May-Britt Moser

May-Britt Moser is a Norwegian neuroscientist and psychologist known for co-discovering the grid cell system in the mammalian brain, a finding central to understanding spatial navigation and memory. She shared the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Edvard Moser and John O'Keefe for work linking neural representations in the hippocampal formation to cognitive mapping. Her research integrates experimental techniques and theoretical frameworks across institutions including the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, the University of Oslo, and the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience.

Early life and education

Born in Fosnavåg on the island municipality of Herøy, Møre og Romsdal, she grew up in a coastal community influenced by Norwegian maritime culture and regional schooling systems. Moser studied psychology at the University of Oslo where she encountered mentors such as Per Andersen and engaged with laboratories addressing synaptic physiology, hippocampal circuitry, and computational models. During doctoral training she worked on electrophysiology and anatomical mapping alongside researchers who later connected to studies at the Salk Institute and collaborations with groups influenced by theories from David Marr and experimental paradigms pioneered by William James-era cognitive mapping successors.

Research and discoveries

Moser's laboratory, collaborating closely with Edvard Moser and international teams including groups at the Columbia University and the University College London, performed in vivo recordings in rodents that revealed neurons in the medial entorhinal cortex exhibiting periodic spatial firing patterns now termed grid cells. These experiments built on foundational discoveries of place cells by John O'Keefe and extended models proposed by theorists such as Terje Sagvolden and computational neuroscientists influenced by Alan Baddeley-style cognitive frameworks. The identification of grid cells tied together findings about head-direction cells described in studies from James Ranck and border cells characterized by colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics. Moser's group combined single-unit electrophysiology, lesion studies, optogenetics adaptations inspired by work at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and anatomical tracing methods derived from techniques developed at the Karolinska Institutet. Her teams demonstrated how grid cells, place cells, and speed cells form interacting networks that support spatial memory, navigation, and episodic-like representations, advancing theoretical links to models by Edvard I. Moser, John O'Keefe and Lynn Nadel, and computational frameworks from Eleanor Maguire's imaging studies in humans.

Career and positions

After completing doctoral work at the University of Oslo and postdoctoral collaborations with laboratories connected to the University of Edinburgh and the Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, she joined the faculty at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), where she and Edvard Moser established the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience in Trondheim. She served as director of the Kavli Institute and led multidisciplinary teams drawing expertise from physiology groups at the Max Planck Society, systems neuroscience units at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and behavioral neuroscience labs at the University of California, Berkeley. Moser has held visiting professorships and seminar series appointments at institutions such as Harvard University, the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), and has mentored doctoral students who later joined faculties at centers like the Salk Institute and the Johns Hopkins University.

Awards and honors

Moser's work has been recognized by numerous prizes and memberships in academies: the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (shared with Edvard Moser and John O'Keefe); the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize; the Amy and David Rockefeller Fund-affiliated awards; the Anders Jahre Prize; and election to organizations including the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), the Royal Society (honorary), and the US National Academy of Sciences as a foreign associate. She has received honorary degrees from universities such as University of Cambridge, University of Copenhagen, and Uppsala University, and delivered named lectures at venues including the Society for Neuroscience meetings and the Royal Institution.

Personal life

Moser was married to collaborator Edvard Moser, with whom she shared laboratory leadership and the Nobel Prize; their professional partnership connected to broader networks including colleagues from Trondheim and research exchanges with groups in Oslo and international centers. She has balanced academic responsibilities with raising a family and maintaining ties to Norwegian cultural institutions and regional initiatives supporting science education, collaborating with foundations like the Kavli Foundation and participating in outreach through organizations such as the European Research Council and national science festivals.

Category:Norwegian neuroscientists Category:Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine Category:Women neuroscientists