brain wave
Flash of brilliance
Brain wave has two distinct meanings.
In neuroscience, brain waves are rhythmic electrical impulses produced by the brain, measurable by electroencephalogram: The patient's brain waves showed normal activity during sleep.
In casual use, a brain wave is a sudden clever idea or inspiration: I had a brain wave and figured out how to fix it.
Impulse-conducting cell
- synapseNerve signal crossing point
- cortexOrgan's external tissue
- electroencephalogramBrain wave recording
- EEGNeural activity recording
axon · dendrite · action potential · neural activity · bioelectric · neurophysiology · grey matter · oscillation
Sudden profound insight
- eurekaDiscovery triumph cry
- ahaExclamation of realization
- breakthroughSudden important advance
- realizationGrasping what's true
flash · inspiration · illumination · revelation · brainstorm · lightbulb moment · idea · stroke of genius
Mental formation
- cognitionMental knowledge acquisition
- reflectionReturned light or thought
- contemplationSustained reflective attention
- ponderingThinking deeply about something
reasoning · concept · imagination · meditation · speculation · deliberation · thinking · abstraction
neuron
Impulse-conducting cell
- synapseNerve signal crossing point
- cortexOrgan's external tissue
- electroencephalogramBrain wave recording
EEG · axon · dendrite · action potential · neural activity · bioelectric · neurophysiology · grey matter · oscillation · frequency
epiphany
Sudden profound insight
- eurekaDiscovery triumph cry
- ahaExclamation of realization
- breakthroughSudden important advance
realization · flash · inspiration · illumination · revelation · brainstorm · lightbulb moment · idea · stroke of genius · intuition
idea
Mental formation
- cognitionMental knowledge acquisition
- reflectionReturned light or thought
- contemplationSustained reflective attention
pondering · reasoning · concept · imagination · meditation · speculation · deliberation · thinking · abstraction · mindfulness
- braincerebrum, cerebellum, cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus
- neuroimagingfunctional MRI, fMRI, voxel, voxels, MRI
- Mind/Thought Idiomstrain of thought, food for thought, brainstorm, think tank, mental block
- wavesripples, wavefront, surf, tsunami, ripple
- brain scienceneurons, synapses, neuron, cortex, neuropsychology
- neurologyneuron, neurons, synapse, synapses, axon
brain wavemental block
Inability to retrieve thoughts
blank mind · mind blank · brain freeze · brain fog · drawing a blank