Richard Passingham facts for kids

Richard Edward Passingham (born 16 August 1943) is a British neuroscientist. A neuroscientist is a scientist who studies the brain and nervous system. He is well-known for his work on how the front part of the brain, called the frontal lobe, helps us make decisions and control our actions. He is one of the most often cited neuroscientists, meaning many other scientists refer to his work.

Education and Early Studies

Richard Passingham went to Shrewsbury School and then to Balliol College, Oxford. In 1966, he earned a degree in Psychology and Philosophy. The next year, he studied Abnormal Psychology at the Maudsley Hospital in London. In 1970, he completed his studies to become a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) at the University of London. This is a very high academic degree.

A Career in Brain Science

Professor Passingham is now a retired professor at the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford. He also works with the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging at University College London. He has spent most of his career at these two important places. He has written over 200 research papers and eight books about his findings.

Understanding the Frontal Lobes

Professor Passingham's work has greatly changed how we understand the frontal lobes of the brain. These are the parts of your brain right behind your forehead. He studied both monkey and human brains.

He did early studies on the prefrontal cortex in monkeys. This is a key part of the frontal lobe. He also helped us understand the premotor and supplementary motor cortex. These areas help plan and control movements.

Later, he used special brain imaging tools to study human brains. His research showed how important the prefrontal cortex is for many brain functions.

How Brain Areas Work Together

Professor Passingham was one of the first to use brain imaging to see how the brain works. Before this, imaging was mostly used to just map out brain parts. He showed that different brain areas work together in a dynamic way. This means an area's job can change depending on what the brain is doing.

For example, the same brain area might work with one part of the brain for one task. For a different task, it might work with another part. This shows how flexible and connected our brains are.

The Importance of Brain Connections

Professor Passingham believes that how the brain works depends on how its parts are connected. He found that each part of the brain has its own special connections. These connections mostly decide what that brain area does.

However, he also found that some brain areas have similar connections. These areas form "families" or systems that work together. He mapped these connections in monkey brains. Then, he used these maps to understand human brains with imaging studies. This helped him learn how one brain area influences another.

Using Brain Imaging Technology

Professor Passingham started by studying each part of the frontal lobes in monkeys. His early findings were put into his important book, 'The Frontal Lobes and Voluntary Action' (1993).

When brain imaging became available for humans, he was quick to use it. He began using PET scans in 1988 at the Hammersmith Hospital. From 1995, he used fMRI scans at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging (UCL). He was one of the founding scientists there.

For much of his career, he had two research teams. One team in Oxford worked with monkeys and a human brain stimulation method called rTMS. The other team in London used brain imaging on humans.

Recognition for His Work

In 2009, Richard Passingham was chosen to be a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists in the United Kingdom. It shows how important his discoveries have been in the field of neuroscience.