Patricia Goldman-Rakic
American neuroscientist of the prefrontal cortex and working memory
American neuroscientist at the National Institute of Mental Health and Yale. Her studies in nonhuman primates linked the prefrontal cortex to working memory and examined the role of dopamine in prefrontal function.
Why this person matters
Goldman-Rakic gave the cognitive concept of working memory a neural basis in prefrontal cortex. She trained in psychology, worked in neuroanatomy and electrophysiology, and co-founded the journal Cerebral Cortex with Pasko Rakic.
Main contributions
Prefrontal cortex and working memory
In nonhuman primates she identified the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex as central to working memory. Single-cell recordings showed neurons staying active during delay periods, which she proposed as a basis of short-term memory.
Dopamine and prefrontal function
Yale's obituary says she found in the 1970s that losing dopamine in the prefrontal cortex caused major working memory deficits. She pioneered studies of how dopamine input influences prefrontal function.
Methods across levels
She combined neuroanatomical tracing, electrophysiology and behavioural experiments.
Context and limits
Her proposals linking prefrontal dopamine to psychiatric disorders are hypotheses, not settled findings: a recent review of her career connects her work to schizophrenia and ADHD but does not describe specific experiments for those links. Most of her experimental work used nonhuman primates, so extension to humans rests on further evidence.
In your introductory course
Biological bases of behaviour.Appears in the biological bases and memory chapters where the prefrontal cortex is linked to working memory and in material on dopamine.
Related course reading: Psychology 2e, section 3.1. This is course context rather than a biographical source.
Years of active work
- 1965
Began work at the National Institute of Mental Health.
- 1975
Became chief of Developmental Neurobiology at the National Institute of Mental Health.
- 1979
Moved to Yale University School of Medicine.
- 1989
Began a term as president of the Society for Neuroscience, ending in 1990.
Sources
- Yale News, In memoriam: Patricia Goldman-Rakic, preeminent Yale neuroscientist (2003)University. Institutional biography inspected.
- PubMed Central, Patricia Goldman-Rakic: A Pioneer in Cognitive NeurosciencePublisher. Text passages inspected.
- Wikipedia, Patricia Goldman-RakicReference work. Reference article inspected.