Algorithm: a procedure or method that, when followed step by step, always produces the correct solution. For example, mathematical formulas. (Hockenbury, 265) A problem-solving procedure requiring repetition in order to eliminate possible answers until only the correct one remains. (Cardwell, 7) Vernon Mountcastle suggests that since all regions (of the “cerebral cortex”) look the same, perhaps they are actually performing the same basic operation. He proposes that the cortex uses the same computational tool to accomplish everything it does. He concludes that there is a common function, a common algorithm, that is performed by all the cortical regions. Vision is no different from hearing, which is no different from motor output. In my opinion it was, is, and will likely remain the most important discovery in neuroscience. (Hawkins, 50-53)

Animal Models: non-human species used in medical research because (they) can mimic aspects of a disease found in humans. Animal models are used to obtain information about a disease and its prevention, “diagnosis,” and treatment. By using animals, researchers can carry out experiments that would be impractical or ethically prohibited with humans. (NHGRI) In some cases, diseases occur naturally in animals. For example, dogs can spontaneously develop high blood pressure, heart failure, or diabetes. Other disease, such as “Parkinson’s Disease,” are unique to humans. In order to study these illnesses, scientist give them to the animals, often mice or rats. This can be done chemically or by changing the animal’s genes. Three principles govern animal research. The first is that animals must not be used when approaches that do not require them are available and reliable. Second, the number of animals used should be minimized. Third, harm to animals should be mitigated. (Dorsey, 22)

Aplysia: foot-long, six-pound California sea slug made famous by Eric Kandel who studied its brain to build the foundations of modern neuroscience. (SAM, Oct/Nov 2007, 33) Not only are there few cells involved in generating the behavior, but in Aplysia one encounters the largest nerve cells in the animal kingdom. (Kandel5, 4)

C. elegans: the nematode worm. In 1988, Its genome was sequenced with 100 million base pairs. (GNN, Genetics and Genomics Timeline)

Drosophila Melanogaster: the fruit fly. The invertebrate animal model par excellence. It was first developed as an experimental organism by Thomas Hunt Morgan at Columbia University to study the basic function of “chromosomes” in “heredity.” In many diseases, fruit flies and people share not just genes but entire gene pathways. Scientists use these shared features… to gain crucial insights into human diseases. One advantage of using flies is that it speeds up the research process. A disease like Parkinson’s, for example, can take decades to appear in people, but it will take only days or weeks to appear in flies. A key gene that mutated in Parkinson’s disease, ‘synuclein alpha,’ was first identified in the fruit fly. (Kandel4, 172) In 1999, its genome was sequenced with 122 million base pairs. (GNN, Genetics and Genomics Timeline) Also referred to as ‘drosophila.’

Macaque Monkeys: Wolfram Schultz, a neuroscientist, has studied the role of rewards in “learning.” Schultz’s experiments with monkeys drew on Pavlov’s early experiments with conditioned learning in dogs. Schultz would play a loud tone to monkeys, wait for a few seconds, and then squirt some drops of apple juice into their mouths. While the experiment was unfolding, Schultz monitored the electrical activity inside individual “dopamine” producing neurons in the animals’ brain. At first, the neurons didn’t fire until the juice was delivered. However, once the animals learned that the tone predicted the arrival of juice, the same neurons began firing at the sound of the tone—that is, at the ‘prediction of reward’ instead of the reward itself. To Schultz, the interesting feature about the dopamine learning system was that it is all about expectation. (Kandel4, 201)

Mice: while animal models have contributed to many scientific advances, including vaccines for measles and insulin for diabetes, they have their limitations. Despite their genetic similarities (mice and humans share 95% of the same genes), not all findings in mice translate to humans. (Dorsey, 22)

Rats: James Olds and Peter Milner, two neuroscientists, implanted an “electrode” deep in the center of a rat’s brain… right next to the “nucleus accumbens,” a crucial component of the (brain’s “reward system.”) They then installed a lever in the cage of the rats that would allow the animals to administer a small jolt of electricity to their brain in the neighborhood of the nucleus accumbens. (the jolt) was pleasurable to the rats. They would press the lever over and over and over again to produce the desired stimulus. In fact, the pleasure from the electrode was son intense that the animals soon lost interest in everything else. They stopped eating and drinking. They stopped all courtship behavior. They just crouched in the corner of their cage, transfixed by their bliss. It took several decades of painstaking research before Olds and Milner discovered that the rats were suffering from an excess of “dopamine.” Electrical stimulation of the nucleus accumbens had triggered the release of massive amounts of (dopamine) overwhelming the animals with pleasures. (Kandel4, 200)

Blue Brain Project: computer model being designed to take on the human brain. Henry Markram developed. Model will electronically mirror the real brain’s biological behaviors. IBM has custom tailored one of its most powerful supercomputers for the project, capable of processing more than 22 trillion operations per second. (Discover, Dec. 2007, 51)

Brain-Machine Interface (BMI): demonstration that (primates and humans) can learn to control voluntarily the movements of extraneous artificial devices, such as robotic arms and legs, using only their raw electrical brain activity. (Nicolelis, 8)

Electroencephalograph (EEG): an instrument that produces a graphic record of the brain’s electrical activity by using “electrodes” placed on the scalp. (Hockenbury, 59) A recording of electrical activity in the brain. It is made by placing electrodes on the skin covering the top of the head, and impulses are sent to a special machine. An EEG may be used to diagnose brain and sleep disorders. (NCIt)

God Helmet: created by Michael Persinger. Generates weak “electromagnetic” fields and focuses them on particular regions of the brain’s surface. An experiment focused on the “temporal lobes.” Most research subjects either 'sensed' a presence in the room with themselves, although they were alone, or had a profound state of 'cosmic bliss.' Each subject translated the perception into their own cultural and religious language, terming it ‘God’, Buddha', or the 'wonder of the universe.' (SAM Oct/Nov 2007, 41)

Hippocampal Slice: thin slice of “hippocampus” removed from the brain and submerged in a saltwater bath, with electrodes placed in relevant regions. A major advantage of hippocampal slice preparations is that the (cell architecture) and “synaptic” “circuits” of the hippocampus are largely retained. Hippocampal slices have mostly been used for investigating the effects of "neurotoxic" chemicals on synaptic function. More recently, hippocampal slice cultures, which can be maintained for several weeks to several months "in vitro," have been employed to study how neurotoxic chemicals influence the structural and functional "plasticity" in hippocampal neurons. (PubMed, 21815062)

Intracranial Self-Stimulation: administering a brief burst of electrical stimulation to specific sites in (an animal's) brain. Rats will press a lever hundreds or even thousands of times per hour to obtain this brain stimulation. (Kolb, 433) Also referred to as 'self-stimulation' and 'brain-stimulation reward.’

Microelectrodes: pin-shaped electronic devices that are so small and sensitive that they can be inserted inside or beside a single neuron and can detect when an individual neuron fires off its electrical signal to other neurons. The neuron’s signal passes from the microelectrode to an amplifier and then to an “oscilloscope” where it appears as a sharp spike. (Doidge, 50) “Action potentials” from “ganglion cells” can be picked up by placing a microelectrode near their cell bodies in the "retina" or in the “optic nerve” outside the eye. (Koch, 55)

Micromapping: a technique using microelectrodes to map a specific area of the brain. It is still about a thousand times more precise than the current generation of brain scans. Yet micro mapping hasn’t replaced brain scans because it requires an extremely tedious kind of surgery, conducted under a microscope with microsurgical instruments. Michael Merzenich and his colleagues did thousands of these laborious surgeries to make their important discoveries. (Doidge, 50)

Nano: very small; specifically used in names of units of measurement to denote a factor of 10 -9 (one billionth), as nanogram, “nanometer,” nanosecond, etc. (Oxford) A unit prefix indicating a quantity of 10E-9 or one one-billionth. (NCIt)

Neuroanatomical Tract-Tracing Techniques: methods used to label and follow the course of neural pathways by axonal transport of injected neuronal “tract-tracers.” (MeSH)

Tract-Tracers: substances used to identify the location and to characterize the types of “neural pathways.” (MeSH)

Neuromodulation: a therapeutic alteration of activity either through stimulation or medication, both of which are introduced by implanted devices. Can include treatments that involve the stimulation of various nerves in the "central nervous system," "peripheral nervous system," "autonomic nervous system," or deep cell nuclei of the brain that lead to the “modulation” of its activity. (NANS, About Neuromodulation)

Neuroprosthetics: devices the size of a modern heart “pacemaker” that harvest healthy brain electrical activity to coordinate the contractions of a silk-thin wearable robot, a vest as delicate as a second skin but as protective as a beetle’s exoskeleton — a suit capable of supporting a paralyzed person’s weight and making formerly immobile bodies roam, run, and once again exult in exploring the world freely. (Nicolelis, 8)

Nonsense Syllable: three-letter combination, made up of two consonants and a vowel, such as WIB or MEP. It almost sounds like a word, but it is meaningless. (Hockenbury, 234)

Oscilloscope: an electronic instrument in which the position of a moving spot on a screen represents the relationship between two variables, usually a signal voltage and time. (Oxford) An electronic device designed to display electrical measurements, typically as a waveform on a cathode ray tube. (NCIt) Allows neuroscientists to see neuronal activity. (Chudler, 73)

Oscillate: swing or move to and fro in a regular rhythm. (Oxford) Noun - ‘oscillation.’

Pupil Dilation: pupils are sensitive indicators of mental effort. They dilate substantially when people multiply two-digit numbers, and they dilate more if the problems are hard than if they are easy. The pupil is a good measure of the physical arousal that accompanies mental effort. (Kahneman, 32-34)

Stroop Inference: timed test in which the subject must read a list of words or identify colors presented with varying instructions and different degrees of distraction. (MeSH) (For example), a test (where the subject is) presented a word that is itself the name of a color. (For example) present the word ‘blue’ in the (ink) color ‘green’ (and the subject is asked to) name the color of the ink. (Results in) a much slower reaction time then (if presented with) the word ‘justice’ presented in blue letters. Unmasks the clash between the strong, involuntary and automatic impulse to read the word and the unusual, deliberate, and effortful task demand to state the color of the print. (Eagleman, 132) Also referred to as ‘stroop test.’

System of Units (SI Units): a base or derived unit of weight or measure that belongs to the decimal International System of Units (Systeme International d'Unites, SI) derived from and extending the metric system. (NCIt) A system of physical units in which the fundamental quantities are length, time, mass, electric current, temperature, luminous intensity, and amount of substance, and the corresponding units are the meter, second, kilogram, ampere, kelvin, candela, and mole. The system has been given official status and recommended for universal use by the General Conference on Weights and Measures. (MeSH)

Units of Electricity: (measure) energy made available by the flow of electric charge through a conductor. (NCIt)

Ampere (Amp): a unit of electric current, one of the seven base units of the International System of Units. It is that constant current which, if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite length and zero diameter separated by one meter in a vacuum, would produce between these conductors a force equal to 2x10E7 newton per meter of length. This is dependent upon the definitions of the meter, kilogram, and second. One ampere represents 6.24 x 10E18 unit electric charge carriers, such as electrons, passing a specified fixed point in one second. (NCIt)

Ohm: a unit of electrical resistance equal to the resistance between two points on a conductor when a potential difference of one volt between them produces a current of one ampere. (NCIt)

Volt: a unit of electric potential and electromotive force, equal to the difference of electric potential between two points on a conducting wire carrying a constant current of one Ampere when the power dissipated between the points is one watt. This is equivalent to the potential difference across a resistance of one ohm when one Ampere of current flows through it. (NCIt)

Millivolt (mV): one-thousandth of a volt. (Oxford) Editor’s note - commonly used to highlight electrical potential differences and changes in electrical potential differences between the inner and outer membranes of a neuron.

Units of Length: units used to measure distance. (Oxford)

Centimeter: a hundredth of a meter, equal to 0.3937 inch. (Oxford) A measure of length in the metric system. There are 100 centimeters in a meter and 2 1/2 centimeters in an inch. (NCIt)

Meter: a unit of linear measure in the metric system, one of the seven base units of the International System of Units. A meter is defined as the length of the path traveled by light in a vacuum during a (specific) time interval. Equal to 1.093 61 yards.

Millimeter (mm): one-thousandths of a meter. (Oxford) A measure of length in the metric system. A millimeter is one thousandth of a meter. There are 25 millimeters in an inch. (NCIt)

Micrometer (μ): one-millionth of a meter. (Oxford) A unit of length in metric system equal to 10E-6 meter. (NCIt) Also referred to as a ‘micron.’

Nanometer (nm): one-billionth of a meter. (Oxford) A measure of length in the metric system. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter. An average human hair is about 60,000 nanometers thick. Nanometers are used to measure wavelengths of light and distances between atoms in molecules. (NCIt)

Units of Time: units used to measure duration. (Oxford) An indication of the type of unit of measure being used to express a time. (NCIt)

Millisecond (msec or ms): a unit of time, which is equal to one thousandth of a second. (NCIt)

Microsecond (μs): a unit of time equal to one millionth of a second. (NCIt)

Nanosecond (ns): one-billionth of a second. (Oxford)

Second: a unit of time, one of the seven base units of the International System of Units. (NCIt)

Time: the continuum of experience in which events pass from the future through the present to the past. (NCIt) The dimension of the physical universe which, at a given place, orders the sequence of events. (MeSH)

Collection Time: the hour, minute, and/or second at which the sample or data was collected. (NCIt)

Elapsed Time: the interval between two reference points in time. (NCIt) Also referred to as a ‘time period.’

End Time: the time when an event has ceased. (NCIt)

Repetition Time: the amount of time in milliseconds between successive pulse sequences applied to the same (sample). (NCIt)

Test Time: the point in time when an assessment was performed. (NCIt)

Timespan: the period of time between two dates or events or between the beginning and end of something. (NCIt)

Timezone: a geographic region throughout which the same standard time is used. (NCIt)

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS): technique using a magnetic wand (‘transcranial magnetic stimulator’) to send an electrical signal into the brain. The magnet temporarily stuns and fatigues the targeted population of neurons. (Blakeslee, 56, 205) Briefly stuns the neurons in the area - in effect creating a temporary brain "lesion." (RamachandranTTB, 61) A technique for probing brain function using powerful electromagnets held directly over the head. (Blakeslee, 215)