How our brains recall celebrities is mirrored by search engines

The brain is often said to be like a computer. Now it turns out that we store memories of famous people in a similar way to Google. Our hippocampi – two small, curved brain structures towards the sides of our head – are crucial for memory. Studies have found that people with damage in these areas can no longer make memories of new events. By studying people who had recording electrodes put into their hippocampi, Rodrigo Quian Quiroga at the University of Leicester, UK, previously found that some neurons in these areas fire only when we see particular celebrities or people we recognise.