The Ferrier Lecture is a Royal Society lectureship given every three years "on a subject related to the advancement of natural knowledge on the structure and function of the nervous system".[1] It was created in 1928 to honour the memory of Sir David Ferrier, a neurologist who was the first British scientist to electronically stimulate the brain for the purpose of scientific study.[1]
In its 90-year history, the Lecture has been given 30 times. It has never been given more than once by the same person. The first female to be awarded the honour was Prof. Christine Holt in 2017. The first lecture was given in 1929 by Charles Scott Sherrington, and was titled "Some functional problems attaching to convergence".[2] The most recent lecturer was provided by Prof. Christine Holt, who presented a lecture in 2017 titled "understanding of the key molecular mechanisms involved in nerve growth, guidance and targeting which has revolutionised our knowledge of growing axon tips".[3] In 1971, the lecture was given by two individuals (David Hunter Hubel and Torsten Nils Wiesel) on the same topic, with the title "The function and architecture of the visual cortex".[2]
| Year | Name | Lecture title | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1929 | "Some functional problems attaching to convergence" | [4] | ||
| 1932 | "Some correlations between skull and brain" | [5] | ||
| 1935 | "Problems connected with the principle of humeral transmission of nervous impulses" | – | ||
| 1938 | "Some problems of localization in the central nervous system" | [6] | ||
| 1941 | "Fatigue following highly skilled work" | [7] | ||
| 1944 | "The organization of the visual cortex in man" | [8] | ||
| 1947 | "Some observations of the cerebral cortex of Man" | [9] | ||
| 1950 | "Growth and plasticity in the nervous system" | – | ||
| 1953 | "The contribution of clinical observation to cerebral physiology" | [10] | ||
| 1956 | "Inquiries into the anatomical basis of olfactory discrimination" | [11] | ||
| 1959 | "The nature of central inhibitory action" | [12] | ||
| 1962 | "Visual adaptation" | [13] | ||
| 1965 | "Physiological properties of vertebrate and invertebrate neurological cells and the movement of substances through the nervous system" | [14] | ||
| 1968 | "Studies of a primates brain and hand" | [15] | ||
| 1971 | and Torsten Nils Wiesel | "The function and architecture of the visual cortex" | [16] | |
| 1974 | "Body temperature and fever, changes in our views during the last decade" | [17] | ||
| 1977 | "The neuron network of the cerebral cortex, a functional interpretation" | [18] | ||
| 1980 | "Cerebral cortex and the design of the eye" | – | ||
| 1983 | "Amino acids and peptides: fast and slow chemical signals in the nervous system" | – | ||
| 1986 | "The actions of parasympathetic and sympathetic nerves in human micturition, erection and seminal emission, and their restoration in paraplegic patients by implanted electrical stimulators" | – | ||
| 1989 | "Side glances at blindsight, recent approaches to implicit discrimination in human cortical blindness" | [19] | ||
| 1992 | "Seeing depth with two eyes, stereopsis" | [20] | ||
| 1995 | "Behind the scene: an exploration of the visual brain" | [21] | ||
| 1998 | "The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and synaptic plasticity" | [22] | ||
| 2001 | "Patterning the embryonic brain" | – | ||
| 2004 | "Magnetic brain stimulation: what can it tell us about brain function?" | [23] | ||
| 2007 | "Brain development and brain repair: Molecules and mechanisms that control neuronal wiring" | – | ||
| 2010 | "Plasticity of the brain: the key to human development, cognition and evolution" | [24] | ||
| 2013 | "cognitive neuroscience, especially on the role of the hippocampus, and the mechanisms supporting memory and cognition" | [25] | ||
| 2017 | "understanding of the key molecular mechanisms involved in nerve growth, guidance and targeting which has revolutionised our knowledge of growing axon tips" | [26] | ||
| 2019 | "for his work charting the brain activity related to fundamental aspects of human conduct and behaviour" | [27] | ||
| 2021 | "for groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of how the brain controls movement. Using theoretical and experimental approaches he has elucidated the computational principles underlying skilled motor behaviour." | [28] | ||
| 2022 | "for greatly advancing the understanding of the physiological and psychological processes underlying memory." | [29] |