The grandmother cell, sometimes called the "Jennifer Aniston neuron", is a hypothetical neuron that represents a complex but specific concept or object.[2] It activates when a person "sees, hears, or otherwise sensibly discriminates"[3] a specific entity, such as his or her grandmother. The term was in use at least as early as 1966 amongst staff and students in the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, England. A similar concept, that of the gnostic neuron, was proposed two years later by Jerzy Konorski.[4]

Imagine a dead god-like being and a neurosurgeon is able to extract hippocampus tissue. Even though the brain is an antenna this particular (brain) antenna's molecular structure has evolved by orders of magnitude versus a human brain. It seems certain neurons and or brain algorithmic pathways may never fire or come to be realized based on the information or knowledge provided. It is as if a treasure is dormant or hidden requiring a key. This area of the nervous system may be a biological representation of the stepping stones of evolution. The grandma cell has been also called the dodecahedron cell.