B

Back propagation

a two stage process in the functioning of a neural network. During the first stage, activation goes forward from the input layer to the output layer. In the second stage, error signals are sent back through the network

Basal ganglia

Masses of grey matter embedded in the white matter of the brain, associated with the control of movement

Behaviorism

A school of thought operating on the principle that the only appropriate subject matter of psychology is behavior, because that is all that can be objectively measured. Mental activity not directly observable or measurable is therefore not an appropriate or useful subject of research

Bilingual

A person who speaks two languages with native fluency

Bipolar disorder

A condition in which a manic state, characterized by, for example, excessive excitability and activity, alternates with depression

Bottom-up approach

The approach (to modelling intelligence) in which the starting point of processing is sensory stimuli rather than a master design, or higher level knowledge (see top-down approach)

Brain mapping

The endeavor to achieve, by means of a variety of techniques, a representation of the components of the surface of the human brain and the structures beneath it, as well as an understanding of the functions performed by these components

Brain plasticity

The ability of areas of the brain to perform functions for which they would not ordinarily have been used, as for example, when the areas usually employed for those functions have been damaged

Broca’ s aphasia

A type of language deficit, caused by a damage to Broca’s area, in which patients omit grammatical elements of sentences and demonstrate difficulty in expressing  themselves in speech

Broca's area

A portion of the left frontal hemisphere of the brain that is crucially involved in the ability to produce spoken language