Grid cells
Co-discovery of grid cells, neurons involved in spatial positioning and navigation.
Scientist Exhibit
May-Britt Moser
Biology & Life Sciences • Medicine & Health
1963 – Present
Norway
Co-discovered grid cells that form part of the brain’s positioning and navigation system
Overview
About May-Britt Moser
May-Britt Moser is a neuroscientist whose research revealed how the brain represents position in space. With Edvard Moser and colleagues, she discovered grid cells in the entorhinal cortex, neurons that activate in a repeating geometric pattern as an animal moves through its environment. The discovery helped explain the neural system used for spatial navigation. She shared the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Scientific Contribution
Key Discovery
Life Timeline
Important Moments
1995
education
Receives her PhD in neurophysiology
Moser completed her doctorate at the University of Oslo after research on the neural basis of learning and memory.
1996
career
Begins postdoctoral work with John O'Keefe
May-Britt and Edvard Moser trained with John O'Keefe at University College London before establishing their own research programme in Norway.
2005
discovery
Discovers grid cells in the entorhinal cortex
Moser and colleagues identified grid cells, neurons whose firing patterns form a coordinate system used by the brain for spatial navigation.
2014
award
Receives the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Moser shared the Nobel Prize with Edvard Moser and John O'Keefe for discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain.
Places & Networks
Institutions
university
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Trondheim , Norway
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