Milner, Brenda Atkinson (1918—)

English-born Canadian psychologist who pioneered in the discipline of neuropsychology . Born Brenda Atkinson Langford in Manchester, England, in 1918; Cambridge University, M.A., 1949; attended the Montreal Neurological Institute; McGill University, Ph.D., 1952.

Educated at Cambridge University in England, psychologist Brenda Milner emigrated to Canada in 1944, to join the Institute de Psychologie at the Université de Montreal. She received her Ph.D. from McGill University in 1952, completing a study of the intellectual effects of temporal lobe damage in humans. She then went on to serve concurrently at the Montreal Neurological Institute and as a professor at McGill University, where she became one of the pioneers in neuropsychology. Milner is best known for her investigations into brain function, particularly how the brain structure creates new memory. Much of her research has involved patients with profound amnesia following brain excisions for the treatment of epilepsy. Her work has not only added substantively to the scientific understanding of how the various areas of the brain function in relationship to learning, memory, and speech, but has aided in the diagnosis and treatment of temporal-lobe epilepsy.

Over the years, Milner's work has attracted graduate students from around the world who have gone on to establish clinical departments of neuropsychology in medical institutions throughout Canada. She still lectures in brain research and is an active member of many neurological and psychological organizations. Milner has received numerous honors for her pioneering work, including the Wilder Penfield Prize for Biomedical Research from the Province of Quebec in 1993, and fellowships in the Royal Society of Canada and the Royal Society of London. She was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1984, and an Officier de L'Ordre national du Québec in 1995.

Barbara Morgan , Melrose, Massachusetts