Eleanor Maguire
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Eleanor Anne Maguire (27 March 1970 – 4 January 2025) was an Irish
neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist specializing in neuroscience that deals with the anatomy and function of neurons, Biological neural network, neural circuits, and glia, and their Behavior, behavioral, biological, and psycholo ...
who was Professor of
Cognitive Neuroscience Cognitive neuroscience is the scientific field that is concerned with the study of the Biology, biological processes and aspects that underlie cognition, with a specific focus on the neural connections in the brain which are involved in mental ...
at
University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
, where she was also a Wellcome Trust principal research fellow, from 2007 until her death in 2025.


Early life and education

Maguire was born in
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, Ireland on 27 March 1970. She studied
psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
at
University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...
and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA Hons) degree in 1990. She studied clinical and experimental
neuropsychology Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology concerned with how a person's cognition and behavior are related to the brain and the rest of the nervous system. Professionals in this branch of psychology focus on how injuries or illnesses of the brai ...
at University of Wales, Swansea and graduated with a Master of Science degree in 1991. She undertook her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree at
University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...
, Ireland, where she first became interested in the neural basis of memory while working with patients as a neuropsychologist at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin. She completed her PhD in 1994, and her
doctoral thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...
was titled ''Real-world spatial memory following temporal-lobe surgery in humans''.


Research and career

Maguire served as a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow and Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at
University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
, UK, where she was also the deputy director. Maguire led the Memory and Space research laboratory at the centre. In addition, she was an honorary member of the Department of Neuropsychology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London. Maguire and others have noted that a distributed set of brain regions supports human episodic (autobiographical) memory, defined as the memory for personal everyday events, and that this brain network overlaps considerably with that supporting navigation in large-scale space and other diverse cognitive functions such as imagination and thinking about the future. In her research Maguire sought to place episodic memory in the context of wider cognition so as to understand how common brain areas, and possibly common processes, support such disparate functions. In this way she hoped to gain novel and fundamental insights into the mechanisms that are involved. Her team used standard whole brain and high resolution structural and functional
magnetic resonance imaging Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to generate pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes inside the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and ...
in conjunction with behavioural testing and neuropsychological examination of amnesic patients to pursue their aims. They mainly employed ecologically valid or 'real life' experimental paradigms to examine brain-behaviour relationships; examples include using virtual reality to examine navigation, investigating autobiographical memories of people's personal past experiences, and their ability to imagine fictitious and future scenes and events. Perhaps the most famous of these is her series of studies on London taxi drivers, where she documented changes in hippocampal structure associated with acquiring the knowledge of London's layout. A redistribution of grey matter was indicated in
London Taxi A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common sight on t ...
Drivers compared to controls. This work on hippocampal plasticity not only interested scientists, but also engaged the public and media world-wide. This is also true of her other work such as that showing that patients with
amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or brain diseases,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be temporarily caused by t ...
cannot imagine the future which several years ago was rated as one of the scientific breakthroughs of the year; and her other studies demonstrating that it is possible to decode people's memories from the pattern of fMRI activity in the hippocampus. Maguire's interest was mainly focused on the
hippocampus The hippocampus (: hippocampi; via Latin from Ancient Greek, Greek , 'seahorse'), also hippocampus proper, is a major component of the brain of humans and many other vertebrates. In the human brain the hippocampus, the dentate gyrus, and the ...
, a brain structure known to be crucial for learning and memory, whilst also exploring the roles of the parahippocampal cortex, the retrosplenial cortex and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. She supervised numerous doctoral students including Demis Hassabis.


Public engagement

Besides her direct scientific activities, Maguire and her research group had an active public engagement agenda, involving public lectures, school visits and demonstrations, TV, radio and internet contributions, and collaborations with several artists, encouraging people of all ages to think about the value of science in their everyday lives. In February 2014, Maguire delivered a Friday Evening Discourse at The Royal Institution.


Personal life and death

Maguire's entry in ''
Who's Who A Who's Who (or Who Is Who) is a reference work consisting of biographical entries of notable people in a particular field. The oldest and best-known is the annual publication ''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'', a reference work on contemporary promin ...
'' listed her recreations as "Comedy lover, long-suffering supporter of Crystal Palace Football Club, ndgetting lost." Maguire was diagnosed with spinal cancer in 2022. She died from complications of cancer and pneumonia at a hospice in London on 4 January 2025, at the age of 54.


Honours and awards

Maguire won a number of prizes for outstanding contributions to science, including: * 2003, the Ig Nobel Prize for Medicine, awarded for 'presenting evidence that the brains of London taxi drivers are more highly developed than those of their fellow citizens' * 2008 the Rosalind Franklin Award from the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
* 2011 Feldberg Foundation Prize * 2012 Cognitive Neuroscience Society Young Investigator Award * 2012 IBRO-Kemali Prize * 2016 University College Dublin Alumnus of the Year in Research, Innovation and Impact She was also named as one of 'Twenty Europeans who have changed our lives' when The European Union launched a new science and innovation initiative. In 2011, Maguire was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) and, in 2016, a
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
(FRS). In 2017 she was elected an Honorary Member of the
Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...
(MRIA) and in July 2018 was elected
Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...
(FBA).


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maguire, Eleanor 1970 births 2025 deaths 20th-century British women scientists 20th-century Irish women scientists 21st-century British women scientists 21st-century Irish women scientists Academics of University College London Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of University College London British cognitive neuroscientists Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from pneumonia in England Deaths from spinal cancer Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Royal Society Female fellows of the Royal Society Ig Nobel laureates Irish emigrants to the United Kingdom Irish neurologists Irish women neuroscientists Members of the Royal Irish Academy Neuroimaging researchers Neuropsychologists Scientists from Dublin (city) Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellows