Professor Uta Frith FBA

Summary

Autism and dyslexia have been Professor Frith's main research interests over the last 50 years. She has attempted to identify the core problems of these neuro-developmental disorders at the cognitive level and made connections from cognitive mechanisms to underlying brain systems and studied their function and dysfunction. She has also made connections from cognitive mechanisms to behavioural phenomena and shown that they change as a result of compensatory learning. Currently she is thinking and writing about cognitive mechanisms that underlie our everyday social interactions, and in particular the automatic ability to take into account others' mental states. Professor Frith now spends more time on science communication and on the promotion of women in science. She is pursuing this through sponsoring women in informal networks, using social media, including her Twitter account @utafrith, and contributing to documentaries. She is a member of the British Academy Communications and Engagements Committee.