Investigating deictic communication in stroke patients with visual neglect

Start Date: September 2016
No. of positions available: 1
Supervisor: Professor Kenny Coventry and Dr Stephanie Rossit

Project description:
DCOMM www.dcomm.eu is a new Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Innovative Training Network. It will train the next generation of scientists in the full range of multidisciplinary and cross-sectorial methods necessary to make significant progress in understanding deictic communication, with direct synergies between basic research and application.

Two thirds of stroke patients exhibit visual neglect (Stone et al, 1993). Visual neglect is the most severe and common visual processing problem observed after stroke (Stroke Association) and is characterised by a loss of awareness of the side of space opposite to the side of the stroke. This project will examine deictic communication deficits in stroke patients, and the relationship between deictic communication abilities and visual neglect. Following screening for the presence of visual neglect and other associated neuropsychological deficits, patients will perform a range of deictic communication tasks (including the ‘memory game task’ used successfully to elicit demonstratives under controlled conditions (Coventry et al, 2008, 2014). Voxel-based lesion-symptom analysis (Rossit et al, 2011) will be used to identify which brain regions when damaged are associated with deictic communication deficits. In turn, a rehabilitation trial will establish whether deictic communication enhancement may improve visual neglect.

Person specification:
The position is open to candidates of any nationality, as long as they fulfil the requirements set for Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) funded by Marie Sklodwoska-Curie actions.

Early-stage researchers shall, at the time of recruitment by the host organisation, be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research careers and not yet have been awarded a doctoral degree.

Mobility Rule: at the time of recruitment by the host organisation, researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of their host organisation (UK) for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the reference date.

Requirements: first degree in psychology, cognitive neuroscience, or  related discipline;  Masters level degree in psychological science, cognitive neuroscience, neuropsychology or  related discipline; fluency in spoken /written English. Desirable: experience working with neurological patients including obtaining ethical approval for clinical studies and neuropsychological assessment; experience of lesion-symptom analyses; experience working with neuroimaging software (e.g., SPM, MRICROn); experience working with programming languages (e.g., E-prime, Matlab); experience of collecting and analysing motion-tracking data; experience of advanced statistical analyses .

Longlisted candidates will undertake an interview via Skype and shortlisted candidates will then be asked to attend interview at the University of East Anglia, UK.

Funding notes:
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 676063.

The salary is based on the standard Marie Skłodowska-Curie Early Stage Researcher living and mobility allowances: 

Living Allowance – the sterling equivalent of EUR 3,741.33 per month;
Mobility allowance – the sterling equivalent of EUR 600 per month;
Family Allowance – the sterling equivalent of EUR 500 per month (if applicable).