Dr. Brenda Milner - Academics

Despite her mother's reservations about an emerging science, Brenda received her Bachelor's degree in psychology from Cambridge in 1939, under supervisor Dr. Oliver Zangwill. Zangwill taught Brenda the value of studying brain lesions. He showed Brenda that "through an analysis of disordered function one could gain insight into the functioning of the normal brain".

Brenda began her master's degree at Cambridge, which became a project directed to the war effort in 1939. Instead of studying response to sensory misinformation, Brenda became part of a team interested in distinguishing fighter pilots from bomber pilots in aptitude tests.