American-British neuroscientist John O'Keefe from the University College London and the husband and wife team of Edward Moser and May-Britt Moser from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology won the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Oct. 6 for their discovery of the brain's "inner GPS."
The Sweden-based Nobel committee said that the three scientists addressed the question on how we navigate and orient ourselves in the environment, a problem that has baffled scientists and philosophers for ages.
The brain's positioning system gives creatures the ability to navigate their surroundings.
"The discovery of the brain's positioning system represents a paradigm shift in our understanding of how ensembles of specialized cells work together to execute higher cognitive functions," the Karolinska Institute, which chooses the winners, said. "It has opened new avenues for understanding other cognitive processes, such as memory, thinking and planning."
O'Keefe started using neurophysiological methods about 50 years ago to investigate the brain's sense of direction and its ability to control behavior. He eventually discovered nerve cells he called "place cells" in the brain's hippocampus that were always activated when a rat is at a certain location. The now 74-year-old scientist showed the place cells do not only register what is seen but also what is not visible by creating inner maps in different environments.
The Mosers discovered another crucial component of the brain's positioning system in 2005. The Norwegian couple discovered that when rats pass several locations, nerve cells called "grid cells" formed hexagonal grids with each cell activated in distinct special patterns. The Nobel committee said that the scientists showed the role of grid and place cells in navigation and determining position.
The scientific community has been focusing on studies that investigate the brain's inner workings in recent years. The Rockefeller University neurobiologist Cornelia Bargmann said that the scientists' discoveries are groundbreaking because they provide a better understanding of how the brain perceives space and other complex cognitive associations.
"Place and memory are intimately related: Space forms a powerful context in which our memories are encoded," University of Pennsylvania computational psychologist Michael Kahana said. "That's why this model of how the brain maps the world is so important to who we are as human beings."
The trio of scientists will share the cash prize of 8 million Swedish crowns or about $1.1 million.
