Neural means relating to nerves or the nervous system, especially the network of cells in your brain and body that carry messages and help you think, feel, and move.

Your brain contains billions of neural pathways: routes that electrical signals travel along to make everything happen, from remembering your best friend's birthday to pulling your hand away from something hot. Scientists study neural activity to understand how we learn, remember things, and even why we dream. When you practice the piano, you're strengthening neural connections that help your fingers remember where to go.

Doctors might talk about neural disorders when something affects how nerves work. Computer scientists borrowed the term for “neural networks,” computer programs designed to learn the way brains do by forming connections between pieces of information.

When you learn something new, whether it's long division or how to skateboard, you're literally building new neural pathways in your brain. The more you practice, the stronger those pathways become, which is why difficult things get easier with repetition. Your brain is constantly rewiring its neural networks based on what you experience and learn.