Prof John O’Keefe, who was awarded the Nobel prize for medicine today is conducting ground-breaking work into Alzheimer's disease
The American-British scientist John O’Keefe vowed to tackle the ‘timebomb’ of
Alzheimer’s disease after winning the Nobel Prize for medicine today.
Prof O’Keefe, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College
London, discovered that a part of the brain acts like an internal GPS
system, helping us navigate, while also storing memories in space and time.
That part of the brain, the hippocampus, is the first area to show signs of
damage in Alzheimer’s patients and is the reason that they struggle to
remember.
Today Prof O’Keefe was awarded the most prestigious prize in science alongside
Norwegian researchers May-Britt and Edvard Moser who continued his work.
“I am totally delighted and thrilled and I am probably still in a state of
shock,” Prof O’Keefe said.
“It’s a terrific accolade. It is the highest accolade you can get and I think
it’s a terrific sign of the way the world thinks about the work. “
Prof O’Keefe who studied classics, philosophy and engineering before finally settling on a career in neuroscience made his discovery more than 40 years ago.
He found that individual cells in the hippocampus activate based on where we are in the world. Move to a different place and a new cell will activate. But move back, and the original cell will come to life.
“This system allows us to move flexibly,” he said. “When a cab driver is trying to plan a route this part of the brain lights up and stays active. When they have to follow a simple route you don’t need this part of the brain.
“You need this part of the brain to be flexible, to do something novel and unexpected. It is used not only for plotting routes but remembering what you did in particular places at different times and to plan the future.”
Speaking about his current research he added: “I am particularly interested in Alzheimer’s disease and have been for some time now.
“It turns out that this part of the brain is one of the first areas that’s attacked by Alzheimer’s disease. So we can now use some of the basic understanding of this part of the brain to ask the simple question 'What is going wrong with these special cells in the hippocampus at the very earliest stages?'
“We hope to follow the progression of the disease over time. This will give us the first handle or where it starts and when it starts and how we can attack it at a molecular level.
“I think we all know there is timebomb there. We keep our fingers crossed.”
Prof O’Keefe also criticised British immigration rules which make it difficult to bring in the world’s best scientists.
He has recently become the inaugural head of the new Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, a new research centre in neural circuits and behaviour at UCL.
“The immigration rules are a very large obstacles. I am acutely aware of what you have to do if you want to bring people into Britain and to get through the Immigration act,” he said.
“It is something we should be thinking hard about making Britain a more welcoming place."
The decision to award the Nobel prize to Prof O’Keefe was welcomed by the science community.
Professor Bill Harris, Head of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, at the University of Cambridge said: "O'Keefe's and the Moser's work on the brain's system of knowing where we are, and the neurons that monitor place, has not only revolutionised our understanding of this amazing puzzle, but has also opened the door into problems of place memory and how we learn and remember routes of navigation, and what sleep and dreams may be doing for memory and performance."
UCL president professor Michael Arthur added: "John O'Keefe is one of UCL's outstanding neuroscientists and I am delighted that his work on the very basic question of how the hippocampus in the brain stores spatial information and thus allows us to navigate our way through a complex world, has been recognised by the award of the Nobel Prize in Medicine."
Prof O’Keefe who studied classics, philosophy and engineering before finally settling on a career in neuroscience made his discovery more than 40 years ago.
He found that individual cells in the hippocampus activate based on where we are in the world. Move to a different place and a new cell will activate. But move back, and the original cell will come to life.
“This system allows us to move flexibly,” he said. “When a cab driver is trying to plan a route this part of the brain lights up and stays active. When they have to follow a simple route you don’t need this part of the brain.
“You need this part of the brain to be flexible, to do something novel and unexpected. It is used not only for plotting routes but remembering what you did in particular places at different times and to plan the future.”
Speaking about his current research he added: “I am particularly interested in Alzheimer’s disease and have been for some time now.
“It turns out that this part of the brain is one of the first areas that’s attacked by Alzheimer’s disease. So we can now use some of the basic understanding of this part of the brain to ask the simple question 'What is going wrong with these special cells in the hippocampus at the very earliest stages?'
“We hope to follow the progression of the disease over time. This will give us the first handle or where it starts and when it starts and how we can attack it at a molecular level.
“I think we all know there is timebomb there. We keep our fingers crossed.”
Prof O’Keefe also criticised British immigration rules which make it difficult to bring in the world’s best scientists.
He has recently become the inaugural head of the new Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, a new research centre in neural circuits and behaviour at UCL.
“The immigration rules are a very large obstacles. I am acutely aware of what you have to do if you want to bring people into Britain and to get through the Immigration act,” he said.
“It is something we should be thinking hard about making Britain a more welcoming place."
The decision to award the Nobel prize to Prof O’Keefe was welcomed by the science community.
Professor Bill Harris, Head of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, at the University of Cambridge said: "O'Keefe's and the Moser's work on the brain's system of knowing where we are, and the neurons that monitor place, has not only revolutionised our understanding of this amazing puzzle, but has also opened the door into problems of place memory and how we learn and remember routes of navigation, and what sleep and dreams may be doing for memory and performance."
UCL president professor Michael Arthur added: "John O'Keefe is one of UCL's outstanding neuroscientists and I am delighted that his work on the very basic question of how the hippocampus in the brain stores spatial information and thus allows us to navigate our way through a complex world, has been recognised by the award of the Nobel Prize in Medicine."
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