Residence UK Name Uta Frith | Children 2 Citizenship Germany | |
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Alma mater Universitat des SaarlandesUniversity of London (Institute of Psychiatry) Thesis Pattern detection in normal and autistic children (1968) Books Autism: Explaining the Enigma, Autismo, Understanding Developmental Disorders Similar People Chris Frith, Simon Baron‑Cohen, Sarah‑Jayne Blake, Simon Frith, Richard Dawkins | ||
Uta frith autism the first fifty years mind brain behavior distinguished lecture
Uta Frith, DBE (Hon), FRS, FBA, FMedSci (née Aurnhammer; born 25 May 1941) is a German developmental psychologist working at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London. She has pioneered much of the current research in autism and dyslexia, and has written several books on these issues.
Contents
- Uta frith autism the first fifty years mind brain behavior distinguished lecture
- Uta frith 10 autism theory of mind and the 1
- Education
- Research
- Supporting women in science
- In the media
- Awards
- Personal life
- References
Her book Autism: Explaining the Enigma provides an introduction to the cognitive neuroscience of autism. Among the students she has mentored are Tony Attwood, Margaret Snowling, Simon Baron-Cohen and Francesca Happé.
Uta frith 10 autism theory of mind and the 1
Education
She was born Uta Aurnhammer in Rockenhausen, Germany. She completed her undergraduate degree in experimental psychology at Saarland University in Saarbrücken. She trained in clinical psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London and went on to complete her Doctor of Philosophy, on pattern detection in normal and autistic children, in 1968.
She was mentored, during her early career, by Neil O'Connor and Beate Hermelin and has described them as pioneers in the field of autism.
Research
Frith's research initiated the current representation of a theory of mind deficit in autism. While she was a member of the Cognitive Development Unit (CDU) in London, in 1985 she published with Alan M. Leslie and Simon Baron-Cohen the famous article Does the autistic child have a "theory of mind"?, which proposed that people with autism have specific difficulties understanding other people's beliefs and desires.
She was one of the first to study Asperger's syndrome in the UK and her work has focused on reading development, spelling and dyslexia.
She has also suggested that individuals with autism have 'weak central coherence', and are better than typical individuals at processing details but worse at integrating information from many different sources. Frith was one of the first neuroscientists to recognise "autism as a condition of the brain rather than the result of cold parenting."
She has been supported through her career by the Medical Research Council at University College London. Frith is an active collaborator at the Interacting Minds Centre at Aarhus University in Denmark. The goal of the centre is to provide a transdisciplinary platform upon which the many aspects of human interaction may be studied. The project is based in part on her paper, with Chris Frith, Interacting Minds – a Biological Basis.
Supporting women in science
Frith has advocated for the advancement of women in science, in part by developing a support network called Science & Shopping which she hopes will "encourage women to share ideas and information that are inspiring and fun". She also co-founded the UCL Women network, "a grassroots networking and social organization for academic staff (postdocs and above) in STEM at UCL", in January 2013.
In the media
In December 2012, Frith appeared as a guest on BBC Two's Dara Ó Briain's Science Club. On 1 March 2013 she was the guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.
From 31 March to 4 April 2014, to coincide with World Autism Awareness Day on 2 April, she was the guest of Sarah Walker on BBC Radio 3's Essential Classics. She featured in the documentary Living with Autism as part of the BBC's Horizon series which was transmitted on 1 April 2014.
Frith has written on the visibility of women in science, by promoting an exhibition on female scientist portraits at The Royal Society in 2013.
On 26 August 2015 Frith presented the BBC Two programme Horizon entitled "OCD: A Monster in my Mind".
Awards
Frith was elected Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2005, a Fellow of the British Academy,, a Honorary Fellow of the British Psychological Society in 2006, a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences, a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, an Honorary Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge and an Honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. She was President of the Experimental Psychology Society, 2006–07.
Personal life
Frith is married to Chris Frith, professor emeritus at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at University College London. In 2008 their double portrait was painted by Emma Wesley. They have two children: computational biologist Martin C. Frith and children's book editor Alex Frith.
In 2009 Uta Frith and her husband jointly received the European Latsis Prize for their contribution to understanding the human mind and brain. In 2014 they were awarded the Jean Nicod Prize for their work on social cognition.