# Golden Brain Award

The Golden Brain Award is an international science award in the field of neuroscience. It is given by the Berkeley-based Minerva Foundation every year since 1985. The foundation specifically aims at fundamental contributions to research in vision and the brain. The Golden Brain is a trophy of a gold-plated model of the human brain attached to a bronze base.

## Selection

The Golden Brain Award is open to any person who has made innovative investigations and the resulting influence of those findings on the field of vision and the brain. Preference is given to studies involving higher brain function such as the aspects of behaviour, thought, attention, decision making and rational insight, and cognitive visual system. Special attributes are also considered such as a lack of deserved recognition, which is common in young scientists, and the potential for future important scientific revelations. Formal nominations are made by previous recipients, and final decision is made by the selection board.

## Trophy

The Golden Brain is a model of human brain, and the name is given as it is coloured with gold. It was originally designed and crafted by Tamia Marg. The brain is a pedestal of ten inches high, held by a spinal cord-like stem that is fixed to a metal base. It is primarily made of bronze that is coated with a 23-carat gold plating at Monsen Plating in Berkeley. The flat base painted by spraying it with an acidic mixture to give it the bluish-green patina. The brain and base were fastened together, and a polished brass circle engraved with the awardee's name is mounted on the trophy. The wooden box for the trophy is made by a furniture maker, Lawrence Gandsey of Oakland. The box is of eastern maple grown (Acer saccharum) in the Appalachians and is held together with splines of mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) from Honduras, and is finished with a mixture of linseed oil and turpentine.

## Recipients

Source: Minerva Foundation
| Year | Recipient | Institute | Country |
| 1985 | Semir Zeki | University College London | United Kingdom |
| 1986 | Gian F. Poggio | The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore | United States |
| 1987 | David Sparks | Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas | US |
| 1988 | Denis Baylor | Stanford University, Stanford | US |
| 1989 | Jeremy Nathans | The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore | US |
| 1990 | John M. Allman | California Institute of Technology, Pasadena | US |
| 1991 | Robert H. Wurtz | National Eye Institute, Bethesda, Maryland | US |
| 1992 | William T. Newsome | Stanford University, Stanford | US |
| 1993 | Rudiger von der Heydt | Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore | US |
| 1994 | Robert Desimone | National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland | US |
| 1995 | Antonio R. Damasio | University of Southern California | US |
| 1996 | Anne Treisman | Princeton University, New Jersey | US |
| 1997 | Claudio Galletti | University of Bologna | Italy |
| 1998 | Heinz Wassle | Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt | Germany |
| 1999 | Nikos Logothetis | Max-Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen | Germany |
| 2000 | Frederick Miles | National Eye Institute, Bethesda, Maryland | US |
| 2001 | David Perrett | University of St. Andrews | Scotland, UK |
| 2002 | Wolfram Schultz | University of Cambridge | UK |
| 2003 | Karl Friston | University College London | UK |
| 2004 | Atsushi Iriki | Tokyo Medical and Dental University | Japan |
| 2005 | Markus Meister | Harvard University, Cambridge | US |
| 2006 | Raymond Joseph Dolan | University College London | UK |
| 2007 | Nancy Kanwisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge | US |
| 2008 | Larry Young | Emory University, Georgia | US |
| 2009 | Karl Deisseroth | Stanford University, Stanford | US |
| 2010 | Daniel Wolpert | Columbia University, New York City | US |
| 2011 | Leslie Ungerleider | National Institute of Mental Health | US |
| 2012 | Michael Shadlen | Columbia University, New York City | US |
| 2013 | Joseph Anthony Movshon | New York University | US |
| 2014 | Doris Tsao | California Institute of Technology | US |
| 2015 | Okihide Hikosaka | National Eye Institute | US |
| 2016 | Eero Simoncelli | New York University, New York, New York | US |
| 2017 | Ken Nakayama | Harvard University | US |
| 2018 | Winrich Freiwald | Rockefeller University | US |
| 2019 | Michael Goldberg | Columbia University | US |
| 2020 | John Maunsell | University of Chicago | US |
| 2021 | Tirin Moore | Stanford University | US |
| 2022 | Margaret Livingstone | Harvard University | US |
| 2023 | Stephen Lisberger | Duke University | US |
| 2024 | Sabine Kastner | Princeton University, New Jersey | US |