World renowned scientist, Dr. Brenda Milner celebrated by her colleagues
Dr. Brenda Milner, an active researcher at the age of 91 at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, has been awarded the 2010 Norman A. Anderson Lifetime Achievement Award for her fundamental contributions to the science of memory and the brain. Dr. Milner is widely recognized as one of the founders of cognitive neuroscience–the field that brings together brain and behavior. The Society of Experimental Psychologists, an organization founded in 1904 and dedicated to the advancement of psychology, presented the award in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The creative and precise methodology developed by Dr. Milner to study amnesic and other patients led her to conclusions that radically changed the way we think about memory. Nobel Laureate Eric Kandel credits Dr. Milner with taking the critical step of merging the fields of neurobiology and psychology to form this new field that has spawned a vast body of research in human cognition. Importantly, her research has also had a profound and continuing influence on clinical domains in the development of tests to assess, diagnose, and treat people with brain disorders resulting from traumatic injury and degenerative diseases, and from psychiatric illness.
Her scientific contributions have been recognized by more than 20 honorary degrees and many prestigious awards from Canadian and international scientific societies. She is a fellow of the Royal Society (UK), the Royal Society of Canada and the National Academy of Sciences (USA), and was recently awarded the highly coveted Balzan Prize, an international award of nearly $1 million promoting innovative research.
About the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital:
The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital - The Neuro is a unique academic medical centre dedicated to neuroscience. The Neuro is a research and teaching institute of McGill University and forms the basis for the Neuroscience Mission of the McGill University Health Centre. Founded in 1934 by the renowned Dr. Wilder Penfield, The Neuro is recognized internationally for integrating research, compassionate patient care and advanced training, all key to advances in science and medicine. Neuro researchers are world leaders in cellular and molecular neuroscience, brain imaging, cognitive neuroscience and the study and treatment of epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and neuromuscular disorders. For more information, please visit www.mni.mcgill.ca.