engram

[ en-gram ]

/ ˈɛn græm /

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noun

a presumed encoding in neural tissue that provides a physical basis for the persistence of memory; a memory trace.

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Also called trace.

Origin of engram

First recorded in 1905–10; en-² + -gram¹

OTHER WORDS FROM engram

en·gram·mic, adjective

Words nearby engram

engraft, engrail, engrailed, engrain, engrained, engram, engrave, engraver beetle, engraver's trick, engraving, engross

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use engram in a sentence

How neurons become part of a memory engram remained a mystery until recently.
How technology can let us see and manipulate memories|Joshua Sariñana|August 25, 2021|MIT Technology Review
Today, neuroscientists can manipulate memory engrams by artificially activating their underlying networks and inserting new information.
How technology can let us see and manipulate memories|Joshua Sariñana|August 25, 2021|MIT Technology Review
With this technology, which was pioneered by researchers at Stanford almost two decades ago, neuroscientists can artificially activate memory engram cells in lab animals.
How technology can let us see and manipulate memories|Joshua Sariñana|August 25, 2021|MIT Technology Review
An engram is stored within a network of connected neurons, and neurons holding the engram can be made to glow so that they are visible through special microscopes.
How technology can let us see and manipulate memories|Joshua Sariñana|August 25, 2021|MIT Technology Review

Right after the memory formed, there weren’t huge differences in how the engram cells expressed their genes.
Brain Cell DNA Refolds Itself to Aid Memory Recall|Elena Renken|November 2, 2020|Quanta Magazine
Semon's "engram" is formed by all that we experience at one time.
The Analysis of Mind|Bertrand Russell
Similarly, the engram of the ecphoriated dichotomy is most often that which has been previously most often repeated.
The Sexual Question|August Forel
Thus the tactile engram will be ecphoriated by the repetition of the original associated irritation.
The Sexual Question|August Forel
As we have indicated in our comparison, every suggestion which has succeeded leaves a strong trace, or engram, in the brain.
The Sexual Question|August Forel
These two laws together represent in part a hypothesis (the engram), and in part an observable fact.
The Analysis of Mind|Bertrand Russell

British Dictionary definitions for engram

engram

/ (ˈɛnɡræm) /

noun

psychol the physical basis of an individual memory in the brainSee also memory trace

Derived forms of engram

engrammic or engrammatic, adjective

Word Origin for engram

C20: from German Engramm, from Greek en- in + gramma letter

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012