Neuroscience Catalog
75 terms across 12 themes — every definition in the Atlas sourced from this manual, with executive examples and counter-moves.
Naming an emotion reduces its intensity.
Cumulative physiological wear from chronic stress.
Emotional override of rational processing.
Brain region tracking conflict, error, and effort.
We treat AI as more humanlike than it is.
Attention is the most contested resource in modern work.
Task switches leave cognitive residue that degrades performance.
Self-direction is one of the deepest motivational levers.
Willpower fails; structure works.
Boredom triggers creative wandering.
How options are presented changes which ones get chosen.
Too many options produces worse decisions and less satisfaction.
Cognitive performance varies predictably with circadian rhythm.
Most biases are efficient heuristics misapplied.
Working memory has limits.
Outsourcing thinking to tools shifts what we remember and learn.
Pausing System 1 to engage System 2.
Stress hormone with cognitive and immune-system consequences.
Familiar information feels true.
Decision quality degrades over the course of a day.
Defaults bypass active cognition.
Brain network active during rest and mind-wandering — and during creative insight.
Glucose, omega-3s, sleep, and hydration each influence decision quality.
Multitasking measurably degrades performance.
Neurotransmitter of anticipation, not pleasure.
Two ways of thinking, both real, both useful, often mis-deployed.
Self-control draws from a limited daily pool. (Contested in lab; observed in life.)
Thinking happens through the body, not despite it.
Emotions spread through groups via micro-cues.
Empathy: feel with. Compassion: act for. Different neural circuits.
Aerobic exercise measurably improves executive function.
Doing something for an external reward.
Neurological state of peak performance and engagement.
Two modes the brain alternates between.
Living systems minimize surprise to survive.
Believing abilities can be developed.
Cue → routine → reward.
New habits anchored to existing ones stick faster.
Repeated stimuli produce diminishing response.
We return to a baseline of well-being after gains or losses.
Threats to identity activate strong defensive responses.
Subjective feeling of not deserving one's success.
Brain region tracking internal state and gut feeling.
Doing something because the doing is the reward.
Neural mechanism of learning — connections strengthened by repeated activation.
Loss processed more intensely than equivalent gain.
The drive to get better at things that matter.
Memories are reconstructed each time we recall them, not retrieved intact.
Neurons that fire both when acting and when observing the action.
Bad lands harder than good in the brain.
The brain reshapes itself based on use.
Adding external rewards reduces intrinsic motivation.
Neurochemistry of trust, bonding, and in-group loyalty.
Autonomic nervous system shapes safety, threat, and connection responses.
Short focused intervals + breaks outperform marathon sessions.
The brain is a prediction engine; surprise is the signal to update.
The shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.
Meaning beyond the task multiplies motivation.
Frequency and variability of reward shape behavior strongly.
The brain rewards the gap between expectation and outcome.
Brain system that decides what's important right now.
Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, Fairness — drivers of social brain response.
Humans need autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
Belief in one's ability to execute.
Repeated stimuli sometimes produce stronger response.
Memory and skill consolidate during sleep.
Social rejection activates the same brain regions as physical pain.
Spread learning over time for stronger retention.
Brain weights existing state heavily.
Threats to status trigger the same neural alarm as physical threats.
Fast intuitive vs. slow deliberative thinking.
Modeling what others think, feel, and intend.
Under threat, the prefrontal cortex goes offline.
Trust deepens when people can admit weakness without penalty.
Limited capacity holding-tank for current information.