engram
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See also: Engram
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Borrowed from German Engramm which was coined by German evolutionary biologist Richard Semon in 1904.[1] First attested in English in 1921 (see quotation below). Ultimately from Ancient Greek ἐν (en, “in”) + γράμμα (grámma, “writing, picture”).[2]
Pronunciation
Noun
engram (plural engrams)
- A postulated physical or biochemical change in neural tissue that represents a memory.
- 1921 January, Richard Semon, “II (Engraphic Action of Stimuli on the Individual)”, in Louis Simon, transl., The Mneme, Cornell University Library, published 2005, page 24:
- I use the word engram to denote this permanent change wrought by a stimulus; the sum of such engrams in an organism may be called its "engram-store," among which must distinguish inherited from acquired engrams.
- (Scientology) A painful, negative mental image representing a past event.
Derived terms
Translations
postulated change in neural tissue
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Scientology: negative mental image
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References
- ^ Semon, Richard (1908) “Engraphische Wirkung der Reize auf das Individuum [Engraphic Effect of Stimuli on the Individual]”, in Die Mneme: Als Erhaltendes Prinzip Im Wechsel Des Organischen Geschehens, 2nd edition (overall work in German), Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, →OCLC, page 22: “Die so bewirkte Veränderung der organischen Substanz bezeichne ich als das Engramm des betreffenden Reizes, und die Summe der Engramme, die ein Organismus besitzt, als seinen Engrammschatz, wobei ein ererbter von einem individuell erworbenen Engrammschatz zu unterscheiden ist.”
- ^ “engram” in Duden online