Alan Sunderland
My
major teaching commitments are to the taught MSc Courses
in Applied
and Clinical Neuropsychology.
I
also contribute to the undergraduate module on Clinical
Psychology.
Three
current projects:-
Apraxia and
Tool-Use
The use of tools is a fundamental human ability but the brain mechanisms
involved are still poorly understood. There is evidence
to suggest that access to knowledge of tool-use is disrupted in people with
damage to the left side of the brain and diagnosed as having "ideomotor
apraxia", but previous research into this syndrome has relied on
insensitive or uncertain methods of investigation. In the present project we
will improve on this work by using sensitive
measurement of hand movements during use of different sorts of tool under
controlled experimental conditions.
Improved knowledge of the nature of the ideomotor apraxia will
provide a scientific foundation which will aid the design of new rehabilitation
therapies.
Dressing
Rehabilitation Evaluation Stroke Study (DRESS)
Dressing problems
after stroke are common. Occupational therapists
are still unaware of the best methods to teach patients to overcome their
dressing problems if they have accompanying cognitive difficulties. We have
recently conducted experiments with a small number of patients using detailed
assessments and teaching them to dress using methods documented in the
neuropsychological literature. The findings from our initial experiments were
very encouraging and we now need to confirm our findings by conducting a
clinical trial with a much larger group of patients.
Recognition Memory in
Ageing and Alzheimer’s Disease .
Research has
shown that the familiarity feeling
associated with recent events may remain intact in early Alzheimer’s
Disease. This aspect of memory is more prone to error than the more
precise component recollection, which
involves remembering a specific aspect of the item or the moment when it was
first encoded. This study aims to use
computer-based training to help patients make better use of their preserved
sense of familiarity by giving them immediate feedback on the accuracy of
responses and by avoiding the occurrence of errors.
Sunderland A, Fletcher D,
Bradley L, Tinson D, Langton Hewer R, Wade DT. Enhanced physical therapy for
arm function after stroke: a one year follow-up study. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1994;
57:856-8.
Sunderland A, Stewart FM,
Sluman SM. Adaptation to cognitive deficit? An
exploration of apparent dissociations between everyday memory and test
performance late after stroke. Br J Clin Psychol 1996; 35:463-76.
Sunderland A, Beech JR, Sheehan E. The Current Orientation
Test: A study of speed and consistency of retrieval of everyday memories by old
and young subjects. Applied
Cognitive Psychology 1996; 10:1-11.
Sunderland A, Bowers MP, Sluman
SM, Wilcock DJ, Ardron ME. Impaired dexterity of the
ipsilateral hand after stroke and the relationship to cognitive deficit.
Stroke 1999;
30:949-55.
Sunderland A, Sluman S-M. Ideomotor
apraxia, visuomotor control and the explicit representation of posture. Neuropsychologia 2000; 38:923-34.
Newton J,
Sunderland A et al. A Pilot Study of Event-Related
fMRI of Monitored Wrist
Movements in Patients with Partial Recovery. Stroke 2002;33:2881-2887.
Sunderland
A, Tuke A. Neuroplasticity, learning and recovery after stroke. A critical evaluation of constraint-induced therapy. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation 2005,
15:81-96..
Sunderland A,
Walker CM & Walker M. Action errors and dressing disability after stroke : an ecological approach to neuropsychological
assessment and intervention. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 2006,
16, 666-683.
Sunderland,
A. and Shinner, C., 2007. Ideomotor apraxia and functional
ability. Cortex, 43(3),
359-367.
Sunderland,
A., 2007. Impaired imitation of meaningless gestures in ideomotor apraxia: a
conceptual problem not a disorder of action control? A single
case investigation. Neuropsychologia,
45(8), 1621-1631.