Louann Brizendine is a neuropsychiatrist

Neuropsychiatry

Neuropsychiatry is the branch of medicine dealing with mental disorders attributable to diseases of the nervous system. It preceded the current disciplines of psychiatry and neurology, in as much as psychiatrists and neurologists had a common training....

. She is the author of The Female Brain

The Female Brain (book)

The Female Brain is a book by Louann Brizendine, whose main thesis is that women’s behavior is different from that of men due to hormonal differences...

, published in 2006, and The Male Brain, published in 2010.

Brizendine's research concerns women's moods and hormones. She graduated in neurobiology from UC Berkeley, attended Yale School of Medicine

Yale School of Medicine

The Yale School of Medicine at Yale University is a private medical school located in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. It was founded in 1810 as The Medical Institution of Yale College, and formally opened its doors in 1813....

 and completed a residency in psychiatry

Psychiatry

Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...

 at Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....

. She is board-certified in psychiatry and neurology

Neurology

Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...

 and is an endowed clinical professor. She joined the faculty of UCSF Medical Center

UCSF Medical Center

The University of California, San Francisco Medical Center is a world renowned hospital in research and a teaching hospital in San Francisco, California. It is one of the leading hospitals in the United States and with the UCSF School of Medicine has been the site of various breakthroughs in all...

 at the Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute

Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute

The Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute is part of the Psychiatry Department at UCSF, one of the most highly regarded medical universities in the United States. Langley Porter is the oldest facility in the Psychiatry Department, and was the first psychiatric institute in California.It was...

 in 1988 and now holds the Lynne- and Marc Benioff-endowed chair of psychiatry. At UCSF, Brizendine pursues active clinical, teaching, writing and research activities.

In 1994 she founded the UCSF Women's Mood and Hormone Clinic, and continues to serve as its director. The Women's Mood and Hormone Clinic is a psychiatric clinic designed to assess and treat women of all ages experiencing disruption of mood, energy, anxiety, sexual function and well-being due to hormonal influences on the brain

Brain

The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...

. Brizendine also treats couples in the clinic.

Additionally, Brizendine teaches courses to medical students, residents and other physicians throughout the country, addressing the neurobiology of hormones, mood disorders, anxiety

Anxiety

Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness,...

 problems, and sexual interest changes due to hormones.

Education

• 1972–76 University of California, Berkeley
  University of California, Berkeley
  The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
  
  : B.A., Neurobiology
• 1976–81 Yale School of Medicine
  Yale School of Medicine
  The Yale School of Medicine at Yale University is a private medical school located in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. It was founded in 1810 as The Medical Institution of Yale College, and formally opened its doors in 1813....
  
  : M.D.
• 1982–85 Harvard Medical School
  Harvard Medical School
  Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
  
  : Residency in Psychiatry, MMHC

Faculty appointments

• 1985–88 Harvard University
  Harvard University
  Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
  
  
• 1988–07 University of California, San Francisco
  University of California, San Francisco
  The University of California, San Francisco is one of the world's leading centers of health sciences research, patient care, and education. UCSF's medical, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, and graduate schools are among the top health science professional schools in the world...
  
  

External links

• Louann Brizendine website
• "The Female Brain" reviewed by Deborah Tannen http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/18/AR2006081800429.html