Spoilers: Not like a filing cabinet.
First, how it doesn’t work: like a filing cabinet. When you think of your dog, areas from all parts of your brain light up. What comes to mind are signals like how he looks, smells, his name, things he does, emotions he makes you feel, common behavior you and he do. All areas of the brain are involved and they all work together. They are kept in sync using theta waves.
The Hippocampus is the brain’s memory center.
The connections between neurons are made each time you encounter something new, the forming of these connections is neural plasticity. The connections between existing neurons is strengthened when signals are sent between them. The more often the synapse fires, the better the connection.
👉🏻 Novel experiences or behaviors cause new dendrites to form. Whereas repetition of existing behaviors/experiences cause existing dendrites to become more entrenched.
Neurotransmitters are released when synapses fire.