Our brain’s organization is firstly influenced by genetics and then by experience.  Our experience influences which genes are actually expressed (Siegel, 1999). We constantly have inner and outer experiences that neurons, forming synaptic connections with each other, send to the brain.  They are carried by energy (electrical firing) and information (mental representations that happen with the firing).

All parts of an experience gather in a neural net, that encodes that event (this is how memories are formed).  When one strand of that net is activated by current experience, it is likely the whole net will be activated (this is remembering). Remembering playing ball with your father on a sunny day, you may feel the warmth of this connection, the sensations in your body as you remember throwing the ball, the laughter shared, etc. Thoughts, images, feelings,  body sensations and personal connections tend to flow together. (Badenoch, 2008)