An extension of the localist representation theory: grandmother cells are also widely used in the brain

ON GRANDMOTHER CELLS Based on considerable neurophysiological evidence, Roy (2012) proposed the theory that localist representation is widely used in the brain, starting from the lowest levels of processing. Grandmother cells are a special case of localist representation. In this article, I present the theory that grandmother cells are also widely used in the brain. To support the proposed theory, I present neurophysiological evidence and an analysis of the concept of grandmother cells. Konorski (1967) first predicted the existence of grandmother cells (he called them “gnostic” neurons)— single neurons that respond to complex stimuli such as faces, hands, expressions, objects, and so on. The term “grandmother cell” was introduced by Jerry Lettvin in 1969 (Barlow, 1995). The notion of grandmother cells is very controversial in neuro and cognitive sciences. Barlow (2009, p. 320) claims that grandmother cells exist and “can now be recorded from and studied reliably.” Bowers (2009) has also claimed that the brain uses grandmother cells to code for objects and concepts. However, Plaut and McClelland (2010) and Quian Quiroga et al. (2008; Quian Quiroga and Kreiman, 2010) have vigorously opposed the notion of grandmother cells in the brain.