Grid cell system in hippocampus as brain's navigational place (inner GPS)

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2014
for
Grid cell system in hippocampus as brain's navigational place (inner GPS)

How do we know where we are? 
How can we find the way from one place to another? 
And how can we store this information in such a way 
that we can immediately find the way the next time we trace the same path? 
This year´s Nobel Laureates have discovered a positioning system, 
an “inner GPS” in the brain that makes it possible to orient ourselves in space, 
demonstrating a cellular basis for higher cognitive function.

(source:http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2014/press.html)

source:nobelprize.org/

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2014 was divided, one half awarded to John O'Keefe, the other half jointly to May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser  

"for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain".

Announcement of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine by Professor Göran K. Hansson, Secretary of the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine, on 6 October 2014.

See a Video of the Announcement

29 sec.

http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=2366 

Credits: Ladda Productions AB (production)Copyright @ Nobel Media AB 2014

 

 

"I’m over the moon actually"

John O'Keefe

Born: 1939, New York, NY, USA

Affiliation at the time of the award: University College, London, United Kingdom

Prize motivation: "for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain"

Field: physiology, spatial behavior

Prize share: 1/2
Transcript of the interview with John O'Keefe 
"I thought 'Oh this couldn't possibly be, this couldn't possibly be what I think it is.' But of course it was."
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2014/okeefe-telephone.html

Photo: David Bishop, UCL

"This is so great"

May-Britt Moser

Born: 1963, Fosnavåg, Norway

Affiliation at the time of the award: Centre for Neural Computation, Trondheim, Norway

Prize motivation: "for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain"

Field: physiology, spatial behavior

Prize share: 1/4 
Transcript of the interview withMay-Britt Moser 
"It's easy for us because we can have breakfast meetings almost every day”
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2014/may-britt-moser-telephone.html

Photo: G. Mogen/NTNU

May-Britt Moser - Photo Gallery:
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2014/may-britt-moser-photo.html

"I didn't understand anything"

Edvard I. Moser

Born: 1962, Ålesund, Norway

Affiliation at the time of the award: Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Trondheim, Norway

Prize motivation: "for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain"

Field: physiology, spatial behavior

Prize share: 1/4

Transcript of the interview with Edward Moser
"I came out of the plane ... and then there was a representative of the airport who came with flowers and picked me up in a car."
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2014/edvard-moser-telephone.html

Photo: G. Mogen/NTNU

Edward I. Moser - photo Gallery:

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2014/edvard-moser-photo.html

The discoveries of John O´Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser have solved a problem that has occupied philosophers and scientists for centuries – how does the brain create a map of the space surrounding us and how can we navigate our way through a complex environment?


A place for maps in the human brain
Recent investigations with brain imaging techniques, as well as studies of patients undergoing neurosurgery, have provided evidence that place and grid cells exist also in humans. In patients with Alzheimer´s disease, the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex are frequently affected at an early stage, and these individuals often lose their way and cannot recognize the environment. Knowledge about the brain´s positioning system may, therefore, help us understand the mechanism underpinning the devastating spatial memory loss that affects people with this disease.
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2014/press.html 

Facts on the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine