biology: The study of living things. The scientists who study them are known as biologists.
birds: Warm-blooded animals with wings that first showed up during the time of the dinosaurs. Birds are jacketed in feathers and produce young from the eggs they deposit in some sort of nest. Most birds fly, but throughout history there have been the occasional species that don’t.
cognitive: A term that relates to mental activities, such as thinking, learning, remembering and solving puzzles.
colleague: Someone who works with another; a co-worker or team member.
forest: An area of land covered mostly with trees and other woody plants.
information: (as opposed to data) Facts provided or trends learned about something or someone, often as a result of studying data.
neuroscientist: Someone who studies the structure or function of the brain and other parts of the nervous system.
range: The full extent or distribution of something. For instance, a plant or animal’s range is the area over which it naturally exists.
scanner: A machine that runs some sort of light (which includes anything from X-rays to infrared energy) over a person or object to get a succession of images. When a computer brings these images together, they can provide a motion picture of something or can offer a three-dimensional view through the target. Such systems are often used to see inside the human body or solid objects without breaching their surface.
synesthesia: A brain condition in which a person connects a sensory experience to an unassociated symbol, as a letter or number.
system: A network of parts that together work to achieve some function. For instance, the blood, vessels and heart are primary components of the human body’s circulatory system. Similarly, trains, platforms, tracks, roadway signals and overpasses are among the potential components of a nation’s railway system. System can even be applied to the processes or ideas that are part of some method or ordered set of procedures for getting a task done.
unique: Something that is unlike anything else; the only one of its kind.