Registrations now open

conference registrations are now open  at  https://events.psychology.org.au/ei/cm.esp?id=1285&pageid=_3KF0WMHTP

The full abstracts are viewable at https://events.psychology.org.au/ei/speakers/CCN2012_Abstracts.pdf

Our Scientific Chair, Mathew Summers, has written this overview of the conference program:

The 18^th Annual College of Clinical Neuropsychology Conference is hosted and sponsored by the Australian Psychological Society (APS) College of Clinical Neuropsychologists and the Tasmanian Branch of the APS College of Clinical Neuropsychologists. The theme of the 18^th Annual CCN conference, “Neuropsychology in Action” guided the selection process of materials for the conference as well as the structure of presentation formats. The driving force for designing the 18^th Annual CCN Conference was to develop a collection of current research in applied neuropsychology as well as ensuring that professional development needs of practicing neuropsychologists was met. This nexus between research and practice in the applied setting is represented in the 81 abstracts selected for the 18^th Annual CCN Conference.

Over the course of the 3½ day conference, a total of 22 platform papers, 26 research posters, one keynote address, 3 symposia, 8 workshops, 5 practice fora, 5 how-to-sessions, 8 lectures, 2 student case presentation sessions, and one public forum will be presented. A range of exciting topics will be covered from research relating to paediatric neuropsychology, traumatic brain injury, and dementia. Workshops will feature interactive learning on topics including Collaborative Therapeutic Neuropsychological Assessment, driving assessment, and Motivational Interviewing. Invited international speakers for the 18^th CCN Conference are Dr Alex Troster (Barrow Neurological Institute, Arizona) and Dr Tad Gorske (University of Pittsburgh) will present a series of workshops and keynote addresses of relevance to both researchers and practitioners. The Organising Committee awarded the inaugural CCN student travel prize to Ms Jodi Kamminga (Macquarie University) for her abstract “Prevalence of HIV associated neurocognitive disorder in a primary-care HIV positive cohort: Preliminary findings”.

As scientific chair I would like to thank the members of the organising committee and other contributors to the organisation of the 18^th Annual CCN Conference: Fiona Bardenhagen (Conference Chair), Emma McCrum, Debbie Anderson, Mark Lamont, Sigrid Denehey, Dave Tuck, Tim Hannan, Alan Tucker, Stephen Bowden, Rachel Zombor, and Sarah McRae. I would also like to thank the 19 reviewers who provided independent reviews of all submissions received to ensure a conference program of the highest standard. Finally, I would like to thank the volunteer students from the School of Psychology at the Univerisy of Tasmania for giving their time to the running and organisation of the conference, as well as the student volunteers from the University of Melbourne, Macquarie University, and La Trobe University for assisting in the daily running of the conference.

Dr Mathew Summers

Scientific Chair

Conference abstracts

The conference abstracts are now viewable online, at

https://events.psychology.org.au/ei/speakers/CCN2012_Abstracts.pdf

Keynote address: Alex Troster

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEUROPSYCHOLOGY IN A WORLD OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES

Rapid neuroscience and technological advances herald a departure of some of neuropsychology’s traditional roles in health care but opens many new opportunities. Just as clinical neuropsychology has thrived decades after its use for determining the presence and location of a brain lesion faded with the advent of modern neuroimaging, so will neuropsychology thrive in an era when test administration is largely automated and its roles will likely increasingly involve early cognitive change detection, evaluation of therapies’ safety and efficacy, and selection of candidates for various treatments. Activities such as brain mapping for surgery and determination of language dominance are likely to remain neuropsychologist activities for some time. New roles will include participation in clinical trials design, behavioral medicine interventions for patients with cognitive compromise (e.g., medication adherence, exercise promotion to reduce risk of vascular disease), and incorporation of genetics and biomarkers into understanding of brain-behavior relationships and cognitive processes. Challenges facing clinical neuropsychology have traditionally centered around the availability and reimbursement for services and, in the US,  the assumption of testing roles by technicians/psychometrists and computers; neuropsychologists have become quite adept at dealing with these issues and examples of collaboration with payers and development of testing guidelines will be described. New challenges will be to train a new generation of neuropsychologists with technological, biological, and clinical expertise relevant to a new world technology and public health and health care cost reduction. The academician will have many new tools to test cognitive theories and to participate in translational research, adapting animal findings to bedside. To highlight some of these roles, examples of applications of neuropsychology to neurotherpeutic technology will be selected from studies in movement disorders.

Cognitive Impairments in Movement Disorders: Alex Troster

Alex Troster will be presenting the following 3-hour workshop at our conference in November.

COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENTS IN MOVEMENT DISORDERS

Much research continues to be devoted to the early diagnosis and treatment of the most common dementia, Alzheimer’s disease. In the last two decades, however, increasing attention has been paid to what were traditionally referred to as “subcortical dementias,” Parkinson’s disease (PD) dementia (PDD) and the rarer dementia associated with Huntington’s disease (HD). The first part of this workshop will deal with the rarer HD and atypical parkinsonian syndromes such as progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, and multiple system atrophy. In the case of HD, particular emphasis will be placed on preclinical neuropsychological characteristics and recent questions about the implications of an “indeterminate” number of CAG repeats. Recent AAN treatment guidelines will also be summarized. For each atypical parkinsonian disorder recent advances in understanding the neural substrates of the disorder (including neuroimaging findings) and treatments are discussed. The neuropsychological differentiation of tauopathies from alpha synucleinopathies, and atypical from typical parkinsonian syndromes will be highlighted. Neuropsychological profiles of some clinical cases will be discussed. The second half of the workshop deals with PD and, consistent with recent research, emphasis is placed on mild cognitive impairment, potential imaging and biomarkers (e.g., beta amyloid and phosphorylated tau), and outcomes of treatments such as gene therapy and deep brain stimulation. The neuropsychological features associated with early dopaminergic deficits are described and differentiated from those probably related to other neurotransmitter abnormalities. Recent diagnostic criteria for PD MCI, and the special emphasis of neuropsychology in them, will be described.

Thankyou!!!

We are very excited by the diversity and number of submissions received for the conference! There are a large number of research papers and poster submissions, and also a pleasing number of workshops, symposia, lectures, and how to sessions, covering both practical and knowledge-based areas of neuropsychology. It was amusing that one of the last submissions we received last night was for a presentation on the neuropsychology of procrastination...

Due to a number of requests for extensions, the submissions portal will remain open until 5pm tomorrow, Australian Eastern Standard Time. So if you would like to submit something for our conference, it's not too late.

We are in the process of allocating submissions to reviewers for the review process, and hope to have the program finalised and open registrations before July 12th.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed, and for your interest in this blog - we've had over 4000 views, with more than 1600 in the last month, resulting in a number of redirects from a "goneviral" website, and large numbers of views from pages around the world. If you're an international reader, we hope you might be able to join us in November.

This blog isn't over yet - look out for more information on Launceston, Tasmania, and the conference program as it develops. But for now, thanks. We have some abstracts to read....

Invited workshop: Motivational Interviewing in Neuropsychology Basic Principles and Methods

Motivational Interviewing in Neuropsychology

Basic Principles and Methods

By: Tad T. Gorske, Ph.D.

Neurological disorders constitute approximately 6% of the global burden of disease (WHO, 2006) requiring a need for rehabilitation strategies for restoration of functioning. Non-compliance with rehabilitation recommendations can compromise a successful recovery program. Non-compliance can be related to client motivational or disability factors in addition to family member’s difficulty coping and adapting to the responsibilities of a rehabilitation program (Suarez, 2011).  While the problem of poor compliance has been studied as a factor in managing patients with medical issues, physical disabilities, cognitive impairments, and other injuries; little has been written about teachable methods for enhancing motivation and increasing compliance with rehabilitation recommendations. The Health Behavioral Change (HBC) model which is based on Motivational Interviewing (MI) fills this important gap by giving healthcare professionals essential tools for discussing the importance of following rehabilitation recommendations in addition to other topics such as exercise, eating habits, medication compliance, smoking, and drinking (Rollnick, Mason, and Butler, 1999; Miller and Rollnick, 2002). The HBC model was originally designed for physicians and provides a concise framework that can be used for brief-time limited interventions. It has been used in various rehabilitation settings where a therapeutic and collaborative relationship is an essential component for enhancing patient participation and outcome attainment (Prigatano, 1999).

In this training participants will learn the background and principles of the HBC model and its application to rehabilitation.  The essential elements of the model will be reviewed in addition to the specific clinical skills necessary to conduct an HBC session.  Participants will receive practical skills to guide client(s) through the difficult task of change all the while maintaining an empathic and collaborative relationship, rolling with client resistance, and then gently guiding them through the process of collaborative goal development and attainment.

Learning Objectives

Participants will learn….

1. The background and conceptual foundations of the HBC model;
2. The core interpersonal skills for conducting an HBC session;
3. To identify a client’s stage of change and intervene appropriately;
4. To assess clients level of readiness for change and enhance change talk;
5. Collaborative ways to manage client resistance;
6. To explore and enhance levels of importance and confidence for making difficult behavior changes;
7. To give feedback and advice in a way that maintains collaboration and motivates change;
8. To enhance client readiness to transition to more active and directive treatment interventions.

Collaborative Therapeutic Neuropsychological Assessment

Invited workshop:

Collaborative Therapeutic Neuropsychological Assessment - Tad Gorske

One of the challenges Clinical Neuropsychology faces is to develop an assessment process that is relevant and responsive to patient’s needs. Neuropsychology has typically followed an “Information Gathering/Medical Model” of assessment guided by the premise that tests are used to isolate a disease process and initiate treatment. More recently, neuropsychologists have taken a holistic perspective of practice.  A holistic neuropsychological perspective reflects patient-centered care models which emphasize empowering patients and families to improve their health and well being. Patient centered care views illness from a biopsychosocial perspective and emphasizes an egalitarian relationship with a strong working alliance between patient and practitioner (Mead and Bower, 2000). Collaborative Therapeutic Neuropsychological Assessment (CTNA) is a patient centered method for conducting a neuropsychological assessment feedback session that enlists patients and family members as collaborators and empowers them to take charge of their cognitive health (Gorske and Smith, 2009).  Evidence suggests neuropsychologists are frequently providing feedback and that the process is viewed as a positive experience by practitioners, patients, and family members (Bennett-Levy, et al., 1994; Donofrio, Piatt, and DiCarlo, 1999; Smith, Wiggins, and Gorske, 2007). Furthermore, patient centered interventions can potentially enhance the working alliance between practitioner and client which has been shown to enhance neuropsychological rehabilitation outcomes (Shonberger, Humle, Zeeman, and Teasdale, 2006). While authors have stated the importance and provided recommendations for providing neuropsychological test feedback, no agreed upon model exists (Gass & Brown, 1992; Malla et al., 1997).  CTNA hopes to fill this gap by providing a framework and methods for giving feedback from neuropsychological test results in a way that is understandable, patient centered, and empowers patients to take an active role in treatment. This workshop will provide the following: a) conceptual foundations of the CTNA approach; b) methods for providing neuropsychological test feedback based on CTNA principles; c) case examples of CTNA sessions; and d) suggestions for further work and research on CTNA applications.  This workshop will not discuss basic methods of neuropsychological interviewing, assessment, and interpretation as it is assumed attendees will be well versed in these procedures.

Learning Objectives:

1.    Participants will understand the value of a holistic CTNA approach for enhancing patient care.

2.    Participants will learn principles and methods of CTNA and be able to incorporate them into practice.

3.    Participants will understand the applications of CTNA in the rehabilitation of different patient populations.