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Concept Cells Help Your Brain Abstract Information and Build Memories | Quanta Magazine

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New studies suggest concept cells may be central to how we form and retrieve memory.

For decades , neuroscientists mocked the idea that the brain could have such selectivity, down to the level of an individual neuron.

Concept neurons fire for their concept no matter how it is presented, in real life or a photo.

In 2000 , researchers reported that individual neurons seemed to represent broad categories, such as faces, scenes, houses or animals.

The results suggested that something like grandmother cells might exist, but only if these cells were responding to more than the images alone.

In 2005 , the team published their results in Nature , and the cells became known colloquially as “ Jennifer Aniston cells”.

Concept cells are the building blocks of declarative memory functions, says New York University neuroscientist John Buffalo .

Concept cells may link specific objects to locations in our long-term memory.

They are also linked to working memory, which is activated temporarily when you’re shopping or remembering a number.