The Right Answer

This is a Vocabulary in Context question as indicated by the quotes around the word in question (temporal) and the phrase "most nearly means." These questions can be tricky because they often choose words with MULTIPLE meanings -- like temporal.

the different meanings of "temporal"
- Meaning 1: secular (not religious)
- Meaning 2: corporeal (related to the body)
- Meaning 3: terrestrial (of this Earth)
- Meaning 4: related to time

So how do we find the right answer?! We choose the answer that has evidence from the passage. Notice how the passage uses words like "precede," "sequence," and "hundreds of milliseconds." This all supports the idea that "temporal" is "related to time."

Thus, the correct answer is E, chronological.

The Wrong Answers

secular: we have no evidence about the religion or the lack thereof in the passage.
mundane: we have no evidence of whether something is boring or "of this earth" in the passage.
numerical: we have no evidence regarding the quantity of something.
physiological: we have no evidence about the form or structure of the human body. In fact, we kind of have evidence of its opposite -- the human mind.