fibromyalgia

n. a syndrome of uncertain origin that is characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain and chronic fatigue. Pain may be triggered by pressure on numerous tender points on the body. Other commonly associated symptoms are muscle stiffness, headaches, sleep disturbance, and depression. Symptoms overlap with those of chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia often occurs simultaneously with other disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome and migraine. The condition was formerly called fibromyositis–fibromyalgia syndrome. See also chronic myofascial pain.

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Psychology term of the day

May 9th 2024

state space

1. a graphical representation used to characterize game playing and other search-based problem solving. A state space has four components: (a) a set of nodes or states, (b) a set of arcs linking subsets of the nodes, (c) a nonempty set of nodes indicated as the start nodes of the space, and (d) a nonempty set of goal nodes of the space. The goal nodes are identified by either a property of the state itself (e.g., a checkmate) or a property of the path leading to the goal state (e.g., the shortest path). An architecture such as a production system or classifier system can generate a state-space search. Computational state-space analysis and computer simulations of problem solving often are used as well in the study of how people pursue goal-directed behavior. See also graph; search; tree.

2. multidimensional space, particularly as related to the depiction of the results of classification methods used to group objects with similar characteristics and patterns of behavior.