Pat Levitt

“ Pat's versatility did not extend to pulling pipette tips in the laboratory or purifying a new receptor antibody. But she knew what would be necessary to tackle the next great challenge in understanding human cognition. Pat's hands and head were part of every experiment, from her surgical wizardry to her own intellectual fearlessness. Those who were fortunate to be mentored and challenged by Pat, in her laboratory and in the field of neuroscience, understand the rare gifts that she has bestowed on all of us. ”

“ Neuroscience, by its very nature, incorporates most other scientific disciplines in a quest to discover the roots of such complex functions as sensation, movement, emotion, and cognition. But it is a rare individual who has the courage to embrace multiple disciplines to fundamentally advance understanding of the relationship between brain and behavior. ”

“ In the context of elucidating the component psychological parts of working memory, Pat performed a series of experiments to document now well-known developmental lesion effects. Although the ability of the brain to reorganize and recover functions in early life is now a topic of much investigation, Pat's own studies in the 1970s showed that working memory recovers remarkably well when injury to the frontal cortex occurs early in life, but that the effects are much more detrimental when injury occurs in post-adolescence. ”