Mary Robertson | |
---|---|
Born | Mary May Robertson 7 June 1948 Johannesburg, Transvaal, Union of South Africa |
Known for | Research on Tourette syndrome |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | University of Cape Town |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Psychiatry |
Institutions | University College London |
Mary May Robertson (born 7 June 1948) is a South African neuropsychiatrist and academic. She holds honorary positions at the University of Cape Town and University College London,where she serves as an Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychiatry and Professor at the Department of Psychiatry respectively. She is a consultant at St George's Hospital,London. [1]
Robertson studied at the University of Cape Town (UCT),and graduated with a medical degree in 1971. After being trained in the UK,and obtaining her qualification in Psychiatry,she became a fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 1991. She did a three-year doctorate degree at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery,Queen Square,London,and was made a Professor at the University College London (UCL) in 1998. [2] [3] During that period,she was awarded a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. She received her Doctor of Science in Medicine in 2006. She was the first woman to receive that degree from UCT. [4] She was elected as a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society for travelling in 1976 "on a yacht,circumnavigating under square rig while undertaking solo expeditions upriver,and living with the Ibans in the Borneo jungle". [2]
Robertson's research explored Tourette syndrome; [1] [5] she authored or co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed articles and four books. In 2000 she co-founded in Denmark with Anne Korsgaad the European Society for the Study of Tourette Syndrome (ESSTS),of which she was appointed Honorary President for Life in 2008. [6] [7] She retired early in 2002 due to poor health and was appointed Emeritus Professor of UCL.
Tourette syndrome or Tourette's syndrome is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic. Common tics are blinking, coughing, throat clearing, sniffing, and facial movements. These are typically preceded by an unwanted urge or sensation in the affected muscles known as a premonitory urge, can sometimes be suppressed temporarily, and characteristically change in location, strength, and frequency. Tourette's is at the more severe end of a spectrum of tic disorders. The tics often go unnoticed by casual observers.
Pimozide is a neuroleptic drug of the diphenylbutylpiperidine class. It was discovered at Janssen Pharmaceutica in 1963. It has a high potency compared to chlorpromazine. On a weight basis it is even more potent than haloperidol. It also has special indication for Tourette syndrome and resistant tics.
Coprolalia is involuntary swearing or the involuntary utterance of obscene words or socially inappropriate and derogatory remarks. The word comes from the Greek κόπρος, meaning "dung, feces", and λαλιά "speech", from λαλεῖν "to talk".
A tic is a sudden and repetitive motor movement or vocalization that is not rhythmic and involves discrete muscle groups. It is typically brief and may resemble a normal behavioral characteristic or gesture.
Anthony David FMedSci is a British neuropsychiatrist based at University College London. Previously tenured as professor of cognitive neuropsychiatry and Vice Dean at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, since 2018 he has been Director, University College London, Institute of Mental Health. He is the father of Rebecca David, a Senior Campaign Manager at Influencer LTD and Michael David a junior doctor.
Neuropsychiatry is a branch of medicine that deals with psychiatry as it relates to neurology, in an effort to understand and attribute behavior to the interaction of neurobiology and social psychology factors. Within neuropsychiatry, the mind is considered "as an emergent property of the brain", whereas other behavioral and neurological specialties might consider the two as separate entities. Those disciplines are typically practiced separately.
Tic disorders are defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) based on type and duration of tics. Tic disorders are defined similarly by the World Health Organization.
Georges Albert Édouard Brutus Gilles de la Tourette was a French neurologist and the namesake of Tourette syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by tics. His main contributions in medicine were in the fields of hypnotism and hysteria.
Tourette syndrome is an inherited neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence, characterized by the presence of motor and phonic tics. The management of Tourette syndrome has the goal of managing symptoms to achieve optimum functioning, rather than eliminating symptoms; not all persons with Tourette's require treatment, and there is no cure or universally effective medication. Explanation and reassurance alone are often sufficient treatment; education is an important part of any treatment plan.
Causes and origins of Tourette syndrome have not been fully elucidated. Tourette syndrome is an inherited neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence, characterized by the presence of multiple motor tics and at least one phonic tic, which characteristically wax and wane. Tourette's syndrome occurs along a spectrum of tic disorders, which includes transient tics and chronic tics.
Arthur K. Shapiro, M.D., was an American psychiatrist and expert on Tourette syndrome. His "contributions to the understanding of Tourette syndrome completely changed the prevailing view of this disorder"; he has been described as "the father of modern tic disorder research" and is "revered by his colleagues as the first dean of modern Tourette syndrome researchers".
Dame Uta Frith is a German-British developmental psychologist and emeritus professor in cognitive development at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London (UCL). She pioneered much of the current research into autism and dyslexia. Her book Autism: Explaining the Enigma introduced the cognitive neuroscience of autism. She is credited with creating the Sally–Anne test along with fellow scientists Alan Leslie and Simon Baron-Cohen. Among students she has mentored are Tony Attwood, Maggie Snowling, Simon Baron-Cohen and Francesca Happé.
Tourette syndrome (TS) is an inherited neurological disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence, characterized by the presence of multiple physical (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic.
Brain fag syndrome (BFS) describes a set of symptoms including difficulty in concentrating and retaining information, head and or neck pains, and eye pain. Brain fag is believed to be most common in adolescents and young adults due to the pressure occurring in life during these years. The term, now outdated, was first used in 19th-century Britain before becoming a colonial description of Nigerian high school and university students in the 1960s. Its consideration as a culture-bound syndrome caused by excessive pressure to be successful among the young is disputed by Ayonrinde (2020)
Tourettes Action is a United Kingdom support and research charity for people with Tourette syndrome (TS) and their families. TS is a neurological condition characterised by tics—involuntary sounds and movements.
The health of Samuel Johnson has been a focus of the biographical and critical analysis of his life. His medical history was well documented by Johnson and his friends, and those writings have allowed later critics and doctors to infer diagnoses of conditions that were unknown in Johnson's day.
James Frederick Leckman is an American child psychiatrist and psychoanalyst and the Neison Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry, Psychiatry, Psychology and Pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine, recognized for his research in Tourette syndrome (TS) and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD).
Ulisa Diane Buckingham is an African-American psychiatrist known for her development of culturally sensitive diagnosis and treatment of mental illness in children and adolescents.
Valsamma Eapen is a chair of infant, child and adolescent psychiatry at UNSW Sydney. She is a fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, and the Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK.
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