Nobel Prize for Brain Navi

Discovery of Brain Navi Brings Medicine Nobel Prize

06/10/2014

John O'Keefe (USA) and May-Britt and Edvard Moser (Norway) have received this year's Nobel Prize for Medicine. The € 870,000 award was for the discovery of a „inner GPS“ forgive it in the brain, that's it „allows us to orient ourselves in space“ announced the Nobel meeting in a press release on its official website.

Discovery of the first components of the brain Navi already in the early seventies
The first components of this GPS were discovered by John O'Keefe in 1971. It was a kind „place cells“ which he assumed would form a map of the spatial environment in the brain.

In 2005, May-Britt and Edvard Moser discovered the other key components to guide them „grid cells“ designated and, according to their research, served as a pathfinder. In the following years, the researchers investigated the interaction of cell types.

„This year's Nobel Prize winners have discovered key aspects of an advanced brain positioning system“, said Ole Kiehn from the Karolinska Institute. „The ability to know where we are and find our way is important to our existence.“

Announcement of additional Nobel Prize winners in the coming days
In the coming days, the winners of the Nobel Prizes for physics and chemistry will be announced. The prizes are traditionally awarded on the anniversary of the death of founder Alfred Nobel on 10 December 2014.

Last year, the prize was awarded to the German Thomas Südhof and to the Americans Randy Shekman and James Rothman. They had discovered "basic cell functions whose defects were identified as the causes of many illnesses." (Jp)

Picture: Rike