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What makes your brain cells tick?

    Your Brain Cells Tick?

The work of a University of Leicester   able to respond to the name of the film
scientist, Dr Rodrigo Quian Quiroga, hasstar and are fired through association. In
been cited as one of the top in the worldsome individuals the ‘Aniston’ cell fired
for 2005. His groundbreakingwhen an individual saw an image of Lisa
international research into how the brainKudrow - Aniston’s co-star on Friends -
responds to images was one of the topbecause they associated these two people
100 international science stories of 2005with one another. Associations are
by Discover magazine and challenges thedifferent for each person. For one
beliefs of most neuroscientists.individual a neuron might fire when they
We all know the images that fire oursee the Eiffel Tower and the Tower of
imagination, whether they are of filmPisa, whereas another person might
stars, musicians, actors or a monumentassociate the Eiffel Tower with the
or feature of landscape with specialColosseum, depending on their
associations for us.experiences and memories.
   Scientists have long thought that
recognition of such concepts was the
result of huge numbers of neurons (nerve
cells) reacting to very basic details -
such as colour of hair, width between the
eyes, height - fragments of information
which all combine to recognise a complex
pattern or concept.
   Research by a University of
Leicester bioengineer, however, suggests
that this is not the case and that a single
neuron is able to respond to an entire
concept. The visual representation of a
person will be achieved in an abstract
way by single neurons and not by a huge
neural population, as science previously
thought. To recognise a person, for“Aniston” cell
example Friends star Jennifer Aniston,
does not require a whole army of neurons   This study is important in
to each register minute pieces of detailunderstanding how memory is created
like pixels on a television screen. Lots ofand how we gain our understanding of
neurons will fire but just one willthe world.
recognise the whole concept.
   _2_ , these ‘intelligent’ neurons areGraduates Review, 2006