Brain · video lesson

This brain vocabulary lesson will help you use the words brain box, grey matter, bird-brain, brainwave, brain damage, brain teaser, dementia and psychologist, correctly.

(a) brain box  noun  a very intelligent person

  • Einstein was a real brain box at school.

 

(–) grey matter  uncountable noun  an informal word for your brain

  • Stephen Hawking’s grey matter works better than most other people’s.

 

(a) bird-brain  noun  a stupid person

  • Mozart may have been a bird-brain in the kitchen, but with music he was a genius.

 

(a) brainwave  noun  a very good idea that comes to you suddenly

  • Leonardo da Vinci had many brainwaves.

 

(–) brain damage  uncountable noun  injury to someone’s brain because of an accident or illness

  • Fortunately, Isaac Newton didn’t suffer brain damage when he fell off his horse.

 

(a) brain teaser  noun  a problem or puzzle, especially one designed to be solved as a game

  • John Stuart Mill enjoyed doing brain teasers in the evenings.

 

(–) dementia  uncountable noun  a serious medical condition in old people causing their mental abilities to become worse

  • Although Nikola Tesla stopped working a few years before his death there is no evidence that he suffered from dementia.

 

(a) psychologist  noun  someone who studies how people’s minds work

  • Only an experienced psychologist can understand how the mind of a genius like Michael Faraday works.

 

Now watch the video lesson and then do the Brain · exercise