捆绑SM社区 grad John O鈥橩eefe wins Nobel Prize in medicine

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捆绑SM社区 grad John O鈥橩eefe wins Nobel Prize in medicine

Fourth former 捆绑SM社区 student since 2009 to win a Nobel

Published: 6 October 2014

O鈥橩eefe, who received his doctorate in physiological psychology from 捆绑SM社区 in 1967, and an MA in 1964, is director of the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre in Neural Circuits and Behaviour at University College London. His co-winners of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine are May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser, both based in scientific institutes in the Norwegian town of Trondheim.

鈥淭he discovery of the brain鈥檚 positioning system represents a paradigm shift in our understanding of how ensembles of specialized cells work together to execute higher cognitive functions. It has opened new avenues for understanding other cognitive processes, such as memory, thinking and planning,鈥� the Nobel Prize organization said.

O鈥橩eefe becomes the tenth 捆绑SM社区 graduate or professor to win a Nobel Prize 鈥� and the fourth former student since 2009. "The enduring strength of 捆绑SM社区 is the quality of our students,鈥� said Dean of Science Martin Grant. 鈥淥n behalf of our students, our academic and support staff, this is what makes us proud to work at 捆绑SM社区."

鈥淲e congratulate Professor O鈥橩eefe for this important recognition of his groundbreaking work in advancing our understanding of the brain,鈥� said 捆绑SM社区 Principal and Vice-Chancellor Suzanne Fortier. 鈥淭he award underscores 捆绑SM社区鈥檚 seminal contributions to the field of neuroscience.鈥�

The discoveries of O鈥橩eefe and the Mosers 鈥渉ave solved a problem that has occupied philosophers and scientists for centuries 鈥� how does the brain create a map of the space surrounding us and how can we navigate our way through a complex environment?,鈥� the Nobel organization said in a press release.

鈥淚n 1971, John O'Keefe discovered the first component of this positioning system. He found that a type of nerve cell in an area of the brain called the hippocampus that was always activated when a rat was at a certain place in a room. Other nerve cells were activated when the rat was at other places. O麓Keefe concluded that these 鈥榩lace cells鈥� formed a map of the room.

鈥淢ore than three decades later, in 2005, May-Britt and Edvard Moser discovered another key component of the brain鈥檚 positioning system. They identified another type of nerve cell, which they called 'grid cells,' that generate a coordinate system and allow for precise positioning and pathfinding. Their subsequent research showed how place and grid cells make it possible to determine position and to navigate.鈥�

O鈥橩eefe, born in 1939 in New York City, earned his MA from 捆绑SM社区 in 1964 and his PhD degree in 捆绑SM社区鈥檚 Department of Psychology. He holds both American and British citizenships.

O'Keefe was fascinated by the problem of how the brain controls behaviour and decided, in the late 1960s, to attack this question with neurophysiological methods. When recording signals from individual nerve cells in a part of the brain called the hippocampus, in rats moving freely in a room, O鈥橩eefe discovered that certain nerve cells were activated when the animal assumed a particular place in the environment. He could demonstrate that these 鈥減lace cells鈥� were not merely registering visual input, but were building up an inner map of the environment. O鈥橩eefe concluded that the hippocampus generates numerous maps, represented by the collective activity of place cells that are activated in different environments. Therefore, the memory of an environment can be stored as a specific combination of place cell activities in the hippocampus.

May-Britt and Edvard Moser were mapping the connections to the hippocampus in rats moving in a room when they discovered an astonishing pattern of activity in a nearby part of the brain called the entorhinal cortex. Here, certain cells were activated when the rat passed multiple locations arranged in a hexagonal grid. Each of these cells was activated in a unique spatial pattern and collectively these 鈥済rid cells鈥� constitute a coordinate system that allows for spatial navigation. Together with other cells of the entorhinal cortex that recognize the direction of the head and the border of the room, they form circuits with the place cells in the hippocampus. This circuitry constitutes a comprehensive positioning system, an inner GPS, in the brain.

鈥淩ecent 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,鈥� the Nobel organization said. 鈥淚n patients with Alzheimer麓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麓s positioning system may, therefore, help us understand the mechanism underpinning the devastating spatial memory loss that affects people with this disease.鈥�

Last month, O鈥橩eefe and Brenda Milner, professor in McGIll鈥檚 Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, were named co-winners of the the biennial Kavli prize in neuroscience, along with Marcus Raichle, Professor of Radiology, Neurology, Anatomy and Neurobiology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The laureates were recognized for the 鈥渄iscovery of specialized brain networks for memory and cognition鈥�.

In an interview with Nature Reviews Neuroscience about the Kavli prize, O鈥橩eefe said that he was 鈥渧ery fortunate to get a graduate place in (Donald) Hebb's Psychology Department at 捆绑SM社区, one of the most important centres for what was then called 'physiological psychology'. The term 'neuroscience' had not yet been invented.

鈥淲hile I worked for my Ph.D. on the amygdala under Ron Melzack, many of my fellow students studied the effects of hippocampal lesions on rodent behaviour. They and I were convinced by Brenda Milner's study of (amnesic patient) H.M. that the hippocampus had an important function in memory formation and storage, but it was proving very difficult to produce an animal model of the memory deficits he suffered from. When I decided to return to the study of the limbic system after my postdoctoral fellowship at University College London (UCL), it seemed like a part of the brain that would reward further study.鈥�

PHOTO: John O'Keefe (2014) Wikimedia Commons Per Henning/NTNU -