memory trace

American  

noun

Psychology.

1. engram.

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memory trace British  

noun

1. psychol the hypothetical structural alteration in brain cells following learning See also engram

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Etymology

Origin of memory trace

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

"Your brain stores a memory trace for different configurations of the cube, and it can run through different configurations to predict which will have the best outcome."

From BBC

Rather the very notion of environment is fully humanized through the dynamics of the memory traces that humans leave behind to be processed by shamans.

From Scientific American

In a new study, researchers showed for the first time that—just as the brain remembers people, places, smells, and so on—it also stores what they call “memory traces” of the body’s past infections.

From Scientific American

That’s only a partial list, and these “offices” persist, at least as latent possibilities and memory traces, at every performance of “Hamilton” or “Our Town.”

From New York Times

To psychologists, this is called “retrieval practice” and it is one of the most reliable ways of building stronger memory traces.

From The Guardian