Glossary of Terms

Aileron: An aerodynamic panel at the rear of the wing that regulates banking.

 

Amygdalae: Two complex almond-shaped brain structures responsible for the release of stress hormones.

 

Attunement: Communication by the imaginary or the physical matching of another’s activity, body language, facial expression, and prosody.

 

Avoidant Attachment: Characterized by a pervasive pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, extreme sensitivity to negative evaluation, and avoidance of social interaction.

 

Benzodiazepines: A class of sedative medication.

 

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): An approach that seeks to reduce anxiety by replacing irrational or unrealistic thoughts with rational ones.

 

Dihedral: The upward angle at which the wing is attached to the fuselage.

 

Dysregulate: Impairment of a physiological regulatory mechanism.

 

Executive Function: High-level cognition; makes assessments, builds plans, and commits to actions.

 

Fuselage: The central body of the aircraft to which the wings and tail are attached.

 

Homeostasis: A state of internal equilibrium.

 

Orbitofrontal Cortex: Located in the frontal lobes, it is involved in the cognitive process of decision making.

 

Oxytocin: An anti-stress neuropeptide that inhibits stress hormone release.

 

Phobia: A disorder in which emotion is not well-regulated, causing fear of emotional overwhelm, or fear disproportional to risk.

 

Prefrontal Cortex: The region of the brain responsible for Executive Function; the CEO of the brain.

 

Processing: That which takes place below consciousness.

 

Psychic Equivalence: When what is in the mind or imagination and what is real are experienced as the same.

 

Reflective Function: The ability to critique and correct one’s own mental processes, as well as to mentally simulate the mind of another person.

 

Satisfices: A term that suggests less-than-absolute certainty suffices and satisfies.

 

Synapses; Synaptic: The point at which electrical or chemical connections take place in the brain.

 

Venous Thromboembolism (VTE): The blocking of blood flow in a vein.