Dr Andrew McKinnon

Position

Lecturer in Clinical Neuropsychology

Biography

Dr Andrew McKinnon is a Lecturer in Clinical Neuropsychology and a clinical neuropsychologist in the School of Psychology, WSU. Andrew was previously a research fellow at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre, where he also conducted research for his PhD as part of the Healthy Brain Ageing team. During his PhD, Andrew showed that sleep-wake disturbance in older adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment is associated with depressive symptoms, and is characterised by distinct default mode network resting-state fMRI deficits. Since his PhD, Andrew has continued to focus on modifiable risk factors for dementia, and has incorporated further modalities including heart rate variability, oxygen desaturation, and structural imaging.

In 2021, Andrew was awarded a 3-year Race Against Dementia – Dementia Australia Research Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship for the project ‘Delineating relationships between sleep-wake disturbances, brain changes, dementia risk factors, and the accumulation of dementia pathology’. Through this project and his other research to-date, Andrew aims to identify modifiable risk factors for dementia, particularly those related to sleep, to inform early intervention strategies.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Arts-Psychology (Hons 1st) - Macquarie University
• Master of Clinical Neuropsychology - Macquarie University
• Doctor of Philosophy (Psychology) - Macquarie University

Publications

A full listing of my publications can be found on my Google Scholar page here(opens in a new window)

Branch S., Espinosa N., McKinnon A.C., Bennett J. (acceptance date: 28/01/2025). The relationship between brain structure and function and driving performance in older adults with and without cognitive impairment: a systematic review. Transportation Research Part F: Psychology and Behaviour.

Espinosa, N., Hoyos, C.M., McKinnon, A.C., Almgren, H., Duffy, S.L., Naismith, S.L. (acceptance date: 16/01/2025). Rest activity rhythm fragmentation and synchronisation are linked with reduced cortical thickness in older adults ‘at risk’ for dementia. Sleep.

Lam A, D’Rozario AL, Palmer JR, McKinnon AC, Dalton MA, Espinosa N, Mowszowski L, Phillips CL, Grunstein RR, Naismith SL (2024). Hypoxemia during rapid eye movement sleep mediates memory impairment in older adults at risk for dementia via CA1 hippocampal volume loss. European Journal of Neurology, 00:e16491. DOI: 10.1111/ene.16491.

Kong SDX*, Espinosa N*, McKinnon AC, Gordon CJ, Wassing R, Hoyos CM, Hickie IB, & Naismith SL (2024). Different heart rate variability profile during sleep in mid-later life adults with remitted early-onset versus late-onset depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 358:175-182. *joint first authors. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.04.054.

Ricciardiello A, McKinnon AC, Mowszowski L, LaMonica HM, Schrire ZM, Haroutonian C, Lam A, Hickie IB, D’Rozario A, Naismith SL (2024). Assessing sleep architecture and cognition in older adults with depressive symptoms attending a memory clinic. Journal of Affective Disorders, 348:35-43. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.12.032.

Orlando IF, O’Callaghan C, Lam A, McKinnon AC, Tan JB, Michaelian JC, Kong SDX, D’Rozario AL, Naismith SL (2024). Sleep spindle architecture associated with distinct clinical phenotypes in older adults at risk for dementia. Molecular Psychiatry. 29(2):402-411. DOI: 10.1038/s41380-023-02335-1.

Kong SDX, Gordon CJ, Hoyos CM, Wassing R, D’Rozario A, Mowszowski L, Ireland C, Palmer JR, Grunstein RR, Shine JM, McKinnon AC*, Naismith SL* (2023). Heart rate variability during slow wave sleep is linked to functional connectivity in the central autonomic network. Brain Communications. 5(3):fcad129. *Joint senior authors. DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcad129.

Espinosa N, Duffy SL, LaMonica HM, Mowszowski L, Hickie IB, Palmer JR, Naismith SL*, McKinnon AC* (2022). Thalamic Abnormalities in Older Adults with Remitted Early-Onset Depression Using Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Journal of Affective Disorders. 300:150-157. *Joint senior authors. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.12.067.

Schrire ZM, Phillips CL, Chapman JL, Duffy SL, Wong G, D’Rozario AL, Comas M, Raisin I, Saini B, Gordon CJ, McKinnon AC, Naismith SL, Marshall NS, Grunstein RR, & Hoyos CM (2022). Safety of higher doses of melatonin in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Pineal Research. 72(2):e12782. DOI: 10.1111/jpi.12782

Michaelian JC, Duffy S, Mowszowski L, Guastella AJ, McCade D, McKinnon AC,*, Naismith SL* (2021). Poorer Theory of Mind in amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment is associated with decreased functional connectivity in the default mode network. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. 81(3):1079-1091. DOI: 10.3233/JAD-201284. *Joint senior authors.

Kong DX, Hoyos CM, Phillips CL, McKinnon AC, Lin P, Duffy SL, Mowszowski L, LaMonica HM, Grunstein RR, Naismith SL*, Gordon CJ* (2021). Altered heart rate variability during sleep in mild cognitive impairment. Sleep. 44(4): zsaa232. DOI:10.1093/sleep/zsaa232. *Joint senior authors

McKinnon AC, Stickel A, Ryan, L (2021). Cardiovascular risk factors and APOE-ε4 status affect memory functioning in aging via changes to temporal stem diffusion. Journal of Neuroscience Research. 99(2):502-517. DOI:10.1002/jnr.24734

Stickel AM, McKinnon AC, Matijevic S, Grilli MD, Ruiz J, Ryan L (2021). Apolipoprotein e4 Allele-Based Differences in Brain Volumes Are Largely Uniform Across Late Middle Aged and Older Hispanic/Latino- and Non-Hispanic/Latino Whites Without Dementia. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. 13:627322. DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.627322.

Naismith SL, Duffy SL, Cross N, Grunstein R, Terpening Z, Hoyos C, D’Rozario A, Lagopoulos J, Osorio RS, Shine JM, McKinnon AC (2020). Nocturnal hypoxemia is associated with altered parahippocampal functional brain connectivity in older adults at-risk for dementia. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 73(2):571-584. DOI: 10.3233/JAD-190747

McKinnon AC, Beath AP, Naismith SL (2019). Relationships between sleep quality, depressive symptoms and MCI diagnosis: A path analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 256:26-32. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.05.045

Stickel A, McKinnon A, Ruiz J, Grilli M, Ryan L (2019). The impact of cardiovascular risk factors on cognition in Hispanics and non-Hispanic Whites. Learning and Memory, 26(7):235-244. DOI: 10.1101/lm.048470.118

Barrow L, Ambler T, Bailey M, McKinnon A (2019). Incarcerated Students, the Technological Divide and the Challenges in Tertiary Education Delivery. International Journal of Bias, Identity and Diversities in Education (IJBIDE), 4(1):17-34. DOI: 10.4018/IJBIDE.2019010102

McKinnon, AC, Hickie, IB, Scott, J, Duffy, SL, Norrie, L, Terpening, Z, Grunstein, RR, Lagopoulos, J, Lewis, SJG, Shine, JM, Naismith, SL (2018). Current sleep disturbance in older people with a lifetime history of depression is associated with increased connectivity in the Default Mode Network. Journal of Affective Disorders, 229: 85-94. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2017.12.052

McKinnon AC, Duffy, SL, Cross, NE, Terpening, Z, Grunstein, RR, Lagopoulos, J, Batchelor, J, Hickie, IB, Lewis, SJG, Shine, JM, Naismith, SL (2017). Functional connectivity in the Default Mode Network is reduced in association with nocturnal awakening in MCI. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 56(4): 1373-1384. DOI:  10.3233/JAD-160922

Haski-Leventhal D, Pournader M, McKinnon A. (2017). The role of gender and age in business students’ values, CSR attitudes, and responsible management education: Learnings from the PRME international survey. Journal of Business Ethics, 146(1): 219-239. DOI: 10.1007/s10551-015-2936-2

McKinnon AC, Lagopoulos J, Terpening Z, Grunstein R, Hickie IB, Batchelor J, Lewis SJG, Duffy SL, Shine JM, Naismith SL (2016). Sleep disturbance in Mild Cognitive Impairment is associated with alterations in the brain’s Default Mode Network. Behavioral Neuroscience, 130(3): 305-315. DOI: 10.1037/bne0000137

McKinnon AC, Van Oudenhove L, Tack J, Jones M (2015). The association of personality, appraisal, catastrophising and vigilance with gastrointestinal symptom-specific anxiety. Journal of Health Psychology, 20(4): 456-465. DOI: 10.1177/1359105313503027

McKinnon A, Terpening Z, Hickie IB, Batchelor J, Grunstein R, Lewis SJG, Naismith SL (2014). Prevalence and predictors of poor sleep quality in mild cognitive impairment. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, 27(3): 204-211. DOI: 10.1177/0891988714527516

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