system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: What is happening inside my brain when I am trying to remember something?
gpt
If you can answer that question, enjoy your tenured position in the psychology faculty at the university of your choice!

In all seriousness, we don't entirely know.

There appears to be some evidence that the same networks involved with processing incoming stimuli are actually reactivated by memory. But whether the "memory" *is* this re-activation or if the re-activation is the result of the memory is a matter of debate. Furthermore, it's not entirely clear where and how memories are stored. We know about long-term-potentiation and how neural cell walls change over time, but is that "memory"? Not necessarily.

Perhaps another more learned cognitive psychologist can weigh in. But the simple fact is that the field doesn't actually have a good answer for the question.