In Avatar, the Na’vi neural connection used to bond with animals is called tsaheylu. The term describes a biological link made through the queue, a long braid-like neural appendage used by Na’vi and other life on Pandora.
Through tsaheylu, a Na’vi can connect with an animal such as a direhorse or banshee. The bond allows communication and coordinated movement, and the film presents it as a reciprocal biological relationship rather than ordinary riding or verbal control. Jake Sully learns this practice as he becomes more closely involved with Na’vi life.
Tsaheylu is part of Avatar’s constructed Na’vi language, which was developed for the film by linguist Paul Frommer. The terminology is therefore distinct from the scientific names of Pandora’s creatures and from the name Eywa, the spiritual and ecological force revered by the Na’vi.
Viewers sometimes use “neural link” as a general description, but tsaheylu is the specific Na’vi term. The word applies to connections with animals and, in broader contexts, to other living beings or the planetary network.