The Physiological Society is sad to announce the death of Professor Sir Colin Blakemore. Professor Sir Blakemore was President of The Society from 2001 to 2003 and was a consulting editor for The Journal of Physiology. His loss will be deeply felt by The Society and those that knew and worked with him.

Blakemore was a neuroscientist who contributed to our understanding of vision, and how the brain develops and adapts. He was influential in demonstrating plasticity of the brain (the capacity of brain cells to reorganise themselves in response to the environment). He later studied conditions such as stroke and Huntington’s disease, exploring how the brain’s ability to reorganise itself can help the process of recovery, as other parts of the brain can take over the function of the damaged part.

Alongside his academic career, Blakemore was a well-known communicator. He was passionate about the importance of public engagement, especially on controversial and challenging topics such as the use of animals in research. In 1976, at the age of 32, he was the youngest person to give the BBC Reith Lectures, for which he presented a series of six talks entitled ‘Mechanics of the Mind’.

He held several prominent positions, including head of the Medical Research Council, and was awarded prizes for his achievements from many academies and societies, including the Royal Society, the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences, the French Académie Nationale de Médecine, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. In 2014, Blackmore received a knighthood in honour of his services to scientific research, policy and outreach.

Read the Royal Society obituary