Patricia Goldman-Rakic

Patricia Goldman-Rakic (pronounced ra-KEESH) (born Patricia Schoer Goldman) (April 22, 1937 – July 31, 2003) was an American neuroscientist/neurobiologist known for her pioneering study of the frontal lobe and her work on the cellular basis of working memory.^[1]

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Life

Education

Born in Salem, Massachusetts, Goldman-Rakic earned her bachelor's degree in neurobiology from Vassar in 1959, and her doctorate from the University of California at Los Angeles in Developmental Psychology in 1963.^[2][3]

Family

Goldman-Rakic had three sisters, all of whom have PhD’s in science. Goldman-Rakic was married to Pasko Rakic, also a neuroscientist; they had no children. Before they were married, Goldman-Rakic and Rakic maintained a long distance relationship between 1974 and 1977. They were married in 1977.^[2]

Career

After postdoctoral positions at UCLA and New York University, she worked at the National Institute of Mental Health in neuropsychology and ultimately as chief of developmental neurobiology.^[2] She moved to Yale School of Medicine in 1979 where she remained until her death. She was The Eugene Higgins Professor of Neuroscience in the neurobiology department with joint appointments in the departments of psychiatry, neurology, and psychology.^[4]

Death

On July 29, 2003, Goldman-Rakic was struck by a car while crossing a street in Hamden, Connecticut. She died two days later, on July 31 at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Goldman-Rakic was 66 years old.^[4] She is buried in Grove Street Cemetery.^[5]

Contributions to science

Goldman-Rakic was the first to discover and describe the order and structure of the frontal cortex. Because of Goldman-Rakic, scientists began to better understand the neurobiological basis of normal behavior and of such disorders as schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, A.D.D., cerebral palsy, Parkinson's, and dementia. She used a multidisciplinary approach applying biochemical, electrophysiological, pharmacological, anatomical and behavioral techniques to study memory, behavior and drugs.^[5]

Awards ^[2]

• National Institute of Mental Health grantee (1980-2000)
• Alden Spencer Award, Columbia University (1982)
• Krieg Cortical Discoverer Award, Cajal Club (1989)
• inducted National Academy of Sciences (1990)
• Fyssen Foundation Prize in Neuroscience (1990)
• Lieber Prize, National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (1991)
• inducted American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1991)
• Robert J. and Claire Pasarow Foundation Award (1993)
• Karl Lashley Award, American Philosophical Society (1996)
• honorary doctorate, Utrecht University (2000)
• Gerard Prize, Society for Neuroscience (2002)

References