Biomedical Sciences

Prof Richard Morris awarded top research prize

Mar 16: Congratulations to Professor Richard Morris who has been jointly awarded the most valuable research prize for brain science in recognition of his work to understand the mechanisms of memory.

 

Professor Richard Morris

Professor Morris shares the €1m euro Brain Prize with fellow neuroscientists Tim Bliss and Graham Collingridge. Their discoveries have paved the way to better understanding of complex brain conditions that affect millions of people around the world. These include autism, schizophrenia, depression, chronic pain, epilepsy and addiction. 

The research is also helping to understand dementia and normal age-related memory loss. The three neuroscientists have independently and collectively shown how connections between brain cells can be strengthened through repeated stimulation - a process called long-term potentiation (LTP).

 In 1986, Richard Morris used a new method he had developed to show that LTP was necessary for rats and mice learn to find their way around a new environment. This began a long programme of research to establish the role of LTP in memory. The findings have revolutionised our understanding of how memories are formed, retained and lost. Professor Morris said that much of the work on LTP has been driven by curiosity about how the brain stores memories. However, it is inevitable that knowledge of these basic mechanisms will help develop treatments for symptoms of memory loss and dementia, which are becoming increasingly prominent in our ageing society.

I am naturally honoured to receive a share of this prize. It has all been made possible through the long-standing support of the Medical Research Council, superb facilities in a fine University, great colleagues in the lab at the Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems and in Edinburgh Neuroscience, who together constitute one of the finest neuroscience communities in the world

Prof Richard MorrisDirector, Centre for Neural and Cognitive Systems

The Brain Prize is awarded annually by the Grete Lundbeck European Brain Research Foundation in Denmark and is widely regarded as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for neuroscientists.

 

Further information

The Brain Prize website

BBC news article

BBC news article (video)

Independent article

Edinburgh news article

Daily Mail article

ITV news

Prof Richard Morris's staff profile

Centre for Neural and Cognitive Systems