Barbara Sahakian facts for kids

Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian is a leading professor at the University of Cambridge. She specializes in understanding how our brains work. She is known for her work in clinical neuropsychology. This field studies how brain conditions affect thinking and behavior.

Professor Sahakian also works as a clinical psychologist at Addenbrooke's Hospital. She is famous around the world for her research. Her work covers how medicines affect the brain, brain ethics, and brain imaging. She helps us understand how our brains control our thoughts, feelings, and actions.

She is a member of Clare Hall, Cambridge. She also leads the International Neuroethics Society. This group thinks about the right and wrong ways to use brain science. She used to be the president of the British Association for Psychopharmacology.

Becoming a Brain Expert

Professor Sahakian earned her PhD at Darwin College, Cambridge. Her studies focused on how medicines affect the mind. After that, she became a certified psychologist. This means she is trained to help people with mental health challenges.

What Professor Sahakian Studies

Professor Sahakian is best known for her work on improving brain function. She looks at how certain treatments can boost thinking skills. She also studies how to find Alzheimer's disease early. This is a condition that affects memory and thinking.

Her research also explores how depression affects the brain. She works on the ethics of using "smart drugs." These are medicines that might improve brain power. Her goal is to find better ways to treat brain-related problems. She wants to help people with conditions that affect their thinking, feelings, and behavior.

Her lab focuses on finding brain disorders early. They also test new medicines and brain training methods. These methods aim to improve how the brain works.

Professor Sahakian uses special tools in her research. These include brain scans like fMRI and PET. These scans help her see what's happening inside the brain. Her team studies conditions like ADHD and OCD. They also look at depression and mania.

In 2007, Professor Sahakian raised important questions. She wondered if it was right to use brain-boosting drugs on healthy people. These drugs were originally made for people with conditions like dementia. In 2014, she wrote about how to keep our brains healthy. She worked with many experts on this topic.

Professor Sahakian has written over 400 scientific papers. Many of these have been in top journals like Science and Nature. She also helps edit a journal called Psychological Medicine.

She also co-wrote a book called 'Bad Moves'. This book talks about why we make bad decisions. It also discusses the ethics of smart drugs. She also helped edit 'The Oxford Handbook of Neuroethics'.

Besides her leadership roles, Professor Sahakian is part of other important groups. She is a member of the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology. She also advises the ECNP. She is a research fellow at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. She was also named one of the top women in science by the Royal Institution.

Brain Tests She Helped Create

Professor Sahakian helped create special brain tests in the 1980s. These are called the CANTAB tests. They are now used in over 700 research centers worldwide. More than 1,200 scientific papers support their use. Professor Sahakian works as a senior consultant for Cambridge Cognition. This company provides the CANTAB tests.

One of these tests, the CANTAB PAL, checks visual memory. It also assesses how well someone learns new things. This test received a top rating in 2014. It was also highlighted as a boost to the UK economy.

Helping Shape Brain Health Policy

Professor Sahakian plays a big role in creating policies about brain health. She helped with a report on major challenges in global mental health. She also worked on the UK Government Foresight Project in 2008. This project focused on keeping brains healthy throughout life. It also highlighted how our brains can cope with stress.

She spoke about brain health policy at the World Economic Forum in 2014. This event took place in Davos, Switzerland. She is also a member of the WEF Global Agenda Council on Brain Research.

In the News

Professor Sahakian often talks to the public about science. She has appeared on TV shows like BBC Newsnight. She has also been on radio shows like The Life Scientific and the Today Programme. She has given interviews to newspapers like The Sunday Times and Forbes.

In 2014, she answered questions from the public online. She talked about topics like depression and brain-boosting drugs. In 2014, she also explained that the idea of using only "10% of our brains" is a myth. In 2015, she advised on an event at the Science Museum. She often talks about how important it is to understand brain health and disease.

Awards and Recognition

Since 2004, Professor Sahakian has been a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. This is a high honor for medical scientists. She is also linked to the Human Brain Project. She is also a judge for the 2017 Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung Prize.

In 2005, she was given a special chair at the University of Utrecht. In 2009, she received an award from the University of Pennsylvania. In 2010, she got the Senior Investigator Award from the ICGP. She also gave an important lecture in Melbourne, Australia, in 2008.

In 2015, the University of Cambridge gave her a Doctor of Science degree. This is the highest degree the university gives for outstanding research in science.

In 2017, she was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA). This means she is recognized as a top expert in humanities and social sciences in the UK.

Selected Books

• Mental Capital and Wellbeing (2009)
• Oxford Handbook of Neuroethics (2011)
• Bad Moves: How Decision Making Goes Wrong, and the Ethics of Smart Drugs (2013)
• Translational Neuropsychopharmacology (2016)