as in incentives
something that arouses action or activity
seeing a Broadway play for the first time was the stimulus for her career in the theater
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Recent Examples of stimuli
Using a mouse model lacking the Cntnap2 gene, scientists recorded heightened activity in the RTN when animals faced stimuli such as light flashes or air puffs.
—
Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 1 Sep. 2025
Six years later, scientists at Yale showed that at the precise moment of conscious awareness of stimuli, a wave of electrical activity flows from the visual cortex located at the rear of the brain to the frontal lobes.
—Big Think, 20 Aug. 2025
Most studies on the human reward system have assumed global sensitivity, which means a person’s capacity to experience pleasure is a unified trait that applies generally to all types of rewarding stimuli.
—Jay Kakade
august 10, New Atlas, 10 Aug. 2025
Over time, the organoid learns to associate certain stimuli with outcomes.
—IEEE Spectrum, 9 Aug. 2025
These tests require researchers to know which patterns of brain activity truly reflect consciousness, because some stimuli can elicit brain responses that occur without awareness.
—Mariana Lenharo & Nature Magazine, Scientific American, 6 Aug. 2025
This barrage of sensory stimuli asks more of our cognition than it is equipped to handle.
—Richard E. Cytowic, TIME, 23 Dec. 2024
Light stimuli might still feel irritating.
—Lauryn Higgins, Flow Space, 16 Dec. 2024
Some runaways may be responding to too much stimuli, Cook adds.
—Amanda Musa, CNN, 15 Dec. 2024
Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 1 Sep. 2025
Six years later, scientists at Yale showed that at the precise moment of conscious awareness of stimuli, a wave of electrical activity flows from the visual cortex located at the rear of the brain to the frontal lobes.
—Big Think, 20 Aug. 2025
Most studies on the human reward system have assumed global sensitivity, which means a person’s capacity to experience pleasure is a unified trait that applies generally to all types of rewarding stimuli.
—Jay Kakade
august 10, New Atlas, 10 Aug. 2025
Over time, the organoid learns to associate certain stimuli with outcomes.
—IEEE Spectrum, 9 Aug. 2025
These tests require researchers to know which patterns of brain activity truly reflect consciousness, because some stimuli can elicit brain responses that occur without awareness.
—Mariana Lenharo & Nature Magazine, Scientific American, 6 Aug. 2025
This barrage of sensory stimuli asks more of our cognition than it is equipped to handle.
—Richard E. Cytowic, TIME, 23 Dec. 2024
Light stimuli might still feel irritating.
—Lauryn Higgins, Flow Space, 16 Dec. 2024
Some runaways may be responding to too much stimuli, Cook adds.
—Amanda Musa, CNN, 15 Dec. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stimuli
Noun
-
The projects received millions in state and local tax incentives after promising to create thousands of new jobs.—
Trevor Hughes,
USA Today,
10 Sep. 2025
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The transparency requirements will improve safety across all frontier models, and without it, companies may face incentives to prioritize growth over safety and transparency, Anthropic added.—
Reed Albergotti,
semafor.com,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Ward and Curlee also started the app Counterbalance, which provides daily encouragements, recipes, community and more.—
Emy LaCroix,
People.com,
16 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stimuli.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stimuli. Accessed 12 Sep. 2025.
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