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Tim Crow

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Tim Crow
Born(1938-06-07)June 7, 1938
DiedNovember 10, 2024(2024-11-10) (aged 86)
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Psychiatrist and researcher
Academic background
EducationLondon University
University of Aberdeen

Timothy John Crow OBE FMedSci[1] (7 June 1938 - 10 November 2024) was a British psychiatrist and researcher from Oxford.[2] Much of his research was related to the causes of schizophrenia. He also had an interest in neurology and the evolutionary theory. He was the Honorary Director of the Prince of Wales International Centre for Research into Schizophrenia and Depression. He qualified at the Royal London Hospital in 1964 and obtained a PhD at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland in 1970. He was a fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Psychiatrists and the Academy of Medical Sciences. Crow was for twenty years Head of the Division of Psychiatry of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Clinical Research Centre at Northwick Park Hospital and then a member of the External Scientific staff of the MRC in Oxford.

Research

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Neurobiology of reinforcement and motivation

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Crow worked in the Department of Physiology at University of Aberdeen in the late 1960s and early 1970s, where he conducted pharmacological and behavioural studies of reinforcement and self-stimulation in rats [3] for his Medical Research Council funded PhD: "Experiments on the central actions of the amphetamines with particular reference to the functions of catecholamine-containing neurones". He published a number of articles dissecting the role of the various catecholamines in reinforcement and motivation, and in 1973 was the first person to publish an article arguing for a key role for the neurotransmitter dopamine in 'incentive motivation'.[4] Crow's role as the first scientist to conceptually link dopamine to incentive motivation has been acknowledged by Berridge [5] and by Robbins and Everitt.[6]

Psychosis and schizophrenia

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Crow's long term research interests were in the nature and causation of the major psychoses. These illnesses are characterised by the presence of delusions, hallucinations, and disorders of thinking that generally start in early and middle adult life. Encompassing schizophrenia and manic-depressive psychosis, these disorders are common, affecting around 2% of the population in the course of a lifetime.

In the first CT scan study in 1976 Crow and colleagues at Northwick Park demonstrated that there are structural changes (e.g. a degree of enlargement of the cerebral ventricles) in individuals who have suffered from schizophrenia.[7] Much subsequent work with MRI scans and in post-mortem brain studies has confirmed this and suggests that the changes are in the cerebral cortex and particularly are related to the subtle asymmetries that are characteristic of the human cortex. Through various experiments and observation, Crow has also proven that people with schizophrenia show less left-sided dominance for language.[8]

In the 1980s, Crow published an article[9], focusing on the classification of the symptoms of the disease rather than focusing on patients, that became a breakthrough in the field of research on schizophrenia.[10] He also introduced the idea of two syndromes of schizophrenia one based on positive symptoms and the other on negative symptoms[11], which contributed to an understanding of the cognitive nature of schizophrenia.[12]

Crow died from complications of Parkinson's disease on 10 November 2024 at the age of 86.[13]

References

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  1. ^ "New Year's Honours 2018" (PDF). Gov.uk. Government Digital Service. 29 December 2017. p. 26. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  2. ^ Reader, W and Workman, L (2023). Evolutionary Psychology: the Basics. Cambridge University Press. p. 330. ISBN 978-0-521-80532-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Crow, T J (1969). "Mode of Enhancement of Self Stimulation in Rats by Methamphetamine". Nature. 224: 709–710. doi:10.1038/224709a0.
  4. ^ Crow, T J (1973). "Catecholamine-containing neurones and electrical self-stimulation. 2. A theoretical interpretation and some psychiatric implications". Psychol Med. 3 (1): 66–73. doi:10.1017/s0033291700046353. PMID 4692492.
  5. ^ Berridge, K C (2007). "The debate over dopamine's role in reward: the case for incentive salience". Psychopharmacology. 191: 391–431. doi:10.1007/s00213-006-0578-x. PMID 17072591.
  6. ^ Robbins, T W (2007). "A role for mesencephalic dopamine in activation: commentary on Berridge". Psychopharmacology. 191: 433–437. doi:10.1007/s00213-006-0528-7. PMID 16977476.
  7. ^ Johnstone, E; Crow, TJ; Frith, CD; Husband, J; Kreel, L. "Cerebral ventricular size and cognitive impairment in chronic schizophrenia". Lancet. 2(7992): 924–926. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(76)90890-4.
  8. ^ Crow, T J (1997). "Schizophrenia as failure of hemispheric dominance for language". Trends in Neurosciences. 20 (8). Elsevier: 339–343. doi:10.1016/s0166-2236(97)01071-0. ISSN 0166-2236. PMID 9246721. S2CID 208787124.
  9. ^ Crow, TJ (1980). "Positive and negative schizophrenic symptoms and the role of dopamine". British Journal of Psychiatry. 137: 383–386.
  10. ^ McKenna, P.J., P.J.; Oh, T.M. (2008). Schizophrenic Speech. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University press. ISBN 978-0521009058.
  11. ^ Crow, T.J. (1980). "Molecular pathology of schizophrenia: more than one disease process?". British Medical Journal. 280(6207): 66–68.
  12. ^ Frith, C D (2015). The cognitive neuropsychology of schizophrenia. Psychology Press. pp. 11–12. ISBN 9781317608295.
  13. ^ "Professor Tim Crow obituary: pioneering psychiatric researcher". The Times. 21 November 2024.
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