writer’s block

inhibited ability to start or continue working on a piece of writing. Such difficulty is attributed primarily to psychological factors (e.g., fear of failure) but may also result from fatigue or burnout. Suggested remedies often include writing spontaneously about an unrelated topic, doing more reading, and changing something about the physical environment to make it more conducive to writing.

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Psychology term of the day

January 26th 2025

sexually dimorphic nucleus

a nucleus of the central nervous system that differs in size between males and females. In humans, for example, a nucleus in the medial preoptic area of the hypothalamus that synthesizes gonadotropin-releasing hormone tends to be larger and more active in males than in females because gonadotropin release is continuous (it is cyclical in females). In songbirds whose males sing more than females, several brain nuclei associated with both song learning and song production are larger in males than in females.