Trevor William Robbins

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

FRS FMedSci is a Professor of

cognitive neuroscience Cognitive neuroscience is the scientific field that is concerned with the study of the biological processes and aspects that underlie cognition, with a specific focus on the neural connections in the brain which are involved in mental process ...

and former Head of the Department of Psychology at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. Robbins interests are in the fields of cognitive neuroscience, behavioural neuroscience and

psychopharmacology Psychopharmacology (from Greek grc, ψῡχή, psȳkhē, breath, life, soul, label=none; grc, φάρμακον, pharmakon, drug, label=none; and grc, -λογία, -logia, label=none) is the scientific study of the effects drugs have on moo ...

. Robbins is Director of the University of Cambridge Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute (BCNI). He is a Fellow of

Downing College Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the olde ...

and Past-President of the

British Neuroscience Association The British Neuroscience Association (BNA) is a scientific society with around 2,500 members. Starting out as an informal gathering of scientists meeting at the Black Hourse Public House in London to discuss brain-related topics (the 'London Blac ...

(BNA), the British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP) and the European Behavioural Pharmacology Society (EBPS).

Education

Following admittance in Jesus College at the University of Cambridge, Robbins obtained his Bachelor of Arts (

First Class Honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variat ...

) in psychology in 1971. Following this, he received his PhD degree from the University of Cambridge in 1975 for an analysis of the behavioural effects of

Dextroamphetamine Dextroamphetamine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant and an amphetamine enantiomer that is prescribed for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy. It is also used as an athletic performance and ...

. Robbins is a keen

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

player and represented both England Juniors in 1967 and the University of Cambridge as an undergraduate. He was once ranked in the top twenty players in England and had one of his wins from a

Varsity match A varsity match is a fixture (especially of a sporting event or team) between two university teams, particularly Oxford and Cambridge. The Scottish Varsity rugby match between the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh at Murray ...

in 1970 featured as a classic game in

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...

Career

Robbins was appointed as a Demonstrator in the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Cambridge in 1973. He was subsequently promoted to Lecturer and Reader, before becoming Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience in 1997. Robbins was elected to the Chair, and therefore Head of Department, of Psychology in October 2002, stepping down from the latter role in 2017. The focus of Robbins' work is on the functions of the

frontal lobes The frontal lobe is the largest of the four major lobes of the brain in mammals, and is located at the front of each cerebral hemisphere (in front of the parietal lobe and the temporal lobe). It is parted from the parietal lobe by a groove be ...

of the brain and their regulation by the chemical neurotransmitter systems in humans and other animals. This work is relevant to neuropsychiatric disorders including

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social wi ...

, depression, drug addiction,

obsessive compulsive disorder Obsession may refer to: Psychology * Celebrity worship syndrome, obsessive addictive disorder to a celebrity's personal and professional life * Fixation (psychology), a persistent attachment to an object or idea * Idée fixe (psychology), a pre ...

(OCD),

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inap ...

(ADHD), as well as

Parkinson's Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms become ...

and

Alzheimer's Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...

diseases. Robbins also employs psychological paradigms for investigating cognitive functions, including planning, decision making, learning, attention and self-control, often with

brain imaging Neuroimaging is the use of quantitative (computational) techniques to study the structure and function of the central nervous system, developed as an objective way of scientifically studying the healthy human brain in a non-invasive manner. Incre ...

. His research covers the mechanisms underlying possible cognitive enhancing effects of drugs and understanding the causation and neural basis of drug addiction and impulsive-compulsive behaviour. The work of Robbins and his collaborators led to the formation of the BCNI in 2005, which is jointly funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glax ...

. Robbins is director of the institute, which focuses on translational work leading to the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders. Robbins Chaired the MRC Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Board between 1995 and 1999, and was co-leader of the

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2005 Foresight Project entitled 'Drug Futures 2025?'. He has also consulted for the

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As moder ...

on the state of UK research. Since 2005, Robbins has been a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

. In addition, he is a Fellow of the

British Psychological Society The British Psychological Society (BPS) is a representative body for psychologists and psychology in the United Kingdom. History It was founded on 24 October 1901 at University College London (UCL) as ''The Psychological Society'', the orga ...

(since 1990) and a Fellow of the

Academy of Medical Sciences The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. Its mission is to ad ...

(since 2000). Robbins has published over 850 full papers in scientific journals, including

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...

Brain The brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head ( cephalization), usually near organs for special ...

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

and

Nature Neuroscience ''Nature Neuroscience'' is a monthly scientific journal published by Nature Publishing Group. Its focus is original research papers relating specifically to neuroscience and was established in May 1998. The chief editor is Shari Wiseman. According ...

. The ISI Web of Science credits Robbins with a Hirsch (h) index of 199 and is credited as one of the top cited authors in Neuroscience. He has been an editor of the journal

Psychopharmacology Psychopharmacology (from Greek grc, ψῡχή, psȳkhē, breath, life, soul, label=none; grc, φάρμακον, pharmakon, drug, label=none; and grc, -λογία, -logia, label=none) is the scientific study of the effects drugs have on moo ...

since 1980, is a Member of the Editorial Board of the journal Science, and is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal '' Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences''. In 2017–2018 he was a guest co-editor of a theme issue of the ''

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society. In its earliest days, it was a private venture of the Royal Society's secretary. It was established in 1665, making it the first journa ...

''. Robbins has co-edited 7 books, including ''Psychology for Medicine'', ''The Neurobiology of Addiction'' and ''Decision Making, Effect and Learning''.

Inventions

Robbins' research uses neuropsychological tests, such as the

Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery The Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), originally developed at the University of Cambridge in the 1980s but now provided in a commercial capacity by Cambridge Cognition, is a computer-based cognitive assessment system ...

(CANTAB), which he co-invented with Professor

Barbara Sahakian Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian, is Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the Department of Psychiatry and Medical Research Council (MRC)/Wellcome Trust Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge. She is also an Hon ...

in the 1980s. CANTAB is now used at over 700 research institutes worldwide and is backed by over 1,200 peer-review articles. Robbins serves as a Senior Consultant to Cambridge Cognition, a spin-out of the University of Cambridge. Cambridge Cognition now provides CANTAB. The CANTAB PAL touchscreen test, which assesses

visual memory Visual memory describes the relationship between perceptual processing and the encoding, storage and retrieval of the resulting neural representations. Visual memory occurs over a broad time range spanning from eye movements to years in order to ...

and new learning, received the highest rating of world-leading 4* grade from the

Research Excellence Framework The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a research impact evaluation of British higher education institutions. It is the successor to the Research Assessment Exercise and it was first used in 2014 to assess the period 2008–2013. REF is under ...

(REF) 2014. Following this award, CANTAB and CANTAB PAL were highlighted in the Medical Schools Council 'Health of the Nation' 2015 publication, which described CANTAB as a boost to the UK economy. Robbins is also a co-author of the neurochemical

Functional Ensemble of Temperament Functional Ensemble of Temperament (FET) is a neurochemical model suggesting specific functional roles of main neurotransmitter systems in the regulation of behaviour. Earlier theories Medications can adjust the release of brain neurotransmitters ...

model that mapped the functional roles of brain neurotransmitters to main aspects of behavioural regulation.

Press

Robbins has frequently appeared in press interviews to discuss his research such as

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

The Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

and the Naked Scientists podcast. He frequently engages the public in science, such as speaking at the

Hay Festival The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, better known as the Hay Festival ( cy, Gŵyl Y Gelli), is an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales, for 10 days from May to June. Devised by Norman, Rhoda and Peter Florence in 1988, ...

and participating in a feature on smart drugs for

BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, the childr ...

Awards

Robbins's work was acknowledged by the following honours and awards: * 2005 – (co-recipient) The Neuronal Plasticity Prize, which was awarded by the

Ipsen Ipsen is a French biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Paris, France, with a focus on transformative medicines in three therapeutic areas: oncology, rare disease and neuroscience. Ipsen is one of the world’s top 15 biopharmaceutical com ...

Foundation for his work on motivation and the striatum. * 2011 – (joint) Award of the American Psychological Association (APA) Distinguished Scientific Award for his research in experimental psychology and neuroscience. * 2012 – Appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in the 2012 UK

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark th ...

for services to medical research. * 2012 – The Award of the Angharad Dodds John Fellowship in Mental Health and Neuropsychiatry at Downing College, Cambridge. * 2014 – (along with Professor Stanislas Dehaene and Professor Giacomo Rizzolatti) – The Award of the Grete Lundbeck European Brain Research Prize 2014, also known as The Brain Prize, for Robbins' pioneering research on higher brain mechanisms and his efforts to understand cognitive and behavioural disorders. The award was presented at a Ceremony in Denmark in May 2014. * 2015 – Robert Sommer Award for Research into Schizophrenia * 2015 – British Association for Psychopharmacology- Lifetime Achievement Award * 2016 – Gold Medal of the Society of Biological Psychiatry (USA) * 2017 – Patricia Goldman-Rakic Award in Cognitive Neuroscience * 2017 – Fellow, British Pharmacological Society (FBPhS) * 2018 – Honorary Professor, Fudan University, Shanghai, China * 2019 – British Psychological Society - Lifetime Achievement Award * 2022- Association of Psychological Science - William James Fellow Award

External links

Professor Trevor Robbins: Cambridge NeuroscienceProf. Trevor Robbins:University of Cambridge

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robbins, Trevor 1949 births Living people British neuroscientists British psychologists Academics of the University of Cambridge Fellows of Downing College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge People educated at Battersea Grammar School