traveling wave
- noun
- /ˈtrævəlɪŋ weɪv/
- Specialized
:
onda viajera
- Traveling waves in the brain's cortex can influence how we process information and respond to stimuli.
Examples
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Then the Texas team ramped up the amplitude of a time-dependent modulation of the lattice's potential wells, causing the atoms to move in one direction, much like a traveling wave.
Academic text (2001) -
Researchers have discovered that traveling waves can synchronize neural activity across different areas of the brain.
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So if if the ear were to receive a high frequency sound, that travelling wave would peak near the base.
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OK, so this traveling waves in the cochlea.
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The presence of traveling waves is crucial for effective communication between various regions of the brain.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase straightforwardly combines 'traveling' (moving) and 'wave' (a propagating disturbance) to mean a wave that moves or propagates, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the basic meaning. Although the term is used in a technical neuroscience context with specialized implications, the compositional logic is transparent and cross-linguistically common.
Etymology
Traveling wave in the brain borrows the same picture of a ripple moving across water. traveling means moving and wave is the ripple, so the term names a pattern of nerve signals that moves across parts of the brain, or 'a wave that moves'.
