one's mind; in one's head
Refers to the mind as the place where memories, images, or thoughts reside; often used in phrases like 脳裏に浮かぶ (come to mind) or 脳裏をよぎる (flash through one's mind).
That scene is still burned into my mind.
Suddenly, the face of an old friend came to mind.
Her final words still remain vividly in my mind.
I engraved that scene in my mind.
The footage of that accident won't leave my mind.
心 centers on emotions and spirit, whereas 脳裏 focuses on the cognitive or visual side of thinking, as in something flashing through one's mind.
念頭 is used for deliberately keeping something in mind (念頭に置く), while 脳裏 describes images or thoughts that spontaneously appear (脳裏に浮かぶ).
頭脳 shares the kanji 脳 with 脳裏 but means brainpower or intellectual ability, not the mental space where images and memories appear.
Standard kanji spelling; common in news and literary contexts.
Rarely used variant kanji form; 裏 is the standard character.
Compound of 脳 (brain) and 裏 (back, inside), literally 'the back of the brain' or 'inside the brain', used figuratively for the mind's eye or mental space.