# John O'Keefe

_American British neuroscientist, 2014 Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine_

Canonical: https://diginpl.com/people/john-o-keefe
Last updated: 2026-10-31

> John Michael O'Keefe (born November 18, 1939) is an American-British neuroscientist, psychologist and a professor at University College London.

## Quick facts

- **Born:** 18 November 1939 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1701279#P569))
- **Place of birth:** New York City ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1701279#P19))
- **Citizenship:** United Kingdom; United States ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1701279#P27))
- **Occupation:** neurologist; university teacher; psychologist; scientist; neuroscientist ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1701279#P106))
- **Education:** City College of New York; McGill University; Regis High School ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1701279#P69))
- **Official website:** ucl.ac.uk/cdb/research/okeefe ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1701279#P856))
- **Awards:** Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; Feldberg Foundation Prize; Grawemeyer Awards; Gruber Prize in Neuroscience; Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize; Kavli Prize in Neuroscience; Annual Review Prize Lecture; Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences; APA Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Psychology; honorary doctor of the Aix-Marseille University ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1701279#P166))

## About

O'Keefe discovered place cells in the hippocampus, and that they show a specific kind of temporal coding in the form of theta phase precession. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2014, together with May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser; he has received several other awards.

## Questions

**When was John O'Keefe born?**  
John O'Keefe was born on 18 November 1939 in New York City.

**Where did John O'Keefe study?**  
John O'Keefe was educated at City College of New York, McGill University, Regis High School.

## Related

- [Aaron Klug](https://diginpl.com/people/aaron-klug)
- [Alan Hodgkin](https://diginpl.com/people/alan-hodgkin)
- [Andre Geim](https://diginpl.com/people/andre-geim)
- [Andrew Huxley](https://diginpl.com/people/andrew-huxley)
- [Antony Hewish](https://diginpl.com/people/antony-hewish)
- [Archer Martin](https://diginpl.com/people/archer-martin)
- [Arthur Harden](https://diginpl.com/people/arthur-harden)
- [Brian Josephson](https://diginpl.com/people/brian-josephson)
- [C. F. Powell](https://diginpl.com/people/c-f-powell)
- [C. T. R. Wilson](https://diginpl.com/people/c-t-r-wilson)
- [Charles Barkla](https://diginpl.com/people/charles-barkla)
- [Charles Scott Sherrington](https://diginpl.com/people/charles-scott-sherrington)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia (English): John O'Keefe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_O'Keefe_(neuroscientist)) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikipedia (Nepali): जोहन ओ केफे](https://ne.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%9C%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%A8_%E0%A4%93_%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%AB%E0%A5%87) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikidata item Q1701279](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1701279) — [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Image: John O'Keefe (neuroscientist) 2014.jpg by Per Henning/NTNU (CC BY 2.0)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_O%27Keefe_(neuroscientist)_2014.jpg)

## Licence and attribution

Text from the Wikipedia article John O'Keefe, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: John O'Keefe (neuroscientist) 2014.jpg — Per Henning/NTNU, CC BY 2.0.

## Cite this page

"John O'Keefe". DigiNepal. Last updated 31 October 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/john-o-keefe. Retrieved 6 November 2026.