorganize and change its neural connections in response to learning, experiences, or injury.
Neuroplasticity
In this famous probability puzzle, contestants choose one of three doors, and switching their choice after the host reveals a losing door increases their chance of winning to two-thirds.
Monty Hall problem
Located at the front of the brain, this region is heavily involved in planning, decision-making, impulse control, and complex reasoning.
Prefrontal cortex
This surgical procedure, historically used for certain cases of severe epilepsy, involves severing the major connection between the brain's hemispheres to limit the spread of seizures.
Corpus callosotomy
This neurotransmitter is the brain's primary inhibitory chemical messenger in adults, helping reduce the likelihood that neurons will fire.
GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)
Students who study for 20 minutes over several days often remember information better than those who cram everything into one long session because of this psychological phenomenon.
Spacing effect
This cognitive bias occurs when one positive characteristic, such as physical attractiveness, causes someone to assume a person has other positive qualities, such as intelligence or kindness.
Halo effect
A scientist struggles with a difficult problem for hours, takes a break, and suddenly discovers a solution. This phenomenon describes how stepping away from a problem can sometimes improve later problem-solving.
Incubation effect