MRC Director wins prestigious Brain Prize
Friday 4 March
Professor Péter Somogyi, Director of the MRC Anatomical Neuropharmacology Unit, has been co-awarded the first ever €1 million Brain Prize by the Grete Lundbeck European Brain Research Foundation, for his outstanding analysis of brain circuits involved in memory.
Professor Somogyi shares the prize with previous MRC scientist Professor Tamás Freund and Rutgers University’s Professor György Buzsáki. The work of these three Hungarian-born researchers has been aimed at fundamental understanding of brain function and sheds light on the causes and symptoms of a variety of conditions, from epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease to anxiety and dementia. It has set the gold standard for linking brain structure and function to behaviour.
Information processing in the brain is one of the greatest challenges for modern neuroscience. The hippocampus, located in the medial temporal lobe of the brain, plays an essential role in the formation of memories of location in space and of personal experience. In recent years there has been great progress in demonstrating that the human hippocampus is involved in personal memory formation and in describing the functional properties of nerve cells in the hippocampus in animals. The remarkable contribution of Somogyi, Freund and Buzsáki is essential to understanding how this important region of the brain carries out its role in memory.
Professor Colin Blakemore, chairman of the selection committee said:
“In order to know how the brain processes information we need a complete description of the structure of nerve cells and the dynamic characteristics of the connections between them. The work of Péter Somogyi, Tamás Freund and György Buzsáki has provided much of this essential knowledge for the cerebral cortex. Without such painstaking research there will never be full understanding of the brain.”
Sir John Savill, chief executive of the Medical Research Council said:
“Professor Somogyi’s fundamental and pioneering work on the chemical identification of neuronal types and localisation of signalling molecules in identified microcircuits is a key pillar of modern day neuroscience. I’m delighted his huge contribution to the field has been recognised. Strategic, long-term investment in basic science is essential if we are to fully understand the role brain structure and function plays in the progression of diseases like Parkinson’s and dementia. It’s this type of world class basic science that paves the way for the effective treatments of tomorrow.”
The award ceremony will take place 2 May in Copenhagen, Denmark and Prize Lectures will be given 3 May, also in Copenhagen.
For more information about the MRC Anatomical Neuropharmacology Unit and a biography of Professor Péter Somogyi please visit: http://mrcanu.pharm.ox.ac.uk/
For more information about the Brain Prize by the Grete Lundbeck European Brain Research Foundation please visit: http://www.thebrainprize.org/flx/the_brain_prize/
