Target audience:
Health Professionals involved with FTD and related disorders.
NB: there is a limit of two professionals to attend per workplace.
Cost:
$30 (GST included). An online registration form will be available shortly
Venue:
Seminar Room, Neuroscience Research Australia, Barker St, Randwick NSW 2031 (entrance on Hospital Road)
Parking:
Available for a fee at the POW Hospital
Enquiries and registration:
Sarah Homewood
Phone: (02) 9399 1134; Fax: 9399 1047
Email: s.homewood@neura.edu.au
FRONTIER Researchers win awards
Sharpley Hsieh has been awarded the SOMS (School of Medical Sciences) Paper of the Month for her recent paper entitled “Neural basis of music knowledge: evidence from the dementias”, Brain, 134: 2523-2534.
Muireann Irish has been awarded the 2011 Dean’s Rising Star Award from UNSW which acknowledges the achievements of post-doctoral staff and early career research recognised as part of the Faculty’s Talent Management Program to be outstanding in their respective fields of activity.
2012
Burrell, J.R., Hornberger, M., Carpenter, R.H.S., Kiernan, M., Hodges J.R. Saccadic abnormalities in frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neurology, 78, 1816-1823.
Carthery, M., Knibb, J., Patterson, K., Hodges J.R. Semantic Dementia versus Non-fluent Progressive Aphasia: Neuropsychological characterization and differentiation. Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders, 26(1), 36-43.
Irish, M., Graham, A., Graham, K.S., Hodges, J.R., Hornberger, M. Differential impairment of source memory in progressive versus non-progressive behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 27(3), 338-347.
Lillo, P., Savage, S., Mioshi, E., Kiernan, M., Hodges, J.R. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Frontotemporal dementia: a behavioural and cognitive continuum. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, 13(1), 102-109.
Mathew, R., Bak, T. H., Hodges, J.R. Diagnostic criteria for Corticobasal Syndrome: A comparative study. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 83(4),405-410.
Miller, L.A., Hsieh, S., Lah, S., Savage, S., Hodges, J.R., Piguet, O. One size does not fit all: Face emotion processing impairments in semantic dementia, behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are mediated by distinct cognitive deficits. Behavioural Neurology, 25(1), 53-60.
Mioshi, E., Lillo, P., Kiernan, M., Hodges, J.R. Activities of daily living in motor neuron disease: role of behavioural and motor changes. Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, 19 (4), 552-556.
Schofield, E.C., J.R. Hodges, J.R., Bak, T.H., Xuereb, J.H., G.M. Halliday, G.H. The relationship between clinical and pathological variables in Richardson's Syndrome. Journal of Neurology, 259(3),482-490.
Dobson-Stone, C, Hallupp, M., Bartley, L., Shepherd, C.E., Halliday, G.M., Schofield, P.R., Hodges, J.R., J.B.J. Kwok. (in press). C9ORF72 repeat expansion in clinical and neuropathological frontotemporal dementia cohorts. Neurology, accepted 17/1/2012.
Ghosh, B.C.B., AJ Calder, A.J., Peers, P.V., Lawrence, A.D., RHS Carpenter, R.H.S., Hodges, J.R.Rowe. (in press) Social cognitive deficits and their neural correlates in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. Brain, accepted 2 April 2012.
Hodges, J.R. (in press). Clinico-pathological correlations in Frontotemporal dementia: an update on the Cambridge series and review of the literature. Acta Neuropsychologica.
Irish, M., Graham, A., Graham, K.S., Hodges, J.R., Hornberger, M. (in press) Differential impairment of source memory in progressive versus non-progressive behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, Mar 13. [Epub ahead of print].
Irish, M., Addis, D.R., Hodges, J.R., Piguet O. (in press). Considering the role of semantic memory in episodic future thinking: Evidence from semantic dementia. Brain, accepted 12 March 2012.
Jang, J., Cushing, N., Clemson, L., Hodges, J.R., Mioshi E. (in press) Activities of daily living in progressive non-fluent aphasia, logopenic progressive aphasia and Alzheimer’s disease. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, accepted 9/5/2012.
Kumfor, F, Piguet O. (in press) Disturbance of Emotion Recognition in Frontotemporal Dementia: A Synthesis of Cognitive and Neuroimaging Findings. Neuropsychology Review, accepted 22/4/2012.
McKinnon C., O’Connor C., Savage S., Hodges J., Mioshi E. (in press) Qualitative results of a structured group program for carers of people with frontotemporal dementia. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, accepted 15/3/2012.
Mioshi, E., Foxe, D., Leslie, F., Savage, S., Hsieh, S., Miller, L., Hodges, J., Piguet, O. (in press) 2012. The impact of dementia severity on carer burden in frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders, Feb 6. [Epub ahead of print]
Mioshi, E., McKinnon, C., O’Connor, C., Hodges J. (in press) Improving burden and coping skills in frontotemporal dementia caregivers – a pilot study. Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders, Feb 17. [Epub ahead of print]
Tu, S., Mioshi, E., Hodges, J., Hornberger, M. (in press) Dissociation of explicit and implicit long-term memory consolidation in semantic dementia: a case study. Neurocase, accepted 28.3.2012
Weickert, T.W., Leslie, F, Rushby, J., Hodges, J.R., Hornberger, M. (in press) Probabilistic association learning in Frontotemporal dementia and schizophrenia. Cortex, Oct 6. [Epub ahead of print].
Yew, B., Alladi, S., Shailaja, M., Hodges, J.R., Hornberger, M. (in press) Orientation vs. memory in Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, accepted 8/5/2012.
Researchers find location of 'Waltzing Matilda' in the brain.
Monday, August 22nd, 2011
Sharpley Hsieh (PhD Student) and the FRONTIER team have pinpointed the area of our brain where we store memories of well-known tunes such as ‘Waltzing Matilda’ and ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’. See NeuRA News Feed, ABC online, and Sydney Morning Herald reviews.
Sharpley Hsieh (PhD Student) won the Luria Award at the combined INS/ASSBI conference.
Wednesday, August 10th, 2011
The Luria Award was established in 1999 and is presented by the Australian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment (ASSBI) at their annual conference for the best PhD student presentation. This year, the annual ASSBI conference was held in conjunction with the mid-year International Neuropsychological Society (INS) conference in Auckland, New Zealand and the theme of the conference was "The Social Brain". The title of her talk was "Are you happy? Knowledge of words that describe emotions in frontotemporal dementia".
ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders Website
Monday, July 11th, 2011
The ARC Centre of Excellence offers unique opportunities for interdisciplinary and international collaborative research in the study of cognition, its disorders, and their treatment.
Professors Stephen Crain, Anne Castles and Max Coltheart of Macquarie University, along with Professor John Hodges of UNSW and Professor Gillian Rhodes of UWA, have been successful in their bid for this ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders.
This is the first ARC Centre of Excellence dedicated to the study of the brain and brings together researchers from psychology, linguistics, philosophy and neurology to work the dementias, mental illness and development disorders. The Centre is funded for 7 years and will be holding regular seminars and workshops. A range of new positions have been funded at each of the nodes with a core at Macquarie University. The memory node is led by Prof John Hodges and comprises researchers from UNSW (Olivier Piguet), Sydney University (Laurie Miller), Macquarie University (Greg Savage) and University of Auckland (Donna Rose Addis). Read this.
Sunday, June 19th, 2011
Acosta-Cabronero, J., Patterson, K., Fryer, T., Hodges, J., Williams, G., Pengas, G., Nestor, P. Atrophy, hypometabolism and white matter abnormalities in semantic dementia tell a coherent story. Brain, 134(Pt 7):2025-35.
Burrell, J., Kiernan, M.C., Vucic, S., Hodges, J.R. Motor Neuron Dysfunction in FTD. Brain, 134(Pt 9), 2582-94.
Carthery, M., Knibb, J., Patterson, K., Hodges J.R. (in press) Semantic Dementia versus Non-fluent Progressive Aphasia: Neuropsychological characterization and differentiation. Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders. 2011 May 5. [Epub ahead of print]
Hornberger, M., Geng, J., Hodges, J.R. Convergent evidence of orbitofrontal cortex grey and white matter changes related to disinhibition in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia. Brain, 134(Pt 9), 2502-12.
Hughes, L.E., Nestor, Hodges, J R., Rowe, J. B. Magnetoencephalography of frontotemporal dementia: spatiotemporally localised changes during semantic decisions. Brain, 134(Pt 9), 2513-22.
Hsieh, S., Hornberger, M., Piguet, O., Hodges J.R. Neural basis of music knowledge: Evidence from the dementias. Brain, 134(Pt 9), 2523-34.
Hughes, L.E., Nestor, Hodges, J R., Rowe, J. B. Magnetoencephalography of frontotemporal dementia: spatiotemporally localised changes during semantic decisions. Brain, 134(Pt 9), 2513-22.
Irish, M., Hornberger, M., Lah, S., Miller, L., Pengas, G., Nestor, P.J., Hodges, J.R., and Piguet, O. Profiles of recent autobiographical memory retrieval in semantic dementia, behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease. Neuropsychologia , 49(9):2694-702.
Josephs, K.A., Hodges, J.R., Snowden, J.S., Mackenzie, I.R., Neumann, M., Mann, D.M., Dickson, D.W. Neuropathological background of phonotypical variability in frontotemporal dementia. (Review) Acta Neuropathologica, 122(2):137-53.
Kumfor, F., Miller, L., Lah, S., Hsieh, S., Savage, S., Hodges, J.R., Piguet O. (in press) Are you really angry? The effect of intensity on emotion recognition in frontotemporal dementia. Social Neuroscience. Sep 30. [Epub ahead of print]
Leyton, C.E., Villemagne, V.L., Savage, S., Pike, K.E., Ballard, K.J., Piguet, O., Burrell, J.R., Rowe, C.C., Hodges, J.R. Subtypes of Progressive Aphasia: application of the International Consensus Criteria and validation using β-amyloid imaging. Brain, 134(Pt 10), 3030-43.
Rascovsky, K., Hodges, J.R., Knopman, D., Mendez, M.F., Kramer, J.H., Neuhaus, J., van Swieten, J. C., Seelaar, H., Dopper, E.G.P., Onyike, C.U., Hillis, A., Josephs, K.A., Boeve, B.F., Kertesz, A., Seeley W.W., Rankin, K., Johnson, J.K., Gorno-Tempini, M.L., Rosen, H., Latham, C., Lee, A., Kipps, C.M., Lillo, P., Piguet, O., Rohrer, J., et al. Sensitivity of Revised Diagnostic Criteria for the Behavioral Variant of Frontotemporal Dementia. Brain, 134(Pt 9), 2456-77.
Schofield, E.C., J.R. Hodges, J.R., Bak, T.H., Xuereb, J.H., G.M. Halliday, G.H. (in press) The Relationships Between Clinical and Pathological Variables in Richardson’s Syndrome. Journal of Neurology 2011 Aug 12. [Epub ahead of print]
Read a personal blog on bvFTD in our carers' section
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011
You can now watch an ACE-R training video when learning how to administer the test.
Please contact us to request a copy of the ACE-R test and training video.
Read a personal blog on bvFTD in our carers' section
Monday, March 14th, 2011
Read a personal blog on bvFTD (Direct link)
Also linked in our carers' section
Monday, January 24th, 2011
Review paper on behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia in Lancet Neurology.
Clinicopathological investigation in Pick's disease in Neurology.
Orbitofrontal Dysfunction in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia in Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders.
Olivier Piguet and John Hodges, in collaboration with Katherine Samaras of the Garvan Institute have received funding for a 3-year research project to investigate feeding disturbance and hypothalamus integrity in early frontotemporal dementia. Marked eating disturbance (overeating, snatching food) is a common clinical manifestation in frontotemporal dementia. This project will characterise this deficit and define its biological causes using blood tests and brain imaging. Results will help in designing therapeutic interventions targeting this disabling feature.
NHMRC funds research project grant on eating disturbance in frontotemporal dementia.
Sunday, November 14th, 2010
Olivier Piguet and John Hodges, in collaboration with Katherine Samaras of the Garvan Institute have received funding for a 3-year research project to investigate feeding disturbance and hypothalamus integrity in early frontotemporal dementia. Marked eating disturbance (overeating, snatching food) is a common clinical manifestation in frontotemporal dementia. This project will characterise this deficit and define its biological causes using blood tests and brain imaging. Results will help in designing therapeutic interventions targeting this disabling feature.
Research on eating disturbance in Frontotemporal Dementia featured in the Sydney Morning Herald
Sunday, November 14th, 2010
Hear ABC Interview (with Tim Holt) on eating disturbance in FTD Interview
Monday, November 1st, 2010
Dr. Michael Hornberger and Prof. John Hodges, in conjunction with Dr. Simon Lewis at Sydney University, have been awarded an ARC Discovery grant, investigating the causes of behavioural failure in FTD and Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Hornberger has also been awarded an Australian Research Fellowship by the ARC.
Tuesday, October 19th, 2010
Professor Hodges and the FRONTIER team attend the CCN conference held in Freemantle on 30th September 2010. Please open this link for presentation http://blackjack.neura.edu.au/xfer/FTDCCNPerth.zip
Monday, September 27th, 2010
1st year PhD student Marshall Dalton, recipient of the Ron Nichol Dementia Scholarship from Australian Rotary Health recently visited the Glenhaven Rotary club and was presented with a plaque recognising the scholarship.Marshall is primarily involved in researching memory deficits in people with neurodegenerative disorders. He also gave a presentation explaining the research he is involved in to members of Australian Rotary Health and the Glenhaven Rotary Club.
Monday, September 27th, 2010
Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
An updated version of the Scoring and Administration guide has been uploaded. It now includes a section on clinical interpretation of scores, and normative data have been extended to 80y.
Please click here to download it.
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
Memory researchers at NeuRA have received a significant boost with their successful bid for a national research centre focusing on cognition.
Prof John Hodges and Dr Olivier Piguet, representing NeuRA and the University of NSW, will take part in the new Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders.
“This is the first ARC Centre of Excellence dedicated to neuroscience,” says Dr Piguet. “I think it’s come about now because there’s an awareness that investing resources now in treating, delaying or preventing disorders of cognition will save on healthcare costs in the long run.”
The virtual centre will bring together experts in cognition from across the country, including from Macquarie University and the University of Western Australia, to encourage cross-fertilisation of ideas.
The centre will focus on improving diagnosis and treatment of disorders including dementia, dyslexia, autism and schizophrenia.
“A research hub like this generates a critical mass of researchers so we can study these disorders more quickly,” says Dr Piguet.
As part of the memory node of the centre, Prof Hodges and Dr Piguet will coordinate research on disorders that affect memory, primarily dementia syndromes such as frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
“By understanding memory deficits in different types of dementia, we can better characterise and treat these diseases. This research will also allow us to better understand how memory works in healthy people, for example what brain regions are important,” he says.
The centre will receive $21 million in funding from the ARC over seven years, starting in early 2011. Prof Hodges and Dr Piguet will collaborate with Dr Greg Savage from Macquarie University, Dr Laurie Miller from University of Sydney, and Dr Donna Addis from the University of Auckland.
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
Title: Low serum progranulin predicts the presence of mutations: a prospective study
Authors: Schofield, E., Halliday, G., Kwok, J., Loy, C., Hodges, J.R.
Journal: Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease
Abstract:
Serum progranulin is decreased in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) patients with progranulin gene (PGRN) mutations. We investigate the utility of prospective serum screening as a surrogate diagnostic marker for progranulin mutations. A commercial ELISA was used to measure progranulin protein concentration in serum from 63 FTD patients and 32 normal controls, and DNA screening then performed. Four patients (2/17 behavioural variant, 2/8 corticobasal syndrome) had abnormally low progranulin levels with PGRN mutations confirmed on DNA testing. Surprisingly, elevated levels were found in 6/16 patients with progressive non-fluent aphasia, the significance of which is unclear. Serum testing is an accurate and cost effective means of predicting PGRN mutations.
Thursday, June 24th, 2010
‘Challenges and Complexities’ – 22nd October, Bateman’s Bay
