Retrieval of a memory works by reactivating a pattern of firing in a population of neurons. Suppose
someone starts telling you about another concert that is similar to the one you went to, perhaps
because the bands played the same kind of music. Hearing about the new concert may produce a
pattern of firing in roughly the same populations of neurons that encoded the various aspects of the old
concert. The newly generated pattern of firing will then generate additional neural activity by virtue
of synaptic connections, possibly producing a pattern of firing that is roughly similar to your original
experience. That activation of a firing pattern of neurons constitutes your recalling the memory.