Timothy Vivian Pelham Bliss FRS (born 27 July 1940) is a British

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 ...

. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto, and a group leader emeritus at the Francis Crick Institute, London. In 2016 Professor Tim Bliss shared with Professors

Graham Collingridge Graham Leon Collingridge (born 1 February 1955) is a British neuroscientist and professor at the University of Toronto and at the University of Bristol. He is also a senior investigator at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sina ...

and Richard Morris the 2016 Brain Prize, one of the world's most coveted science prizes.

Life

Born in England he was educated at

Dean Close School Dean Close School is a co-educational private boarding and day school (for pupils aged 3–18) in the public school tradition, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1886 and is divided into pre-prep, prepa ...

and

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

(BSc, 1963; PhD, 1967). In 1967, he joined the MRC National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill, London, where he was Head of the Division of Neurophysiology from 1988 till 2006. His work with Terje Lømo in

Per Andersen Per Oskar Andersen ForMemRS (12 January 1930 – 17 February 2020) was a Norwegian brain researcher at the University of Oslo. Research by his lab, specifically by Terje Lømo (and Timothy Bliss, who helped characterize the phenomenon years lat ...

's laboratory at the University of Oslo in the late 1960s established the phenomenon of long-term potentiation (LTP) as the dominant synaptic model of how the mammalian brain stores memories.

Career and research

In 1973, he and Terje Lømo published the first evidence of a Hebb-like synaptic plasticity event induced by brief tetanic stimulation, known as

long-term potentiation In neuroscience, long-term potentiation (LTP) is a persistent strengthening of synapses based on recent patterns of activity. These are patterns of synaptic activity that produce a long-lasting increase in signal transmission between two neuron ...

(LTP). His work has done much to provide a neural explanation for learning and memory. Studying 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 ...

– the memory centre of the brain – Tim showed that the strength of signals between neurons in the brain exhibits a long-term increase following brief but intense activation, a phenomenon known as long-term potentiation (LTP). One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: Whilst LTP was discovered in Oslo in the lab of

, Tim's subsequent research into the cellular properties of LTP and its relation to memory was conducted at London's

National Institute for Medical Research The National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), was a medical research institute based in Mill Hill, on the outskirts of north London, England. It was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC); In 2016, the NIMR became part of the new F ...

where he worked from 1968 to 2006, becoming head of

Neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...

s. He is visiting professor 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 ...

. Bliss is on the board of the

Feldberg Foundation The Feldberg Foundation promotes scientific exchange between German and British scientists in the field of experimental medical research. The foundation is registered in Hamburg, Germany with the secretariat based in the UK. The pharmacologist W ...

and was trustee of

Sir John Soane's Museum Sir John Soane's Museum is a Historic house museum, house museum, located next to Lincoln's Inn Fields in Holborn, London, which was formerly the home of Neoclassical architecture, neo-classical architect John Soane. It holds many drawings and ...

from 2004 to 2009. From the years 2009 until 2013, Bliss worked as an adjunct professor in the South Korean university,

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the SKY (universities), SKY universities and a part of the Flagship Korean National Universities. The university's main c ...

Awards and Honours

* 1991 Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Neuroscience (with E. Kandel) * 1994 Feldberg Prize * 1994

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 ...

* 1998 Founding Fellow of the

Academy of Medical Sciences The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academy, National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. Its ...

* 2003 Annual Award for Contributions to British Neuroscience, British Neuroscience Society * 2012 Croonian Prize Lecture, Royal Society (this is the Society's principal lecture in the biological sciences, given annually since 1738) * 2013 Ipsen Prize for Neuronal Plasticity; Hon LlD Dalhousie University (with R. Morris and Y. Dudai) * 2014 Hon DSc University of Hertfordshire * 2016 The Brain Prize, Lundbeck Foundation

Notable Contributions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bliss, Timothy Vivian Pelham Living people 1940 births People educated at Dean Close School McGill University alumni British neuroscientists Fellows of the Royal Society Academics of University College London