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newly developed brain-imaging technique of positron emission tomography (PET). Using this technique, to which our group added functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), after moving to the Wellcome Trust Imaging Centre at UCL, I was able to look directly at the neural basis of cognitive processes. (What we measure Chris Frith, winner of the Society’s 2008 Book Award with Making Up the Mind, with PET and fMRI is not neural activity, on how his ideas have developed, and the surprising implications but changes in blood flow that occur as a result of changes in neural activity.) These were wonderful new techniques, My book Making Up the Mind is lthough I originally trained as a but to use them properly required partly a scientific autobiography, clinical psychologist, in the days considerably more thought than was describing a career that seems to when this was a 13-month course applied initially. So it became obvious very have taken a satisfyingly circular leading to a diploma, my subsequent soon that applying these new imaging course. This has progressed from career has been devoted to research, techniques to the study of schizophrenia an interest in the newest although always in a medical setting. would be fruitless since we knew so little mathematical approaches to human I have been particularly fortunate in about the relationship between brain behaviour, to the study of that I have worked in multidisciplinary function and mental activity. Ironically, schizophrenia via behaviourism and groups. Tea-time conversations, in those considering we are measuring objective, clinical psychology, to cognitive days when there was still tea-time, physical activity, the restrictions on what neuropsychology and new covered everything from you can do while lying techniques of brain imaging. Now synapses and in a brain scanner make I find myself almost back where neurotransmitters to it easier to study “it is the study of I began, as I embark on a project to consciousness and subjective experiences consciousness that will model human social interactions in expressed emotion. rather than objective help us to understand terms of Bayesian learning My work on behaviour. In many schizophrenia” algorithms, and watch in schizophrenia began of the early studies admiration as colleagues achieve almost by chance when volunteers lay in the so much with this approach. Hans Eysenck assigned scanner and imagined me this topic for the new addition of his making movements (Stephan et al., 1995) Handbook of Abnormal Psychology. My or imagined seeing faces (O’Craven & research aimed to understand the typical Kanwisher, 2000). symptoms associated with this diagnosis in terms of neuropsychology. It took a while Experimental psychology has revealed How do we know about the to dawn on me that, even as a psychologist much about the cognitive processes that world? interested in behaviour and introspection, underlie faculties such as perception Another unexpected advantage of I was actually studying how the brain and decision making. Can we scanning is the ability to look at brain works. Whatever the ultimate causes of understand group perception and group activity that occurs without awareness. schizophrenia, there is a neural basis to decision making, starting with groups of Of course, there are elegant behavioural symptoms such as hallucinations and two, in terms of these same processes? paradigms for looking at effects of delusions. In my book The Cognitive unconscious processing, but once you Neuropsychology of Schizophrenia (Frith, have asked your volunteers whether they 1992) I developed some ideas about the www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/Frith/Booksite/ noticed some stimulus that was irrelevant cognitive basis of hallucinations and index.html to the task they were performing, their delusions and speculated on their neural Fletcher, P.C. & Frith, C.D. (2009). focus of attention is irrevocably altered. correlates. Perceiving is believing: A Bayesian With the scanner you can measure At this time I was incredibly fortunate approach to explaining the positive whether stimuli outside awareness elicit to be given the chance to move to the symptoms of schizophrenia. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10, 48–58. brain activity without ever mentioning MRC Cyclotron Unit. At that time this was these stimuli to the volunteers. Such the only place in the UK with access to the
Making up the mind
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Dimberg, U., Thunberg, M. & Elmehed, K. (2000). Unconscious facial reactions to emotional facial expressions. Psychological Science, 11, 86–89. Fehr, E. & Gächter, S. (2002). Altruistic punishment in humans. Nature, 415, 137–140. Fletcher, P.C. & Frith, C.D. (2009). Perceiving is believing: A Bayesian approach to explaining the positive
symptoms of schizophrenia. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10, 48–58. Frith, C.D. (1992). The cognitive neuropsychology of schizophrenia. Hove: Lawrence Erlbaum. Frith, C.D., Perry, R. & Lumer, E. (1999). The neural correlates of conscious experience: An experimental framework. Trends in Cognitive Science, 3, 105–114. Gurerk, O., Irlenbusch, B. & Rockenbach,
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