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- Glossary
dysdiadochokinesia
Medical professionals understand dysdiadochokinesia to be the limitation of the ability to perform rapid successive movements. The disorder is usually accompanied by lesions in the cerebellum, caused, for example, by a stroke.
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- Glossary
EEG
An electroencephalogram, or EEG for short, is a recording of the brain's electrical activity (brain waves). Brain waves are measured on the surface of the head or using electrodes implanted in the brain itself. The time resolution is in the millisecond range, but the spatial resolution is very poor. The discoverer of electrical brain waves and EEG is the neurologist Hans Berger (1873−1941) from Jena.
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Efference
An axon (long, fiber-like extension of nerve cells) that conducts signals away from the central nervous system to peripheral areas, as is the case with motor function, for example, is called efferent. The opposite is afferent.
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- Glossary
Eidetic memory
The term eidetic memory refers to the phenomenon of near-perfect visual memory. The term "photographic" memory is also sometimes used. The phenomenon is very rare, but has not been clearly defined scientifically.
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Simple cell
An orientation-sensitive cell in the primary visual cortex (part of the cerebral cortex) whose receptive field is divided into ON and OFF subfields. For example, it reacts strongly to lines of a certain orientation.
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Protein synthesis
The process by which cells translate units of information on DNA into functional carriers in the form of proteins. According to the central dogma of molecular biology, this process consists of two phases: During transcription, a section of genetic material is transcribed into mRNA. This tells the cell the sequence in which it should assemble individual amino acids into a protein. This happens during translation. After translation, some proteins still need to be folded or modified in other ways before they can be used as structural proteins or enzymes.
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Electroconvulsive therapy
A therapeutic procedure with temporary positive effects, used primarily for severe or treatment-resistant depression and catatonia. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) – colloquially referred to as "electroshock therapy" – was developed in the 1930s. Under controlled conditions, electrical stimulation triggers a brief epileptic seizure, which causes neurobiological changes. It is performed exclusively under general anesthesia and muscle relaxation.
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- Glossary
Electrooculogram
The electrooculogram is a recording of the electrical potential of the eyes. It is measured by electrodes placed on the skin around the eye. A method for measuring retinal function and, indirectly, eye movement.
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Embodied cognition
A term from cognitive science that describes how physical states affect the mind. Embodied cognition can be translated as "physically anchored cognition" or "embodied thinking." The mind, body, and environment are understood as parts of a dynamic system in which cognitive processes occur as complex interactions between the components. For example, gesturing can support mathematical abilities.
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- Glossary
Emotions
Neuroscientists understand "emotions" to be complex response patterns that include experiential, physiological, and behavioral components. They arise in response to personally relevant or significant events and generate a willingness to act, through which the individual attempts to deal with the situation. Emotions typically occur with subjective experience (feeling), but differ from pure feeling in that they involve conscious or implicit engagement with the environment. Emotions arise in the limbic system, among other places, which is a phylogenetically ancient part of the brain. Psychologist Paul Ekman has defined six cross-cultural basic emotions that are reflected in characteristic facial expressions: joy, anger, fear, surprise, sadness, and disgust.
