Barbara Sahakian

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Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian
Institutions University of Cambridge
Christ's College, Cambridge
Clare Hall, Cambridge
Thesis The effects of isolation on the unconditional behaviour and response to drugs in rats (1977)
Notable awards Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (2004)
Spouse Trevor Robbins[1][2]
Barbara Sahakian's voice
from the BBC programme The Life Scientific, 29 May 2012.[3]

Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian FMedSci is Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the Department of Psychiatry and MRC/Wellcome Trust Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge. She has an international reputation in the fields of cognitive psychopharmacology, neuroethics, neuropsychology, neuropsychiatry and neuroimaging.[4][5][6]

Professor Sahakian is a Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge and Bye-Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge. She is currently President of the British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP).[7]

Research

Sahakian's research is aimed at understanding the neural basis of cognitive, emotional and behavioural dysfunction in order to develop more effective pharmacological and psychological treatments. The focus of her lab is on early detection, differential diagnosis and proof of concept studies using cognitive enhancing drugs. This research utilises neuropsychological tests, such as the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) tests, which she co-invented, and a focus remains on the development of novel tests.[8] Techniques used include psychopharmacological, neuropsychological and neuroimaging (fMRI and PET). Key research areas for her group are Alzheimer’s disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive compulsive disorder, substance abuse, depression and mania.[4]

Sahakian has published over 300 papers[5] covering these topics in scientific journals, including many publications in the prestigious scientific and medical journals Science,[9] Nature,[10] Nature Neuroscience,[11] The Lancet,[12] and the British Medical Journal.[13][14] The ISI Web of Science database credits her with a Hirsch (h) Index of 84.

Professor Sahakian was one of the first researchers to suggest that attentional dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease could be ameliorated using pharmacotherapy, such as cholinesterase inhibitors.[15] In addition, she was early to highlight the cognitive changes in unipolar and bipolar depression, as well as their significance for functional outcome.[16]

In June 2013, Professor Sahakian raised concerns regarding the ethics of using drugs intended to help dementia and Alzheimer's sufferers to instead enhance cognitive function in healthy people.[17]

Education

After completing a PhD[18] in Experimental Psychology at The University of Cambridge, Sahakian studied for a Diploma in Clinical Psychology and became a Chartered Psychologist.[19]

External links

References

  1. ↑ "ROBBINS, Prof. Trevor William’, Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 ; online edn, Nov 2012". (subscription required)
  2. ↑ Rogers, R.; Everitt, B. J.; Baldacchino, A.; Blackshaw, A. J.; Swainson, R.; Wynne, K.; Baker, N. B.; Hunter, J.; Carthy, T.; Booker, E.; London, M.; Deakin, J. F.; Sahakian, B. J.; Robbins, T. W. (1999). "Dissociable Deficits in the Decision-Making Cognition of Chronic Amphetamine Abusers, Opiate Abusers, Patients with Focal Damage to Prefrontal Cortex, and Tryptophan-Depleted Normal Volunteers Evidence for Monoaminergic Mechanisms". Neuropsychopharmacology 20 (4): 322–339. doi:10.1016/S0893-133X(98)00091-8. PMID 10088133. 
  3. ↑ "Barbara Sahakian". The Life Scientific. 29 May 2012. BBC Radio 4. http://bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01j5j24. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://www.neuroscience.cam.ac.uk/directory/profile.php?barbara Sahakian’s profile at Cambridge Neuroscience
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 List of publications from Microsoft Academic Search
  6. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - The Life Scientific, Barbara Sahakian". Retrieved 2012-12-04. 
  7. ↑ http://www.bap.org.uk/councilmemberdetails.php?memberID=22 BAP officer page
  8. ↑ Sahakian, B. J.; Morris, R. G.; Evenden, J. L.; Heald, A.; Levy, R.; Philpot, M.; Robbins, T. W. (1988). "A Comparative Study of Visuospatial Memory and Learning in Alzheimer-Type Dementia and Parkinson's Disease". Brain 111 (3): 695–718. doi:10.1093/brain/111.3.695. PMID 3382917. 
  9. ↑ Sahakian, B. J.; Morein-Zamir, S. (2009). "Neuroscientists Need Neuroethics Teaching". Science 325 (5937): 147. doi:10.1126/science.325_147a. PMID 19589983. 
  10. ↑ Insel, T. R.; Sahakian, B. J.; Voon, V.; Nye, J.; Brown, V. J.; Altevogt, B. M.; Bullmore, E. T.; Goodwin, G. M.; Howard, R. J.; Kupfer, D. J.; Malloch, G.; Marston, H. M.; Nutt, D. J.; Robbins, T. W.; Stahl, S.; Tricklebank, M. D.; Williams, J. H. (2012). "Drug research: A plan for mental illness". Nature 483 (7389): 269. doi:10.1038/483269a. PMID 22422245. 
  11. ↑ Aron, A. R.; Fletcher, P. C.; Bullmore, E. T.; Sahakian, B. J.; Robbins, T. W. (2003). "Stop-signal inhibition disrupted by damage to right inferior frontal gyrus in humans". Nature Neuroscience 6 (2): 115–116. doi:10.1038/nn1003. PMID 12536210. 
  12. ↑ Sahakian, B. J.; Malloch, G.; Kennard, C. (2010). "A UK strategy for mental health and wellbeing". The Lancet 375 (9729): 1854. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60817-3. 
  13. ↑ Sugden, C.; Aggarwal, R.; Housden, C.; Sahakian, B. J.; Darzi, A. (2010). "Pharmacological enhancement of performance in doctors". BMJ 340: c2542. doi:10.1136/bmj.c2542. PMID 20483930. 
  14. ↑ Orrell, M.; Sahakian, B. (1995). "Education and dementia". BMJ 310 (6985): 951–952. doi:10.1136/bmj.310.6985.951. PMC 2549351. PMID 7728017. 
  15. ↑ Eagger, S. A.; Levy, R.; Sahakian, B. J. (1991). "Tacrine in Alzheimer's disease". The Lancet 337 (8748): 989. doi:10.1016/0140-6736(91)92656-M. 
  16. ↑ Roiser, J. P.; Elliott, R.; Sahakian, B. J. (2011). "Cognitive Mechanisms of Treatment in Depression". Neuropsychopharmacology 37 (1): 117–136. doi:10.1038/npp.2011.183. PMC 3238070. PMID 21976044. 
  17. ↑ Sahakian, Barbara. "Decision Making & the Ethics of "Smart Drugs"". The Global Herald. 24 Hour Trading Ltd. Retrieved 5 June 2013. 
  18. ↑ Sahakian, Barbara (1977). The effects of isolation on the unconditional behaviour and response to drugs in rats (DPhil thesis). University of Cambridge. 
  19. ↑ http://www.neuroethics.ox.ac.uk/our_members/barbara_sahakian Sahakian’s Oxford Centre for Neuroethics profile
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