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Encoding

Encoding

Information enters the brain through encoding, which is the input of information into the memory system. Once sensory information is received from the environment, the brain labels or codes it. The information is then organized with similar information and connected to existing concepts. Encoding occurs through automatic processing and effortful processing.
Automatic processing involves the encoding of details like time, space, frequency, and the meaning of words, usually done without conscious...

Storage

Storage

A schema is a mental framework that helps individuals organize and interpret information. Schemata, formed from previous experiences, influence how we process new information: how we encode it, the inferences we make, and how we retrieve it. For instance, a schema for what a typical classroom looks like might include desks, a teacher's desk, a whiteboard, and students in such an environment. This expectation helps us quickly understand and navigate new classrooms without needing to analyze...

Vision

Vision

Vision is the result of light being detected and transduced into neural signals by the retina of the eye. This information is then further analyzed and interpreted by the brain. First, light enters the front of the eye and is focused by the cornea and lens onto the retina—a thin sheet of neural tissue lining the back of the eye. Because of refraction through the convex lens of the eye, images are projected onto the retina upside-down and reversed.

Visual System

Visual System

Light enters the eye through the cornea, a transparent, dome-shaped surface covering the surface of the eyeball that helps to direct and focus incoming light. This light is then channeled toward the pupil, an adjustable opening whose size is controlled by the iris. The iris, a pigmented muscle, regulates the amount of light entering the eye by contracting or dilating the pupil, thereby ensuring optimal light levels for clear vision.
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...

Anatomy of the Eyeball

Anatomy of the Eyeball

The eye is a spherical, hollow structure composed of three tissue layers. The outer layer — the fibrous tunic, comprises the sclera — a white structure — and the cornea, which is transparent. The sclera encompasses some of the ocular surface, most of which is not visible. However, the 'white of the eye' is distinctively visible in humans compared to other species. The cornea, a clear covering at the front of the eye, enables light penetration. The eye's middle...

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex

The cerebral cortex, the brain's outermost layer, is pivotal in processing complex cognitive tasks, emotions, and various sensory inputs and executing voluntary motor activities. This intricate structure is divided into three primary functional areas: the motor areas, sensory areas, and association areas.
Motor Areas
The motor areas located in the frontal lobe are central to controlling voluntary movements. This region is further subdivided into the primary motor cortex and the premotor cortex....

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 27, 2025

Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings

Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings

Published on: August 1, 2018

Distinct Representational Structure and Localization for Visual Encoding and Recall during Visual Imagery.

Wilma A Bainbridge^1,2, Elizabeth H Hall^2,3,4, Chris I Baker²

¹Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.

Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)

|December 7, 2020

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Visual recall differs from memory encoding, with recall primarily using coarse-level information and distinct neural patterns. This challenges the idea of simple neural echo during memory retrieval.

Keywords:

7T fMRI encoding–recall similarity objects representational similarity analyses scenes

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Last Updated: Nov 27, 2025

Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings

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Published on: August 1, 2018

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices

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Published on: January 22, 2018

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotional Autobiographical Recollection

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Published on: August 26, 2011

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Neuroimaging

Background:

Memory recall and visual imagery are theorized to involve neural pattern reinstatement from encoding.
Previous research has not fully bridged the gap between broad and specific information levels in recall traces.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the granularity of information represented during visual recall compared to encoding.
To compare neural patterns during encoding and recall across different levels of detail.

Main Methods:

Utilized ultra-high-field (7T) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
Employed an item-based visual recall task with varying levels of detail (coarse, mid, fine).
Analyzed neural information decodability during encoding and subsequent visual recall.

Main Results:

Encoding showed decodable information at all granularity levels within visual cortex.
Recall primarily contained coarse-level information, with some fine-level details, but lacked mid-level information.
Found segregation between encoding and recall-dominant brain areas, with similarity peaks anterior to category-selective cortex.

Conclusions:

Visual recall is not a direct reactivation of encoding patterns.
Recall exhibits a distinct representational structure and neural localization compared to encoding.
Despite some overlap, recall involves a modified neural representation of encoded information.