Stockholm: Norwegian couple Mary-Britt Moser and her husband Edvard I Moser was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine this year, along with British-American scientist John O Keefe, for discovering an 'inner GPS, in the brain,' that prompts navigational activity in all creatures.
Mary-Britt Moser and Edvard I Moser is the fifth couple to have won a Nobel, and the fourth couple to share it jointly.
The first couple to have won a Nobel prize was Marie Curie and her husband Pierre Curie in the year 1903. Interestingly, the Curies were a very successful Nobel Prize family. The Curie's daughter Irene Joliot Curie also won a Nobel prize for Chemistry along with her husband Fredrich Joliot in 1935 for their discovery of new radioactive isotopes prepared artificially.
Marie Curie was the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize, followed by her daughter Irene.
Gerty Theresa Cori was the third woman to win a Nobel Prize, and the first woman to win a Nobel for Physiology or Medicine with her husband Carl Ferdinand Cori in 1947. The couple was awarded for their discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion of glycogen.
More recently, Swedish sociologist and politician Alva Myrdal and her husband Gunnar Myrdal was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (1982) and the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (1974) respectively.
This year, the laureates' discovery might facilitate a better and much needed understanding of the mechanism underpinning the devastating spatial memory loss that affects people with Alzheimer's disease.
The Nobel awards in physics, chemistry, literature and peace will be announced later this week. The economics prize will be announced next Monday.
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