Meanings
plural Jennifer Aniston neurons
- informalSynonym of grandmother cell.
A Jennifer Aniston neuron? How could this be? Surely nothing in our evolutionary history suggests that Jennifer Aniston is a permanent denizen of our brain wiring.
2014, John Medina, Brain Rules, updated and expanded edition, Pear Press, →ISBN, page 941 more example
In fact, the Jennifer Aniston neuron also responded to Lisa Kudrow, another star of Friends (the television series that made them both famous), in an experiment carried out the next day.
2012, Rodrigo Quian Quiroga, Borges and Memory: Encounters with the Human Brain, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 173Synonyms: grandmother cell
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of grandmother cell.
Origin
Named after Jennifer Aniston, from a 2005 study which identified a neuron firing to photographs showing the actress.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Jennifer Aniston neuron. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Jennifer%20Aniston%20neuron
“Jennifer Aniston neuron.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Jennifer%20Aniston%20neuron. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Jennifer Aniston neuron,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Jennifer%20Aniston%20neuron.
Source: Jennifer Aniston neuron on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.