BRAIN WAVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does brain wave mean? 

• BRAIN WAVE (noun)
  The noun BRAIN WAVE has 1 sense:

1. (neurophysiology) rapid fluctuations of voltage between parts of the cerebral cortex that are detectable with an electroencephalograph

  Familiarity information: BRAIN WAVE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BRAIN WAVE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(neurophysiology) rapid fluctuations of voltage between parts of the cerebral cortex that are detectable with an electroencephalograph

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

brain wave; brainwave; cortical potential

Hypernyms ("brain wave" is a kind of...):

bioelectricity (electric phenomena in animals or plants)

Domain category:

neurophysiology (the branch of neuroscience that studies the physiology of the nervous system)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "brain wave"):

alpha rhythm; alpha wave (the normal brainwave in the electroencephalogram of a person who is awake but relaxed; occurs with a frequency of 8-12 hertz)

beta rhythm; beta wave (the normal brainwave in the encephalogram of a person who is awake and alert; occurs with a frequency between 12 and 30 hertz)

delta rhythm; delta wave (the normal brainwave in the encephalogram of a person in deep dreamless sleep; occurs with high voltage and low frequency (1 to 4 hertz))

theta rhythm; theta wave (the normal brainwave in the encephalogram of a person who is awake but relaxed and drowsy; occurs with low frequency and low amplitude)

 Context examples 

Second, by looking at the brain waves, Dr. Bönstrup found activity patterns that suggested the volunteers’ brains were consolidating, or solidifying, memories during the rest periods.

(Brains may use short rest periods to strengthen memories, National Institutes of Health)

Since spindles can be detected noninvasively with EEG, a test that measures brain waves, the authors suggest that these findings may also be useful for diagnosing temporal lobe epilepsy.

(Seizures disrupt memory network, NIH)

We can find out if two people are having a conversation solely by analysing their brain waves.

(Our Brains Synchronize during A Conversation, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Mothers’ and babies’ brains can work together as a ‘mega-network’ by synchronising brain waves when they interact.

(Mothers’ and babies’ brains ‘more in tune’ when mother is happy, University of Cambridge)

Gentle sound stimulation — such as the rush of a waterfall — synchronized to the rhythm of brain waves significantly enhanced deep sleep in older adults and improved their ability to recall words.

(Sound Waves Boost Older Adult' Memory, Deep Sleep, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

A rare childhood syndrome characterized by the progressive or sudden inability to understand and use spoken language (aphasia) and paroxysmal electrical brain waves.

(Landau-Kleffner Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

It first occurs about 90 minutes after falling asleep and is characterized by darting eyes, raised heart rates, paralyzed limbs, awakened brain waves and dreaming.

(The brain may actively forget during dream sleep, National Institutes of Health)

These changes only happened during the breaks and were the only brain wave patterns that correlated with performance.

(Brains may use short rest periods to strengthen memories, National Institutes of Health)

They found that mums and babies tend to synchronise their brain waves – an effect known as interpersonal neural connectivity - particularly in the frequency of 6-9 hertz, the infant alpha range.

(Mothers’ and babies’ brains ‘more in tune’ when mother is happy, University of Cambridge)

But after looking at brain waves recorded from healthy volunteers in learning and memory experiments, she started to question the idea.

(Brains may use short rest periods to strengthen memories, National Institutes of Health)