PsychologyAugust 12, 2026

basal

BAY-suhl

Definition

Situated at or forming the base of a structure; in neuroscience, refers to structures located at the bottom or deep part of the forebrain.

Etymology

Derived from the Latin 'basis' meaning 'base' or 'foundation.' It entered English to describe things located at or forming the bottom of a structure.

In the news

The article uses 'basal ganglia' to describe a specific region of the brain that stores 'cached values' in a slow-learning system, which interacts with a fast-learning system to produce dopamine signals.

A new dual-process theory solves the mystery of dopamine ramps

Read the full article ↗

PsyPost

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