Brenda Langford-Milner is Recognized as the Pioneer or Neuropsychology

Born in Manchester England on July 15th of 1918, Brenda Langford was an only child whose father was a music critic, teacher, and journalist and whose mother was a young singing student from a broken home who left school at fourteen to work. Brenda’s father did not trust formal education as he believed that it stifled creativity, therefore, Brenda was home schooled until the age of eight. At that time, her father passed away from tuberculosis and she was sent to a girl’s school where she fell in love with the subject of mathematics. She received a scholarship to Cambridge in 1936, but realizing that she would never distinguish herself at Cambridge in mathematics, she switched to the study of psychology. She knew nothing of psychology but quickly fell in love, realizing that with her innate curiosity, the subject was a perfect fit for her.

In 1939, Brenda received her Bachelor’s degree under the supervision of Dr. Oliver Zangwill. Dr. Zangwill taught her the value of studying brain lesions and showed her that by analyzing disordered function, much could be learned about the function of the normal brain (Worth Publishers, 2005-2008). As Brenda began work on her Master’s at Cambridge, two things happened: she became involved in a wartime project using aptitude testing to determine fighter pilots from bomber pilots; and she met Peter Milner, an electrical engineer. When Milner was invited to Canada to work with physicists on atomic research, they were married and sailed to Montreal, Quebec.

In 1949, Dr. Donald Hebb, Chair of Psychology at McGill University accepted her as a graduate student and then called in a favor from Dr. Wilder Penfield to accept her as a student in 1950 at the Montreal Neural Institute. Sh...

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...gh current research methods she employs utilizing functional magnetic resonance imaging.

References

Bethune, B. (2005). The Good Stuff. Maclean's(cover story) 118( 27/28 ), p. 62.

Eagen, O. (2007, December 6). Brenda Milner: Making a little noise when she walks. McGill Reporter. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: McGill University.

McGill University. (2014). McGill University. Retrieved March 26, 2014, from McGill University: http://www.mcgill.ca/about/history/mcgill-pioneers/milner

Rob. (2013, September 5). 30 Most Influential Psychologists Working Today. Retrieved March 25, 2014, from Best Masters in Psychology: http://www.bestmastersinpsychology

Worth Publishers. (2005-2008). Great Canadians Psychology Website. Retrieved March 26, 2014, from Great Canadians Psychology Website: http://www.psych.ualberta.ca/GCPWS/Milner/Biography/Milner_bio3.html