May-Britt Moser

May-Britt Moser. She is a Norwegian psychologist and neuroscientist renowned for her groundbreaking discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain. Together with her then-husband Edvard Moser and their mentor John O'Keefe, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2014 for their collective work on grid cells and other specialized neurons in the entorhinal cortex. Moser is a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and was a founding co-director of the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience.

Early life and education

May-Britt Moser was born in the coastal town of Fosnavåg in Møre og Romsdal county. She developed an early interest in animal behavior and the brain, which led her to pursue studies in psychology at the University of Oslo. There, she met her future research partner and husband, Edvard Moser. She completed her cand.psychol. degree in 1990, with a thesis investigating the effects of NMDA receptor antagonists on learning in rats. Under the supervision of Per Andersen, a prominent figure in hippocampus research, she earned her Ph.D. in neurophysiology from the same institution in 1995. Her doctoral work focused on the anatomical and functional organization of the hippocampal formation.

Career and research

Following her Ph.D., Moser conducted postdoctoral research with Richard G. Morris at the University of Edinburgh, studying the neural basis of spatial memory. In 1996, she and Edvard Moser moved to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, where they established their own laboratory. Their pioneering work, often in collaboration with colleagues like Torkel Hafting and Menno Witter, led to the landmark 2005 discovery of grid cells in the dorsal medial entorhinal cortex of rats. These cells fire in a hexagonal pattern, creating a coordinate system for spatial navigation. This finding, building on John O'Keefe's earlier discovery of place cells, revolutionized the understanding of the brain's cognitive map. Moser's subsequent research has extensively explored the microcircuitry of the entorhinal cortex and its connections to the hippocampus, investigating how networks of interneurons and pyramidal cells generate these precise spatial signals.

Awards and honors

Moser's contributions have been recognized with numerous prestigious international awards. The pinnacle was the shared 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Edvard Moser and John O'Keefe. In the same year, they also received the Kavli Prize in Neuroscience. Other notable honors include the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine, the Perl-UNC Neuroscience Prize, and the W. Alden Spencer Award. She is an elected member of several esteemed academies, including the Royal Society, the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and the United States National Academy of Sciences. She has also been decorated as a Commander of the Order of St. Olav by King Harald V of Norway.

Personal life

May-Britt Moser married fellow neuroscientist Edvard Moser in 1985, and they have two daughters. The couple formed one of the most successful scientific partnerships in modern neuroscience, co-directing the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience until their divorce was announced in 2016. They have continued their professional collaboration. Moser is known for her dedication to mentoring young scientists and for advocating for women in STEM fields. She has spoken openly about balancing a demanding research career with family life.

Legacy and impact

May-Britt Moser's discovery of grid cells provided a fundamental piece in the puzzle of how the brain computes spatial navigation and episodic memory. This work has had a profound impact across neuroscience, psychology, and even artificial intelligence, influencing theories of memory and computation. Her research continues to explore how these spatial circuits are disrupted in neurological conditions like Alzheimer's disease, offering potential pathways for early diagnosis and intervention. As a role model, her journey from a small Norwegian town to the pinnacle of global science has inspired a generation of researchers in Scandinavia and worldwide. Category:Norwegian neuroscientists Category:Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Olav