countercompulsion

n. a compulsion that is secondarily developed to resist the original compulsion when the latter cannot be continued. The new compulsion then replaces the original so that the compulsive behavior can continue.

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Psychology term of the day

March 17th 2025

end plate

a specialized region of a muscle-cell membrane that faces the terminus of a motor neuron within a neuromuscular junction. The depolarization that is induced in this muscular region when stimulated by a neurotransmitter released from the adjacent motor neuron terminus is called the end-plate potential (EPP). A very small variation in this potential due to the random release of tiny amounts of a neurotransmitter at an axon terminal is called a miniature end-plate potential. Also called motor end plate.