Cognize

cognize \käg-ˈnīz, ˈkäg-ˌ\ transitive verb: know, understand

Etymology: back-formation from cognizance, from Middle English conisaunce, from Anglo-French conissance, from conoistre to know, from Latin cognoscere

It’s a visual cliché to depict the brain as a machine. Cognize reinforces that image with its initial syllable cog-, suggesting the fanciful definition “to set one’s cogs in motion.”