Seminars
The NSS runs weekly seminars aimed at students who wish to broaden and
consolidate their understanding of Neuropsychology. The NSS thanks all those speakers who
generously dedicate their time to help us develop and expand our knowledgebase.
Weekly seminars run from 1 - 2.15pm in Redmond Barry Building Room 1120 at Melbourne University.
Upcoming Seminars....
Message from the NSS: NNS seminars run during the teaching semesters so come back next year for more details of future topics. If you have ideas, please feel free to contact anyone in the committee (see email at bottom of page)
Completed Seminars in 2008....
Oct 30th: Dr. Fiona Bardenhagen
"Can Clinical Judgement be Trusted?"
Medical and allied health professionals use clinical judgement in making
diagnostic and treatment decisions without necessarily being aware of, or
understanding, the various decision-making processes they use. The need for
psychologists to receive training in this field was recently argued by Harding
(2007). This presentation will cover a range of cognitive and affective factors that
affect clinical decisions, and suggest strategies for improving clinical reasoning.
Oct 23rd: Professor Gus Baker
"Understanding the Impact of Epilepsy on the Developing and Developed Brain"
In this talk, Prof Baker will draw upon two major studies currently being conducted
in Liverpool to demonstrate how epilepsy and its treatment can have an adverse effect
on neuropsychological functioning. On this background, Prof. Baker will briefly discuss what
initiatives should be taken to minimise these effects.
Oct 16th: Dr. Marc Seal
"Diffusion Tensor Imaging :A brief and potted introduction"
Dr Marc Seal is currently employed as a Post Doctoral Research Fellow with the
Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre and has also completed professional training in
clinical neuropsychology. Dr Seal studied at the Neuroimaging and Brain Imaging
Analysis Unit at the Institute of Psychiatry, London. During this time he
developed specialised knowledge in various neuroimaging techniques including DTI. In this seminar
Dr Seal will provide a background to MRI and neuroimaging and then focus on DTI.
Oct 9th: Dr. Liz Mullaly
"Assessing Decision Making Capacity: What Neuropsychologists Need to Know"
Referrals for assessment of decision-making capacity have become commonplace
for neuropsychologists in many areas of practice. Neuropsychologists need to
understand the relevant legislation and to have a solid understanding of the scope
and limitations of their role. In this presentation I will delineate the different
types of capacity referrals and the various ways in which neuropsychologists can
provide assistance to their patients, their referring teams and the VCAT Guardianship
List.
Sept 18th: Dr. Nigel Jones
"Stress & Epilepsy: Relationship to psychiatric comorbidity"
The incidence of psychiatric disorders in epilepsy populations is far greater than
in the general population. This observation extends to both focal acquired epilepsies
(such as temporal lobe epilepsy) and idiopathic epilepsies (such as childhood absence
epilepsy). The co-occurrence of these disturbances suggests that there is a causal
relationship between them. This presentation will investigate this causal relationship
using experimental (rat) models of epilepsy, and promote the theory that stress, either
incurred in early life or in adulthood, may present as a risk factor for both the appearance
of psychiatric disease as well as play a role in the development of epilepsy.
Sept 11th: Dr. Rick Leventer
"Smooth, bumpy or disorganised: The spectrum of cortical malformations"
Dr. Leventer is a clinician and researcher in the Children's Neuroscience Centre
of the Royal Children's Hospital. His main clinical and research interests are disorders
of brain development, neurogenetics and neuroimaging. He is Director of the Brain
Malformation Program at the Royal Children's Hospital and one of the Chief Investigators
in the Genetics of Brain Development Program at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute.
He has a close collaboration with members of Genetic Health Services Victoria as well as
ongoing international collaborations with both clinical and laboratory-based researchers
studying human cortical malformations. In 2007 he was awarded a PhD from the University
of Melbourne for a study of cortical malformations focusing on polymicrogyria.
Sept 4th: A/Prof. Michael Saling
"Memory co-morbidities of focal epilepsy: From Dr. Z to Now"
In recent years our knowledge of memory disturbances in epilepsy has
advanced significantly on a number of fronts, such as neurofunctional
organization, relationship to psychosocial adjustment, and approaches to
assessment. In this talk I will provide an overview of the current state of
our knowledge on selected aspects. I will also consider a number of issues
about which comparatively little is known. These include the natural course of
memory disorders in the focal epilepsies, the mechanisms of memory re-organization
in the face of seizure foci, and the functional impact of memory complaints on
daily life. The objective of the lecture is to consider the following questions:
(1) What do we currently know about the impact of temporal lobe epilepsy on memory networks?
(2) How do these effects manifest clinically? (3) Are epilepsy-related memory disorders
progressive? (4) Is there a need to re-evaluate approaches to the diagnosis and management
of memory impairment in surgical candidates?
Aug 28th: A/Prof. David Darby
"Early detection of neurodegenerative diseases using serial computerized testing: The CogState approach"
Early detection of dementia is essential if newer disease modifying therapies are to
reduce significant morbidity. Longitudinal aging studies have shown stability or decline,
and decline predicts presence of brain amyloid. Community detection of decline using serial
cognitive testing is one approach for detecting early changes in individuals in comparison to
their own baseline performance. Community screening has been shown to be feasible and
acceptable using computerized testing but still requires to be proven able to detect early
disease. Principles and properties of such tests for serial evaluation will be described and
contrasted with conventional neuropsychological methods for detecting impairment.
Aug 21st: Dr. Jacqueline Anderson
"Suicidal ideation in neuropsychology patients"
No details provided at this time...
Aug 7th: Prof. Simon Crowe
"Lack of effort impairs neuropsychological test performance ten times more than mild traumatic brain injury"
Malingering and its euphemism, less than genuine effort, has now become
a core component of neuropsychological assessment in medico-legal and
other settings. Increasingly the off the cuff observation by the clinician
that the client appeared to be making his or her best efforts is no longer
being recognised as sufficient proof of genuine effort by the triers of
fact, as we are increasingly being held accountable to Carl Sagan's maxim,
that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. This address will survey
the literature regarding malingering and attempt to grapple with a number of
key issues in the context of this thorny clinical and legal issue. The talk
will focus upon issues such as definitions of malingering, appropriate
terminology and when to use it, standards of proof for the observation of
less than genuine effort, conscious versus unconscious motivation, somatization
and conversion disorders as well as undertaking a general review and
discussion of the nature and identification of malingering on
neuropsychological and psychological tests including an examination of
various instruments, use of effort measures derived from existing
neuropsychological instruments and other relevant issues for practitioners.
May 29th: A/Prof. Stephen Bowden
"How do we distinguish the symptoms of mood disorder from 'executive' syndrome?"
No details provided at this time...
May 22nd: Dr. Jacqueline Anderson
"Tips and skills for providing feedback to patients"
No details provided at this time...
May 15th: A/Prof. David Andrewes
"A New Model for Predicting Adherence to Treatments in Post-Stroke Patients"
Although the importance of adherence to treatment to prevent secondary stroke and increase
recovery is well documented, the reasons for poor adherence in this patient group are not
understood. The past studies have also failed to measure adherence over time, even though
treatments are long-term. This research measured the incidence of adherence to medication
and rehabilitation in a longitudinal study; and investigated the correlates of poor adherence
according to a model. In this talk there will be a review of the literature and then a
description of research carried out by Nicolene Coetzee which has been successfully submitted
for her PhD. One hundred and thirty-six stroke patients and 119 amputee control patients aged
between 23 and 93 years were assessed at six weeks and nine months post discharge.
Questionnaires measuring the model components were assessed using a step-down regression
analysis at the six week assessment. Measures of the components that were able to predict
adherence at six weeks were then assessed on the ability to predict adherence at nine months.
This approach was used to predicting adherence over time. Emotional impairment was the
greatest contributor to poor adherence across all ages. Stroke patients performed worse on all
adherence measures when compared with amputee patients. Adherence decreased significantly over
time in stroke patients. Several measures taken at 6 months were able to usefully predict
adherence at nine months, although age was not a significant contributor. The results support
the implementation of the model and suggest that factors such as cognitive- and- emotional
impairment may assist clinicians in identifying at-risk patients.
May 1st: A/Prof. Michael Saling
"With its head in the ego and its foot in the id: Anatomy of the hippocampal network."
This talk will explore the anatomy of the extended hippocampal system,
placing it within an evolutionary, developmental, and functional context.
April 24th: A/Prof. Stephen Bowden
"Which model of cognition should Neuropsychologists use in routine clinical practice?"
Many accounts of the neuropsychological assessment task describe the Big-5, namely aphasia,
apraxia, agnosia, amnesia and executive function. In this talk, the history of the Big-5
will be examined briefly, and contrasted with psychological accounts of cognition. Familiar
research methods will be shown to provide some important convergence of theory in terms of
a neuropsychological model for clinical practice.
April 17th: A/Prof. Michael Saling
"Orientation to the Discipline of Neuropsychology"
This talk poses the fundamental question: what is the mindset of an effective practitioner in the
field of clinical neuropsychology. To explore this question, four underlying issues will be discussed:
(1) the relationship between scientific and clinical practice; (2) experience, expertise, and models of
training; (3) the role of psychometric thinking and models of validity; (4) the scope of neuropsychological
practice: diagnosis and treatment.
April 10th: Prof. Malcom MacMillan
"Hysteria, Hypnosis and Bertha Pappenheim (The Founding of Psychoanalysis)"
In this presentation I consider under four headings the case of Bertha Pappenheim Breuer's hysterical patient (pseudonymously Anna O.), inventor of the 'talking cure', and the founder of the therapeutic notions of catharsis and abrecation. (1) Exorcism and the animal magnetism: Father Gassner and Franz Anton Mesmer and the beginnings of hypnosis; (2) Ideas in hypnosis and hysteria: The roles of Jean-Martin Charcot and Pierre Janet gave ideas as the causes of symptoms, and the differentiation of hysterical from organic symptoms; (3) Magnetic illness: The context of these strange illnesses and Bertha's place in it; (4) Catharsis and dischange: Freud's 'cathartic' and 'abreactive' adaptation of Janet's and Breuer's ideas.