Scientists have long searched in vain for a class of brain cells that could explain the visceral flash of recognition that we feel when we see a very familiar face, like that of our grandmothers.
But the proposed “grandmother neuron” – a single cell at the crossroads of sensory perception and memory, capable of prioritizing an important face over the rabble – remained elusive.
Now, new research reveals a class of neurons in the brain’s temporal pole region that links face perception to long-term memory. It’s not quite the apocryphal grandmother neuron – rather than a single cell, it’s a population of cells that collectively remembers grandma’s face. [Read more…] about Scientists discover a new class of memory cells in the brain
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