Biological Psychology (Neuropsychology, Psychopharmacology, Physiological Psychology)

Identification of individuals at risk of dementia early in the course of the disease is central to our research programme. The overarching objective is to characterise the changes in cognition, behaviour and social interactions that represent early indicators of progressive neurodegenerative brain disorders, such as frontotemporal dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, and to define their biological correlates with the aims to improve early diagnosis and diagnosis accuracy, prognosis and improve care and management of patients. Greater diagnostic specificity across these disorders and improved discrimination from changes that reflect age-related (or “healthy”) ageing will lead to comprehensive biological-cognitive models of disease presentation and progression.

Current research projects focus on frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and related conditions, with a particular interest in the early clinical characteristics of the different subtypes of the disease and progression over time. Research projects generally combine different approaches cognitive testing, clinical interviews and questionnaires, brain imaging, and postmortem investigations.

Leslie FVC; Foxe D; Daveson N; Flannagan E; Hodges JR; Piguet O, 2016, 'FRONTIER Executive Screen: A brief executive battery to differentiate frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease', Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, vol. 87, no. 8, pp. 831 - 835, http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jnnp-2015-311917

Van Langenhove T; Leyton CE; Piguet O; Hodges JR, 2016, 'Comparing Longitudinal Behavior Changes in the Primary Progressive Aphasias', Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 1033 - 1042, http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/JAD-160010

Dermody N; Wong S; Ahmed R; Piguet O; Hodges JR; Irish M, 2016, 'Uncovering the Neural Bases of Cognitive and Affective Empathy Deficits in Alzheimer's Disease and the Behavioral-Variant of Frontotemporal Dementia', Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 801 - 816, http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/JAD-160175

Foxe D; Leyton CE; Hodges JR; Burrell JR; Irish M; Piguet O, 2016, 'The neural correlates of auditory and visuospatial span in logopenic progressive aphasia and Alzheimer's disease', Cortex, vol. 83, pp. 39 - 50, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2016.07.003

Midorikawa A; Leyton CE; Foxe D; Landin-Romero R; Hodges JR; Piguet O, 2016, 'All Is Not Lost: Positive Behaviors in Alzheimer's Disease and Behavioral-Variant Frontotemporal Dementia with Disease Severity.', Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/JAD-160440

Flanagan EC; Wong S; Dutt A; Tu S; Bertoux M; Irish M; Piguet O; Rao S; Hodges JR; Ghosh A; Hornberger M, 2016, 'False Recognition in Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease-Disinhibition or Amnesia?', Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, vol. 8, pp. 177, http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2016.00177

Bodea LG; Eckert A; Ittner LM; Piguet O; Götz J, 2016, 'Tau physiology and pathomechanisms in frontotemporal lobar degeneration', Journal of Neurochemistry, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jnc.13600

Irish M; Eyre N; Dermody N; O Callaghan C; Hodges JR; Hornberger M; Piguet O, 2016, 'Neural substrates of semantic prospection - Evidence from the dementias', Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, vol. 10, no. MAY, http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00096

Ahmed RM; Caga J; Devenney E; Hsieh S; Bartley L; Highton-Williamson E; Ramsey E; Zoing M; Halliday GM; Piguet O; Hodges JR; Kiernan MC, 2016, 'Cognition and eating behavior in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: effect on survival.', Journal of Neurology, vol. 263, no. 8, pp. 1593 - 1603, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00415-016-8168-2

Kumfor F; Landin-Romero R; Devenney E; Hutchings R; Grasso R; Hodges JR; Piguet O, 2016, 'On the right side? A longitudinal study of left-versus right-lateralized semantic dementia', Brain: a journal of neurology, vol. 139, no. 3, pp. 986 - 998, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/brain/awv387

Schubert S; Leyton CE; Hodges JR; Piguet O, 2016, 'Longitudinal Memory Profiles in Behavioral-Variant Frontotemporal Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease', Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 775 - 782, http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/JAD-150802

Wong S; Bertoux M; Savage G; Hodges JR; Piguet O; Hornberger M, 2016, 'Comparison of Prefrontal Atrophy and Episodic Memory Performance in Dysexecutive Alzheimer's Disease and Behavioral-Variant Frontotemporal Dementia', Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 889 - 903, http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/JAD-151016

Ahmed RM; Irish M; Henning E; Dermody N; Bartley L; Kiernan MC; Piguet O; Farooqi S; Hodges JR, 2016, 'Assessment of eating behavior disturbance and associated neural networks in frontotemporal dementia', JAMA Neurology, vol. 73, no. 3, pp. 282 - 290, http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2015.4478

Landin-Romero R; Kumfor F; Leyton CE; Irish M; Hodges JR; Piguet O, 2016, 'Disease-specific patterns of cortical and subcortical degeneration in a longitudinal study of Alzheimer's disease and behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia', Neuroimage, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.03.032

Kumfor F; Teo D; Miller L; Lah S; Mioshi E; Hodges JR; Piguet O; Irish M, 2016, 'Examining the Relationship between Autobiographical Memory Impairment and Carer Burden in Dementia Syndromes', Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 237 - 248, http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/JAD-150740

Dalton MA; Hornberger M; Piguet O, 2016, 'Material specific lateralization of medial temporal lobe function: An fMRI investigation', Human Brain Mapping, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 933 - 941, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hbm.23077

Sedeño L; Couto B; García-Cordero I; Melloni M; Baez S; Sepúlveda JPM; Fraiman D; Huepe D; Hurtado E; Matallana D; Kuljis R; Torralva T; Chialvo D; Sigman M; Piguet O; Manes F; Ibanez A, 2016, 'Brain network organization and social executive performance in frontotemporal dementia', Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 250 - 262, http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1355617715000703

Leyton CE; Cassidy B; Villemagne VL; Jones G; Kwok JB; Rowe CC; Ballard KJ; Piguet O; Hodges JR, 2016, 'Divergent Network Patterns of Amyloid-β Deposition in Logopenic and Amnestic Alzheimer's Disease Presentations', Biological psychiatry : cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 24 - 31, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2015.09.004

Ahmed RM; Irish M; Piguet O; Halliday GM; Ittner LM; Farooqi S; Hodges JR; Kiernan MC, 2016, 'Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia: Distinct and overlapping changes in eating behaviour and metabolism', Lancet Neurology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(15)00380-4

O'Connor CM; Clemson L; Brodaty H; Gitlin LN; Piguet O; Mioshi E, 2016, 'Enhancing caregivers understanding of dementia and tailoring activities in frontotemporal dementia: Two case studies', Disability and Rehabilitation, vol. 38, no. 7, pp. 704 - 714, http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/09638288.2015.1055375