Gnostic cells in the 21st century.
In this short review, I revise the notion of gnostic cells posited by Konorski, together with similar arguments by James, Lettvin and Barlow--namely, the idea of pontifical, grandmother and cardinal cells, respectively. I then discuss whether the characteristics of the recently discovered concept cells, i.e. neurons in the human medial temporal lobe with a very high degree of specificity and invariance, fit the conjecture of gnostic or grandmother cells and then discuss the key role of concept cells in memory formation.
Centre for Systems Neuroscience, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK, rqqg1@leicester.ac.uk.
Rodrigo Quian
RQ
Quiroga
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009488:Neurosciences / Q000266:history*; D012106:Research / Q000266:history*