Blog Post Image: Subconscious mental categories help brain sort through everyday experiences

The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging to observe brain activity as participants viewed the symbol sequences. Images in the same community produced similar activity (above, grouped by community color) in neuron groups at the border of the brain’s frontal and temporal lobes, a region involved in processing meaning. At the same time, different neural groups activated when a symbol from a different community appeared, which was interpreted as a new event. The researchers interpreted this activity as the brain associating the images with one another, and therefore as one event. (Image courtesy of Anna Schapiro)