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thalamic sensory gating

adjustment by the thalamus of the brain’s responses to stimuli. The thalamus functions as a conduit, but it also serves as a gatekeeper for most of the sensory input flowing into the brain. This gate is managed by alterations in various neurotransmitter systems, thereby restricting or expanding the flow of afferent stimuli back to the rest of the brain. For example, if the brain is getting more than it needs of a stimulus, the thalamus makes adjustments to reduce the stimulation.

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Psychology term of the day

May 8th 2024

mental chemistry

mental chemistry

a concept proposed by John Stuart Mill as an alternative to the mental mechanics described by his father, James Mill. The concept is modeled on a common phenomenon in physical chemistry, in which two chemical substances combine to form a compound with properties not present in either of the components. Similarly, Mill held that compound ideas were not merely combinations of simpler ideas but that they possessed other qualities not present in any of the constituent ideas. Thus, such an idea could be an essentially new one. See associationism; association of ideas.