Brenda Milner

A pioneer in the study of memory and other human cognitive functions, the MUHC’s Brenda Milner has dedicated her distinguished career to the field of neuroscience research.

Born in Manchester, England, Milner completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Experimental Psychology at Cambridge University. After coming to Canada to teach at l’Université de Montréal, she earned a Ph.D. in Physiological Psychology from McGill University.

Milner’s illustrious career as an expert in clinical neuropsychology began at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) in 1950, where she studied the behaviour of Dr. Wilder Penfield’s patients who had undergone a focal removal of cerebral tissue for the treatment of epilepsy. She established a laboratory of neuropsychology at the MNI in 1952 where she is currently the Dorothy J. Killam Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience. Milner expanded her exploration of brain-function relationships to include the study of brain activity in normal subjects through brain imaging analysis using positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Still a major contributor to her field, Milner’s groundbreaking work in both cognitive and clinical neuroscience has been recognized by an array of distinctions. Recipient of over a dozen honorary degrees, Milner was appointed Career Investigator by the Medical Research Council of Canada in 1964, awarded the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award of the American Psychological Association in 1973, and received the prestigious Isaak Walton Killam Memorial Prize in 1983 from the Canada Council for the Arts. She is an Officier de l’Ordre national du Québec and was promoted in 2004 to a Companion of the Order of Canada. In 2005, Milner was honoured with the prestigious Gairdner International Award for her pioneering research in memory.