Glossary

The ability to name the pitch of a note heard on its own, with nothing to compare it against

Sleep-promoting neuromodulator that accumulates during wakefulness; caffeine works by blocking its receptors.

The duration for which a person can maintain focused concentration on a task

A 200-500ms period after detecting one target during which a second target is frequently missed, revealing temporal limits of attention allocation.

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor. A protein promoting neuronal survival, growth, and synaptic plasticity, with secretion increased by aerobic exercise

The unit for the size of a musical interval: one hundredth of a semitone, with 1200 cents to an octave

The time to select the correct response from multiple options based on stimulus identity, incorporating cognitive decision-making into reaction speed.

Performance failure under pressure caused by excessive self-monitoring that disrupts automatized skilled movements.

An individual's preference for morning or evening activity, in which clock gene polymorphisms are thought to play a part.

The approximately 24-hour internal clock governing sleep-wake and cognitive cycles

Standard deviation divided by mean expressed as a percentage, measuring response consistency independent of absolute speed.

Systematic deviations from rational judgment caused by heuristic processing shortcuts in the brain.

The total amount of mental effort being used in working memory at a given time

The ability to maintain cognitive function despite brain structural damage, built through education, occupation complexity, and intellectual stimulation

A reduced ability to distinguish between certain colors due to cone cell variations

A range of values within which the true score likely falls, quantifying the measurement error inherent in all cognitive tests.

The ability to detect luminance differences between adjacent areas, more fundamental than visual acuity for predicting real-world visual performance.

A stress hormone released from the adrenal cortex that temporarily enhances energy and alertness but causes hippocampal and prefrontal cortex damage when chronically elevated

The ability to draw on knowledge, vocabulary, and procedures accumulated over time and put them to use

Structured practice targeting specific weaknesses with immediate feedback, operating outside the comfort zone and distinct from mere repetition.

A neurotransmitter involved in reward prediction, motivation, and motor control that modulates prefrontal cortex working memory via D1 receptors

A working memory training task requiring simultaneous tracking of two stimulus streams

The ability to perceive detail in moving objects, distinct from static visual acuity and critical for sports, gaming, and driving performance.

Mechanisms that change gene expression without altering DNA sequence, where exercise, sleep, and stress modify gene activity through DNA methylation and histone modification

A mathematical model predicting movement time based on target distance and size that defines the speed-accuracy tradeoff in motor control

A mental state of complete absorption and optimal performance in an activity

The ability to find a rule on the spot in an unfamiliar problem and reason it through without leaning on stored knowledge

The ability to synchronize visual input with motor output for precise movements

Variation in time intervals between heartbeats where higher HRV indicates greater autonomic flexibility and stress resilience

Seahorse-shaped brain structure essential for memory formation and spatial navigation, highly plastic yet vulnerable to stress.

The ability to suppress prepotent or automatic responses, a core executive function mediated by the prefrontal cortex.

A relative index that rescales the result of a standardized intelligence test so the same-age population averages 100

A sleep-promoting hormone secreted by the pineal gland that is suppressed by blue light and regulates the circadian sleep-wake cycle

A pre-structured set of motor commands stored in the basal ganglia that can be executed as a unit without conscious control.

The process by which repeated motor actions become automatic through practice

Fatty insulation layer around nerve axons that increases signal conduction speed 50-100x through saltatory conduction.

The brain's ability to reorganize its structure and function through experience

A statistical measure indicating the percentage of scores that fall below a value

The perceptual work of noticing that two notes differ in pitch; the smallest detectable gap is the discrimination threshold

Performance improvement driven solely by expectation, mediated by endogenous dopamine release in reward circuits.

Score improvement from repeated test exposure rather than true ability change, typically saturating after 3-5 attempts for most cognitive tests.

The brain region behind the forehead responsible for executive functions including planning, decision-making, and inhibitory control.

The rate at which cognitive operations are executed, a fundamental intelligence component that declines with age but responds to training.

The best-known measure of non-verbal reasoning, in which the examinee selects the figure that belongs in a blank cell of a matrix of shapes

The interval between a stimulus and the initiation of a response

The ability to compare two notes and judge how far apart they are

A rapid eye movement that shifts the fixation point, occurring 3-4 times per second and determining visual information acquisition efficiency

The time to respond to a single predetermined stimulus with a single response, representing the purest measure of sensorimotor speed.

Transient post-awakening cognitive impairment caused by residual slow-wave activity in the prefrontal cortex, with a duration that depends on the sleep stage before waking

The inverse relationship between response speed and accuracy where faster responses increase errors and slower responses improve precision.

Interference that occurs when conflicting stimuli slow response time

The correlation between scores when the same person takes the same test on different occasions, indicating measurement stability.

The visual area from which information can be extracted in a single glance without eye movements, shrinking with aging and cognitive load.

The progressive decline in sustained attention performance over time, typically becoming pronounced after 15-20 minutes of continuous monitoring.

The brain's system for interpreting and responding to visual information

A cognitive system for temporarily holding and manipulating information

A standard metric for measuring typing speed based on word count per minute

The inverted-U relationship between arousal level and performance, where moderate arousal produces optimal cognitive output.