Hannah Steinberg obituary

Pioneer of psychopharmacology who was one of the first researchers to test systematically how psychoactive drugs affect the mind

The development of drugs to treat mental afflictions was historically a hit-and-miss affair, without much understanding of their actions on brain pathways, and even less of their wider psychological impact. Hannah Steinberg, who has died aged 95, was one of the first researchers to test systematically how psychoactive drugs affect the mind.

Steinberg grasped that the brain produces its own pharmacopoeia of psychoactive substances in response to the challenges of daily living, and argued that the psychological consequences of adding drugs to the mix could not be reliably predicted. "Whatever you administer, you may disturb something else as well," she said, adding that: "The drug companies on the whole don't like that concept."

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