(NOO.roh.bab.ul)
n.
Neurological jargon used inaccurately or simplistically.
Example Citation:
The cop, trying to keep abreast of scientific efforts to understand Tourette's, refers to a Dateline NBC segment that "explained how, like, there's a short in the chemical relay system from the brain to the body, and, you know, whenever the pressure builds up, there's your twitch, jerk, whatever. So we liked it and we got a copy of the show through our Tourette's association."
Price gets today's neurocentric view right on two counts. We're all becoming increasingly fluent in a sort of street neurology: "Whenever the pressure builds up, there's your twitch, jerk, whatever." When psychology ruled, psychobabble was plentiful. The rise of neurology is likewise echoed by neurobabble.
— Harvey Blume, "Neuro-narratives," The American Prospect, May 22, 2000
Earliest Citation:
The saddest aspect of this neurobabble is that it may leave the impression that serious neuroscientists actually think the way these books' authors write.
— Laurence Miller, "Megabrain: new tools and techniques for brain growth and mind expansion" (book review), Psychology Today, April, 1986
Notes:
This word is closely related to the original "babble" term, psychobabble, which entered the language in 1976 and entered the mainstream in 1977 with the publication of Richard Rosen's classic book, Psychobabble.
Related Words:
Categories:
New words. 2013.