Tanya Duckworth
Higher Degree by Research Candidate
School of Psychology
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
I am completing my PhD in Medicine (Neuroscience) through the Faculty of Health & Medical Sciences, School of Psychology.
My research topic is:
The effects of creativity on neuroplasticity and cognition in adults with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
People who have PTSD are at higher risk of Alzheimer's disease than the general population. They exhibit reduced cognitive function in the domains of attention, executive function, processing speed and memory, with corresponding loss of myelin (white matter integrity) throughout the frontal lobes and corpus callosum of the brain in neuroimaging studies. Interestingly, people who score highly on creativity indexes, have formal arts training, or have undergone cognitive creativity enhancement programs such as those delivered in business and design schools, show increased cognitive capacity in these same domains, with corresponding abundance of white matter within the frontal lobes and corpus callosum, in addition to abundant white matter inter-hemispheric connectivity on DTI measures.
My project aims to investigate the neural mechanisms of creativity training and the effects on cognitive outcomes (specifically, attention, executive function and memory), with the aim to develop and trial a clinical cognitive intervention program to help remediate the effects of cognitive decline and neurodegeneration in people with PTSD.
I am completing my PhD in Medicine (Neuroscience) through the Faculty of Health & Medical Sciences, School of Psychology.
My research topic is:
The effects of creativity on neuroplasticity and cognition in adults with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
People who have PTSD are at higher risk of Alzheimer's disease than the general population. They exhibit reduced cognitive function in the domains of attention, executive function, processing speed and memory, with corresponding loss of myelin (white matter integrity) throughout the frontal lobes and corpus callosum of the brain in neuroimaging studies. Interestingly, people who score highly on creativity indexes, have formal arts training, or have undergone cognitive creativity enhancement programs such as those delivered in business and design schools, show increased cognitive capacity in these same domains, with corresponding abundance of white matter within the frontal lobes and corpus callosum, in addition to abundant white matter inter-hemispheric connectivity on DTI measures.
My project aims to investigate the neural mechanisms of creativity training and the effects on cognitive outcomes (specifically, attention, executive function and memory), with the aim to develop and trial a clinical cognitive intervention program to help remediate the effects of cognitive decline and neurodegeneration in people with PTSD.
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2019 Casual Academic University of Sydney 2010 - 2018 Research Assistant UNSW Australia -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 2017 University of Sydney Australia Master of Brain and Mind Sciences 2012 Central Queensland University Australia Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (Honours) 2002 University of Newcastle Australia Bachelor of Fine Arts -
Postgraduate Training
Date Title Institution Country 2019 PhD in Medicine University of Adelaide Australia -
Research Interests
Animal Neurobiology Biological Psychology Cognitive Science Creative Arts Design History and Theory Design Innovation Design Practice and Management Experimental Psychology Neurocognitive Patterns and Neural Networks Neurogenetics Neurology and Neuromuscular Diseases Neurosciences Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Psychology and Cognitive Sciences Neuroscience, Behaviour and Brain Health
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Journals
Year Citation 2017 Evans, L., & Duckworth, T. J. (2017). Dementia in people with Down
syndrome: What does the
research tell us?. VOICE - The journal of Down Syndrome Australia, (December 2017), 5-8.2016 Sachdev, P., Thalamuthu, A., Mather, K., Ames, D., Wright, M., Wen, W., . . . Lemmon, C. (2016). White Matter Hyperintensities Are Under Strong Genetic Influence. Stroke, 47(6), 1422-1428.
2012 NHMRC/ARC Strategic Award Grant, The Older Australian Twins Study - Named as Researcher
2019 Casual Academic at the University of Sydney
Connect With Me
External Profiles
