Two universal functional principles of Adaptive Resonance Theory simulate the brain code of all biological learning and adaptive intelligence. Low level representations of multisensory stimuli in their immediate environmental context are formed on the basis of bottom up activation and under the control of top down matching rules that integrate high level long term traces of contextual configuration. These universal coding principles lead to the establishment of lasting brain signatures of perceptual experience in all living species, from aplysiae to primates. They are revisited in this paper here on the basis of examples drawn from the original code and from some of the most recent related empirical findings on contextual modulation in the brain, highlighting the potential of Grossberg's pioneering insights and groundbreaking theoretical work for intelligent solutions in the domain of developmental and cognitive robotics.