Brenda Milner
British-born Canadian neuropsychologist who studied memory in patient H.M
Neuropsychologist at McGill University and the Montreal Neurological Institute. Her studies of patient H.M., after removal of both medial temporal lobes, showed that memory depends on more than one brain system.
Why this person matters
Milner's testing of H.M. showed that new long-term memories can be lost while skill learning continues. The work depended on the neurosurgeons Wilder Penfield and William Scoville, her supervisor Donald Hebb, and later colleagues such as Suzanne Corkin.
Main contributions
Scoville and Milner (1957)
Their paper on loss of recent memory after bilateral hippocampal lesions described H.M., whose surgery for severe epilepsy removed both medial temporal lobes and left him unable to commit new events to long-term memory. His memories from before the operation appeared intact.
Skill learning without conscious memory
H.M. learned mirror drawing of a star and improved over three days without remembering the practice sessions. This suggested separate memory systems, later linked to declarative and procedural memory.
Neuropsychology with epilepsy patients
From 1950 at the Montreal Neurological Institute she studied epilepsy patients treated with brain surgery, working alongside the neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield.
Context and limits
H.M. is a single surgical case, studied over decades, and the wider findings also draw on other patients who had brain surgery for epilepsy. Corkin, Milner's doctoral student, continued the study of H.M., and later researchers have refined the interpretation of the memory systems. The sources read describe no ethical criticism of the research.
In your introductory course
Memory.Appears in the memory chapter wherever H.M. and the distinction between declarative and procedural memory are taught, and in the biological chapter on the hippocampus.
Related course reading: Psychology 2e, section 8.2. This is course context rather than a biographical source.
Years of active work
- 1950
Began work at the Montreal Neurological Institute with patients of Wilder Penfield.
- 1952
Received her PhD from McGill University under Donald Hebb.
- 1957
Published the paper with William Scoville on H.M.
- 1968
Published a 14-year follow-up study of H.M. with Suzanne Corkin and Hans-Lukas Teuber.
Sources
- APA Psychology's Feminist Voices, Brenda MilnerSociety or association. Institutional biography inspected.
- Association for Psychological Science, Still charting memory's depths (2013)Society or association. Reference article inspected.
- Wikipedia, Brenda MilnerReference work. Reference article inspected.