y ▁ag ing ▁and ▁lif el ong ▁learning . ▁ ▁The ories ▁ ▁Sh im am ura ▁developed ▁a ▁broad ▁theoretical ▁framework ▁that ▁integr ates ▁memory ▁encoding , ▁storage , ▁and ▁retr ieval . ▁Sh im am ura ▁( 2 0 0 0 ) ▁defined ▁encoding ▁in ▁terms ▁of ▁dynamic ▁filtering ▁theory , ▁which ▁describes ▁the ▁role ▁of ▁the ▁pre front al ▁cor tex ▁in ▁met ac ogn itive ▁or ▁executive ▁control ▁processes . ▁The ▁pre front al ▁cor tex ▁acts ▁as ▁a ▁high - level ▁g ating ▁or ▁filtering ▁mechanism ▁that ▁enh ances ▁goal - direct ed ▁activ ations ▁and ▁in hib its ▁irrelevant ▁activ ations . ▁This ▁filtering ▁mechanism ▁gu ides ▁executive ▁control ▁at ▁various ▁levels ▁of ▁processing , ▁including ▁selecting , ▁maintain ing , ▁updating , ▁and ▁r er out ing ▁activ ations , ▁thus ▁allowing ▁us ▁to ▁select ▁relevant ▁s ights , ▁sounds , ▁and ▁thoughts . ▁ ▁It ▁has ▁long ▁been ▁established ▁that ▁the ▁med ial ▁temporal ▁lo be ▁( MT L ) ▁is ▁critical ▁for ▁memory ▁storage . ▁In ▁ 2 0 1 0 , ▁Sh im am ura ▁proposed ▁hier arch ical ▁rel ational ▁binding ▁theory , ▁which ▁offers ▁a ▁new ▁interpretation ▁of ▁the ▁role ▁of ▁the ▁M TL ▁in ▁memory ▁storage . ▁It ▁is ▁proposed ▁that ▁regions ▁within ▁the ▁M TL ▁conform ▁to ▁a ▁hier arch ical ▁network ▁with ▁the ▁hi pp oc amp us ▁at ▁the ▁top ▁of ▁the ▁hierarchy . ▁Bind ings ▁that ▁occur ▁at ▁the ▁level ▁of ▁the ▁hi pp oc amp