The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2014 was awarded to John O’Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser “for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain.”
A summary report of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2014 on the www.nobelprize.org
The following content is excerpted from the reference -The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2014. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2019. Thu. 10 Jan 2019. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2014/summary/>
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.
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.“
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?
Pic source: https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/med_image_press_eng-6.pdf
For further info, please read the report on the website https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2014/press-release/
Advanced information:
Scientific Background: The Brain’s Navigational Place and Grid Cell System
John O’Keefe Nobel Lecture: Spatial Cells in the Hippocampal Formation (Lecture slides, Lecture Note )
May-Britt Moser Nobel Lecture: Grid Cells, Place Cells and Memory (Lecture slides, Lecture Note)
Edvard I. Moser Nobel Lecture: Grid Cells and the Enthorinal Map of Space (Lecture slides, Lecture Note)
Key references:
O’Keefe, J., and Dostrovsky, J. (1971). The hippocampus as a spatial map. Preliminary evidence from unit activity in the freely‐moving rat. Brain Research 34, 171-175.
O’Keefe, J. (1976). Place units in the hippocampus of the freely moving rat. Experimental Neurology 51, 78-109.
Fyhn, M., Molden, S., Witter, M.P., Moser, E.I., Moser, M.B. (2004) Spatial representation in the entorhinal cortex. Science 305, 1258-1264.
Hafting, T., Fyhn, M., Molden, S., Moser, M.B., and Moser, E.I. (2005). Microstructure of spatial map in the entorhinal cortex. Nature 436, 801-806.
Sargolini, F., Fyhn, M., Hafting, T., McNaughton, B.L., Witter, M.P., Moser, M.B., and Moser, E.I. (2006). Conjunctive representation of position, direction, and velocity in the entorhinal cortex. Science 312, 758-762.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2014. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2019. Thu. 10 Jan 2019. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2014/summary/>
A Chinese version report on www.sciencenet.cn