stimulation

American  

[stim-yuh-ley-shuhn] / ˌstɪm jəˈleɪ ʃən /

noun

• stimulations
  plural

1. the act of exciting a nerve, gland, etc., to its functional activity.

   The fungus is known to have diverse effects on the body, from stimulation of the nervous system to constriction of blood vessels.

2. something that arouses interest, inspiration, or incitement to action.

   Children, with their developing brains, love stimulation and novelty.

3. a cause or incitement.

   Improved rural-urban communication links often act as stimulation for the growth of local towns.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• antistimulation
  noun
• hyperstimulation
  noun
• interstimulation
  noun
• nonstimulation
  noun
• overstimulation
  noun
• prestimulation
  noun
• restimulation
  noun
• self-stimulation
  noun
• superstimulation
  noun
• poststimulation
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• stimulations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of stimulation

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin stimulātiō “incentive”; equivalent to stimulate ( def. ) + -ion ( def. )

Explanation

Stimulation spurs an organism to act. It can also be any specific event that causes someone to do something. Have you ever had a teacher who made you excited about a subject you didn't like before, causing you to study harder and learn more? That teacher must've provided stimulation: through the teacher, you were motivated to give more effort to the class. Like a stimulant, stimulation causes things to happen. A doctor hitting your knee is a type of stimulation that makes your leg jerk up. In zoos, animals are provided with food-based stimulation to make them exercise.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stimulation stimulations

The industry uses the terms “enhanced recovery” and “well stimulation techniques” to describe these controversial methods to extend the life of an oil well.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

She argued that once a threshold of basic safety, nutrition, love, and stimulation was met, the particular details of the style had a very small effect on a child’s personality or intelligence.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

Although the stimulation successfully activated the cells, it did not cause the rats to work harder or show any further rise in motivation.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026

Clinical psychologist Cathy Grant said electrical stimulation briefly stopped Tilly from naming objects, helping surgeons identify tissue that needed to be protected.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

He means that attention allows us, in a “uniquely human” way, to set goals and follow through on them without being distracted by every bit of stimulation around us.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

Electrical stimulations are important first steps towards the team's bigger goal of triggering learning in the biocomputer's neurons so they can eventually adapt to perform tasks.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2025

It turned out that both were equally as sensitive to the strong stimulations.

From Salon ● Dec. 1, 2023

The results of the study show that hearing impairment is associated with regionally specific brain changes that may occur due to sensory deprivation and to the increased effort required to understand auditory processing stimulations.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 21, 2023

Knowing where to direct brain stimulations also does not resolve the question of what frequency to use, scientists said.

From New York Times ● Jun. 13, 2022

In other words, the seed reacts upon the external stimulations of water, heat, and light, and manifests the activity known as growth, or development.

From Ontario Normal School Manuals: Science of Education by Ontario. Ministry of Education

Related Words

• incentive
• stimulant