Uta Frith

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Autism
  • Dyslexia
    • Uta Frith's voice
    from the BBC programme The Life Scientific, 6 December 2011.[1]
    WebsiteOfficial website

    Uta Frith

    autism[3][4][5][6][7] and dyslexia.[8][9] Her book Autism: Explaining the Enigma[10][11] introduced the cognitive neuroscience of autism. She is credited with creating the Sally–Anne test along with fellow scientists Alan Leslie and Simon Baron-Cohen.[12][13] Among students she has mentored are Tony Attwood, Maggie Snowling, Simon Baron-Cohen and Francesca Happé
    .

    Education

    Uta Aurnhammer was born in

    autistic children, in 1968.[17][18][19][16][20]

    Frith was mentored, during her early career, by

    autism.[21]

    Research

    Frith's research paved the way for the recognition of a

    beliefs and desires. Frith, and her colleagues,[24] created two theories of autism. The first is "lack of implicit mentalizing",[25] a lack of the ability to track others' mental state with a basis in the brain.[26] The second is "weak central coherence"[27] by which she suggested that individuals with autism are better than neurotypical people at processing details, but worse at integrating information from many different sources.[28] Frith was one of the first neuroscientists to recognize autism "as a condition of the brain rather than the result of cold parenting."[29]

    She was one of the first people in the UK to study

    Asperger's syndrome,[30] at MRC-CDU London. Her work also focused on reading development, spelling and dyslexia.[16] Frith attacked the theory that dyslexia was linked to lack of intelligence[31] or caused by sensorimotor impairments.[32] In her book on spelling,[8] she pointed out that some people can be perfectly competent readers, but extremely poor spellers, a group of dyslexics not recognised before.[16] Her research, along with that of Maggie Snowling, showed that people with dyslexia tend to struggle with phonological processing.[33][31] In 1995 Frith, Paulesu, Snowling and colleagues conducted one of the first brain imaging studies with dyslexic adults showing that, while completing tasks requiring phonological processing, people with dyslexia show a lack of functional connectivity within the language network of the brain.[34]

    Frith has been supported throughout her career by the Medical Research Council at University College London.[35] She was an active collaborator at the Interacting Minds Centre[36] at Aarhus University in Denmark. The goal of the centre is to provide a trans-disciplinary platform, upon which the many aspects of human interaction may be studied. The project is based in part on a paper written with Chris Frith: "Interacting Minds – a Biological Basis".[37]

    Among students she has mentored are Tony Attwood,[38] Maggie Snowling,[39] Simon Baron-Cohen[40] and Francesca Happé.[41]

    Supporting women in science

    Frith has encouraged the advancement of

    STEM at UCL," in January 2013.[45] In 2015 she was named chair of the Royal Society's Diversity Committee,[46] during which time she wrote about unconscious bias and how it affects which scientists receive grants.[47]

    In the media

    On 11 May 2012 Frith appeared as a guest on the American PBS Charlie Rose television interview show.[48] On 4 December she appeared as a guest on the "Brain" episode of BBC Two's Dara Ó Briain's Science Club.[49]

    On 1 March 2013, she was the guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.[50] In 2013 Frith wrote on the visibility of women in science, by promoting an exhibition on female scientist portraits at The Royal Society.[51]

    From 31 March to 4 April 2014, to coincide with

    OCD: A Monster in my Mind".[54] On 29 August 2017, she presented the Horizon episode entitled "What Makes a Psychopath?".[55]

    On 13 December 2017, she gave an interview to the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health,[56] in which she talked about her early life and her passion for autism research in children.[13]

    Fellowships and awards

    Frith was elected a

    Honorary Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge in 2008, a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences in 2012, and a member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation in 2014.[57] She was President of the Experimental Psychology Society in 2006 and 2007.[58]

    In 2009, Frith and her husband, Chris, jointly received the European Latsis Prize[59] for their contribution to understanding the human mind and brain,[59] and in 2010 she was awarded the Mind & Brain Prize.[60] She received a William James Fellow Award in 2013.[24] In 2014, she and her husband won the Jean Nicod Prize, for their work on social cognition.[61]

    In 2012, Frith became an

    Honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), which was made substantive on 4 April 2019[62] after the German Government permitted dual British/German nationality.[63] This allowed her to be called Dame Uta. In 2015, she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women.[64]

    Personal life

    Frith married

    Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at University College London. In 2008 a double portrait was painted by Emma Wesley.[66] They have two sons.[67]

    References

    1. ^ "Uta Frith". The Life Scientific. 6 December 2011. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
    2. ^ "Who's Who 2023".
    3. ISBN 978-0-631-22088-6
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    4. ISBN 978-1-84310-419-3
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    5. ISBN 978-0-19-852924-8
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    6. ISBN 978-0-521-38608-1
      .
    7. ISBN 978-0-1992-0756-5
      .
    8. ^
      ISBN 978-0-12-268662-7
      .
    9. ISBN 978-1-4051-2401-0
      .
    10. S2CID 149418391
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    11. doi:10.1348/026151003322277801
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    12. PMID 27184176
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    13. ^ a b "Professor Uta Frith - Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health". ACAMH. 13 December 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
    14. ^ "Professor Uta Frith". University College London. 25 May 1941. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
    15. ISBN 9780140203851
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    16. ^
      PMID 18038335
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    17. OCLC 728381460
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    18. PMID 5490707
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    19. PMID 5459646
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    20. ^ Profile, University College London. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
    21. ^ "Looking back: My mentors Beate Hermelin and Neil O'Connor". Retrieved 10 June 2015.
    22. ^ Askham, A. V. (2022). "'Theory of mind' in autism: A research field reborn".
    23. S2CID 14955234. Pdf
      .
    24. ^ a b "Uta Frith". Association for Psychological Science - APS. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
    25. S2CID 46644086
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    26. S2CID 16198411.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
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    27. ISBN 9780199207565
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    28. S2CID 14999943
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    29. ^ Kellaway, Kate (17 February 2013). "Uta Frith: 'The brain is not a pudding; it is an engine'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
    30. ISBN 9780521386081
    31. ^
      doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-0909(199912)5:4<192::AID-DYS144>3.0.CO;2-N
      .
    32. PMID 16669791.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
      )
    33. ISSN 0261-510X
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    34. PMID 8624677.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
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    35. ^ "Spotlight on Uta Frith". 10 July 2013.
    36. ^ "interactingminds.au.dk". interactingminds.au.dk.
    37. PMID 10576727
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    38. ^ "Tony Attwood personal website". Retrieved 10 June 2015.
    39. ^ "Professor Maggie Snowling". St John's College.
    40. ^ "Simon Baron-Cohen University of Cambridge staff profile". Retrieved 10 June 2015.
    41. ^ "Francesca Happé IOP staff profile". Retrieved 10 June 2015.
    42. ^ "Science&shopping". sites.google.com.
    43. ^ Kylie Sturgess (28 October 2012). "#142 – On Women in Science and Wikipedia" (Podcast). tokenskeptic.org.
    44. ^ "Equality networks at UCL". Work at UCL. 21 August 2019.
    45. ^ "UCL Women". Retrieved 10 June 2015.
    46. ^ "Uta Frith". sites.google.com. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
    47. ^ "Implicit and unconscious, the bias in us all | In Verba | Royal Society". blogs.royalsociety.org. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
    48. ^ "Autism - Charlie Rose". charlierose.com. 11 May 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
    49. ^ "Professor Uta Frith on BBC2 Dara O Briain's Science Club". BBC. 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
    50. ^ "Professor Uta Frith on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs". bps.org.uk. 2013. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
    51. ^ Frith, Uta (1 July 2013). "Invisible women of science – now appearing at the Royal Society". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
    52. ^ "BBC Radio 3 – Essential Classics, Monday – Sarah Walker with Uta Frith". BBC. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
    53. ^ "Living with Autism". BBC. 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
    54. ^ "OCD: A Monster in my Mind". BBC.
    55. ^ "What Makes a Psychopath?". BBC.
    56. ^ "The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH)". ACAMH.
    57. ^ "Uta Frith elected member of EMBO". cfin.au.dk. 14 May 2014.
    58. ^ "Previous Committee Officers". Experimental Psychology Society. 17 October 2017.
    59. ^ a b "Professors Chris and Uta Frith win European Latsis Prize". 19 November 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
    60. ^ "Mind & Brain Prize - Mente e Cervello". www.mentecervello.it. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
    61. ^ "2014 Jean Nicod Prize". Institut Nicod.
    62. ^ "Honours and Awards | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk.
    63. ^ Amt, Auswärtiges. "Retention of German citizenship upon naturalisation in another country". uk.diplo.de.
    64. ^ "BBC 100 Women 2015: Who is on the list?". BBC News. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
    65. ^ "Investigating Psychology: CHIPs". www2.open.ac.uk.
    66. ^ "The Neuroscientists: Portrait of Chris and Uta Frith". emma-wesley.co.uk.
    67. ^ "Investigating Psychology: CHIPs". www2.open.ac.uk.

    External links

    Scholia has an author profile for Uta Frith.
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