astronaut: Someone trained to travel into space for research and exploration.
biology: The study of living things. The scientists who study them are known as biologists.
brain scan: A technique to view structures inside the brain, typically with X-rays or a magnetic resonance imaging (or MRI) machine. With MRI technology — especially the type known as functional MRI (or fMRI) — the activity of different brain regions can be viewed during an event, such as viewing pictures, computing sums or listening to music.
brain waves: Electrical signals produced through the coordinated activity of billions of nerve cells in the brain of an animal. When charted, the signal typically looks wavy or spiky.
deceased: An adjective that describes someone who has died.
electrode: A device that conducts electricity and is used to make contact with non-metal part of an electrical circuit, or that contacts something through which an electrical signal moves. (in electronics) Part of a semiconductor device (such as a transistor) that either releases or collects electrons or holes, or that can control their movement.
epiphany: (in cognition) A term for the “eureka!” or “aha moment” when something suddenly becomes instantly clear or obvious.
expression: (in genetics) The process by which a cell uses the information coded in a gene to direct a cell to make a particular protein. (in mathematics) A statement that involves combinations of numbers and/or letters (that signify numbers that may vary) and includes directions (or rules) about what to do with those numbers (such as add or divide them, take their logarithm or make combinations of them equal one another).
insight: The ability to gain an accurate and deep understanding of a situation just by thinking about it, instead of working out a solution through experimentation.
lucid dreaming: The act of knowing you’re dreaming even as you’re dreaming.
muscle: A type of tissue used to produce movement by contracting its cells, known as muscle fibers. Muscle is rich in protein, which is why predatory species seek prey containing lots of this tissue.
neurologist: Medical doctors who do research on the anatomy and function of the brain and nerves. Researchers with a PhD who do similar work are known as neuroscientists.
perception: The state of being aware of something — or the process of becoming aware of something — through use of the senses.
population: (in biology) A group of individuals (belonging to the same species) that lives in a given area.
profound: An adjective to signal the immensity of something, or to distinguish someone who has deep, insightful knowledge of something.
psychologist: A scientist or mental-health professional who studies the mind, especially in relation to actions and behaviors. Some work with people. Others may conduct experiments with animals (usually rodents) to test how their minds respond to different stimuli and conditions.
range: The full extent or distribution of something. For instance, a plant or animal’s range is the area over which it naturally exists. real time: A term that connotes immediacy; something is being studied, recorded and/or reported at the very time it is happening.
recruit: (noun) New member of a group or human trial. (verb) To enroll a new member into some group or organization. It could be into the military. Or it could be into participating in a research group to test some drug, behavior or environmental condition.
REM sleep: A period of sleep that takes its name for the rapid eye movement , or REM, that occurs. People dream during REM sleep, but their bodies can’t move. In non-REM sleep, breathing and brain activity slow, but people can still move about.
reward: (In animal behavior) A stimulus, such as a tasty food pellet, that is offered to an animal or person to get them to change their behavior or to learn a task.
subconscious: An adjective for ideas or habits that occur without deliberately trying to think about them.
taste: One of the basic properties the body uses to sense its environment, especially foods, using receptors (taste buds) on the tongue (and some other organs).
virtual: Being almost like something. An object or concept that is virtually real would be almost true or real — but not quite. The term often is used to refer to something that has been modeled by (or accomplished by) a computer using numbers, not by using real-world parts. So a virtual motor would be one that could be seen on a computer screen and tested by computer programming (but it wouldn’t be a three-dimensional device made from metal). (in computing) Things that are performed in or through digital processing and/or the internet. For instance, a virtual conference may be where people attended by watching it over the internet.