diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Flow/BrainNode.tsx b/frontend/src/components/Flow/BrainNode.tsx
index 7645435..231a8b9 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/Flow/BrainNode.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Flow/BrainNode.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { Handle, type NodeProps, Position } from "@xyflow/react"
-import { memo, useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react"
+import { type CSSProperties, memo, useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react"
 
 import { duration } from "@/lib/motion"
 import { cn } from "@/lib/utils"
@@ -72,14 +72,16 @@ function BrainNodeComponent({ data }: NodeProps) {
     return () => clearTimeout(timer)
   }, [emits])
 
+  // The neuron's two bands in pixels: the ring, and the gap the arc runs in.
+  const ring = Math.round(size * RING)
+  const gap = Math.round(size * GAP)
+
   return (
-    // The pulse ring measures itself from here rather than from the neuron, so
-    // the thick status ring stays clear of it — see `.node-pulse` in flow.css.
+    // The pulse ring measures itself from here rather than from the neuron:
+    // `inset` on an absolute child resolves against the padding box, so an arc
+    // measured from the neuron would start inside its border rather than at the
+    // rim — see `.node-pulse` in flow.css.
     <span className="relative flex rounded-full">
-      {/* Remounting on each emit is what restarts the animation, so this is
-          gated on the pulse rather than on the count: a neuron mounting with a
-          count already in the store would otherwise play it once for free. */}
-      {firing ? <span key={emits} className="node-pulse" /> : null}
       <span
         className={cn(
           "brain-cell relative flex items-center justify-center rounded-full",
@@ -96,8 +98,8 @@ function BrainNodeComponent({ data }: NodeProps) {
         style={{
           width: size,
           height: size,
-          borderWidth: Math.round(size * RING),
-          boxShadow: `inset 0 0 0 ${Math.round(size * GAP)}px var(--brain-gap)`,
+          borderWidth: ring,
+          boxShadow: `inset 0 0 0 ${gap}px var(--brain-gap)`,
         }}
         title={`${label} · ${kind} · ${members.join(", ")}${issue ? ` · ${issue}` : ""}${failure ? ` · ${failure}` : ""}`}
       >
@@ -153,6 +155,23 @@ function BrainNodeComponent({ data }: NodeProps) {
           ) : null}
         </span>
       </span>
+      {/* Remounting on each emit is what restarts the animation, so this is
+          gated on the pulse rather than on the count: a neuron mounting with a
+          count already in the store would otherwise play it once for free.
+          After the neuron rather than before it: the arc runs in the gap the
+          neuron paints, and an earlier sibling would be painted over. */}
+      {firing ? (
+        <span
+          key={emits}
+          className="node-pulse"
+          style={
+            {
+              "--node-pulse-inset": `${ring}px`,
+              "--node-pulse-band": `${gap}px`,
+            } as CSSProperties
+          }
+        />
+      ) : null}
     </span>
   )
 }
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Flow/flow.css b/frontend/src/components/Flow/flow.css
index a20575c..faef60b 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/Flow/flow.css
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Flow/flow.css
@@ -133,13 +133,15 @@
    * is what lets one rule fit both a rounded card and a circle.
    *
    * The band is the padding: the content box is cut back out of the mask, which
-   * leaves a ring rather than the filled shape the gradient paints.
+   * leaves a ring rather than the filled shape the gradient paints. Both are
+   * overridable, for a node whose own bands say where the arc belongs — the
+   * brain's neuron runs it in the gap between its ring and its disc.
    */
   .node-pulse {
     position: absolute;
-    inset: -4px;
+    inset: var(--node-pulse-inset, -4px);
     border-radius: inherit;
-    padding: 2px;
+    padding: var(--node-pulse-band, 2px);
     pointer-events: none;
     background: conic-gradient(
       from var(--node-pulse-angle),
@@ -243,7 +245,7 @@
  */
 .react-flow.brain-flat {
   --xy-background-color: transparent;
-  --brain-decay: 90s;
+  --brain-decay: 150s;
   /*
    * Thicker than the editor's, to match the weight the mark draws them at — and
    * the pulse widens with it, or a message would leave its edge looking thinner
@@ -381,7 +383,7 @@
  * from another.
  */
 .brain-wire {
-  --brain-ink: color-mix(in srgb, var(--foreground) 32%, transparent);
+  --brain-ink: color-mix(in srgb, var(--foreground) 16%, transparent);
 }
 
 .brain-wire.brain-idle {