Uta Frith


Uta Frith studied experimental psychology at the Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken and trained in clinical psychology at the University of London’s Institute of Psychiatry She completed her Ph.D. thesis on autism in 1968 and from then on has worked as a research scientist funded mainly by the Medical Research Council UK. She has been Visiting Professor at the University of Aarhus, Denmark from 2007-2015. She is now Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Development at the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience.
Autism and dyslexia have been her main focus of research. In both fields she has pioneered an experimental neuropsychological approach. She has contributed some of the major theories explaining these disorders and has identified specific deficits in underlying cognitive mechanisms and their basis in the brain. She has published some 250 papers and books, and in 2014 she was listed by the APA as among the 200 most eminent psychologists of the modern era.
In the last few years she has increased her work in science communication, and in championing women in science.

From this contributor

Explore more from The Transmitter

Ehud Ahissar offers a new kind of dualism for neuroscience

He explains how “perceptual dualism” can account for the way we communicate via digital symbols and perceive the world via analog brain processes.

By Paul Middlebrooks
6 May 2026 | 102 min listen

Microglia in hypothalamus help kick-start puberty

In a “surprise” role, the cells regulate the neurons that produce gonadotropin-releasing hormone.

By Helena Kudiabor
6 May 2026 | 0 min watch
DNA helix.

Advances in genetic medicine took center stage at INSAR

The president of the Autism Science Foundation and parent of a child with profound autism reflects on how advances in the treatment of rare gene variants bring hope to many families.

By Alison Singer
5 May 2026 | 4 min read