| Citation | Richard Morris is distinguished for his research on the neural basis of spatial navigation and memory. He has developed behavioural tasks for the study of spatial abilities in rodents including the universal standard, the water maze. Using the water maze, he and his colleagues were the first to show a selective deficit in navigation following hippocampal damage. More recently he has studied the role of synaptic plasticity in spatial learning using physiological, pharmacological and genetic techniques. Most influential of these is the demonstration that pharmacological antagonismof the NMDA receptor blocks learning at doses which block long-term potentiation. |