The Developmental Cognitive Neuropsychology Research Unit

Current Research Projects

Language and Literacy

Ruth Brunsdon
Children with dyslexia who are unable to process individual letters: Why is their processing impaired and can we help them learn to read?

Karen Croot & Ruth Brunsdon
Understanding foreign accent syndrome

Saskia Kohnen, Max Coltheart, Lindsey Nickels & Ruth Brunsdon
Cognitive neuropsychological rehabilitation in acquired and developmental dysgraphias

Tania Malouf, Pamela Joy & Jayne Antony
Recovery of language skills in the Landau Kleffner Syndrome

Attention / Executive Functioning

Lauren Gillett, Judi Homewood, Pamela Joy & Geoffery Ambler
The long-term effects of hypoglycaemia on the executive functioning of children with Type 1 Diabetes.

Peta Minton, Ruth Brunsdon, Pamela Joy, Stewart Kellie & Arthur Shores
An investigation into the long-term neuropsychological effects (>5 years) of low-grade brain tumours in a group of children who were diagnosed and treated in infancy: A special focus on attention and executive functioning.

Memory

Louise Parry, Ruth Brunsdon, Sunny Lah & Max Coltheart
Developmental Amnesia: A series of case studies

Face and Visual Processing

Ruth Brunsdon & Pamela Joy
Visual processing skills in 3-8 year olds: Exploration of patterns of normal development with the aim of improving early diagnosis of impairment in clinical groups.

Laura Schmalzl, Max Coltheart, Romina Palermo, Irina Harris, Ruth Brunsdon & Pamela Joy
Fractionating face perception in prosopagnosia

Social Processing

Melanie Porter, Max Coltheart, Ruth Brunsdon, Pamela Joy & Kathleen Bakker
A cognitive neuropsychological model of social processing: Identification and treatment of social deficits.

Outcome Studies

Sara Coombes, Richard Webster, Belinda Barton & Max Coltheart
Outcome of acquired cerebellar disease in childhood: An assessment of motor and cognitive abilities.

Previous Research Projects

Bakker, K., Jacques, S., & Ault, J.
Olfactory functioning in children with a traumatic brain injury

Bakker, K., Joy, P., Parry, L., O'Flaherty, S., Epps, A., Coltheart, M., & Shores, A.
Outcomes in paediatric traumatic brain injury: A long-term follow-up of neuropsychological, neurological, behavioural and psychological sequelae.

Bakker, K., Waugh, M.C., Jacques, S., Epps, A., Mandalis, A., Brooks, N., Smith, R., & Levick, W.
The effect of stimulant medication on children with attention problems as a result of acquired brain injury

Brundson, R., Coltheart, M., & Nickels, L.
Cognitive neuropsychological rehabilitation for acquired and developmental neuropsychological disorders.

Brunsdon, R., & Joy, P.
Normal development of visual processing skills in 3-8 year olds.

Brunsdon, R., Kohnen, S., Nickels, L., & Coltheart, M.
Cognitive neuropsychological rehabilitation in acquired and developmental spelling disorders.

Christodoulou, J., Alexander, I., Wilcken, B., Rae, L., Thompson, S., Wiley, V., Rocca, A., & Joy, P.
Evaluation of dietetic management of Phenylketonuria (PKU) due to phenylalanine hydroxylase deficiency

Christodoulou, J., Bennetts, B., Schmlalz, L., Coltheart, M., Joy, P., Brunsdon, R., & Leung, A.
Investigation of the genetic basis of congenital prosopagnosia

Ho, J., Lah, S., Brunsdon, R., Poole, M., Parry, L., & Epps, A.
Self-instructional memory remediation for paediatric brain injury.

Joy, P., Gardner, A., & Ambler, G.
Assessment of changes in cognition, mood and behaviour in children with Type 1 Diabetes starting insulin pump therapy.

Madden, S., Kohn, M., Clarke, S., Joy, P., & Majkut, L.
The effects of nutritional rehabilitation with essential fatty acids on brain structure, cognitive functioning and mood in adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa.

Robinson, M., Joy, P., Bakker, K., West, C., & Shores, A.
Visual processing and executive functioning in children with spina bifida myelomeningocele

Shores, A., Parry, L., Rae, C., Kemp, A., Waugh, M.C., & Joy, P.
Corpus callosum atrophy, MRS measures and neuropsychological functioning following paediatric brain injury

Schmazl, L., Coltheart, M., Harris, I., & Brunsdon, R.
Visual imagery in disorders of visual processing - cognitive theories and implications for rehabilitation

Taplin, C., Ambler, G., Savage, K., Cameron, F., Northam, E., & Joy, P.
Assessment of changes in cognition, mood and behaviour in children with Type 1 diabetes.

Wilcken, B., Haas, M., Joy, P., & Wiley, V.
Evaluation of the effectiveness of newborn screening by tandem mass spectrometry

The unit actively collaborates with other institutions such as Macquarie University, Sydney Children's Hospital and John Hunter Children's Hospital.