Doctor Travis Wearne
Senior Lecturer in Clinical Neuropsychology,
Specialist Psychology
Senior Lecturer in Clinical Neuropsychology,
Specialist Psychology
Biography
I am an early career researcher and Clinical Neuropsychologist.
I hold a Bachelor of Psychology (First Class Honours, 2011), a Master of Clinical Neuropsychology (2015), and a Doctor of Philosophy in Neuropsychology (2016). I completed my Doctor of Philosophy under the supervision of Professor Jennifer Cornish at Macquarie University. My training was interdisciplinary and completed across the behavioural neuroscience laboratory within the School of Psychology, the School of Chemistry, and the Australian School of Advanced Medicine. My research examined the biological underpinnings of methamphetamine-induced psychosis and its diagnostic status as a psychotic disorder. I was trained in various behavioural and molecular techniques, including proteomics, polymerase chain reaction, western blot analysis, immunohistochemistry, and in situ hybridization. My PhD was awarded without emendation and awarded the Vice Chancellor’s Commendation for Research Excellence, and went on to receive the Australian Psychological Society Award for Excellent PhD Thesis in Psychology.
I am an endorsed clinical neuropsychologist with experience across mental health, brain injury, neurology, and rehabilitation. My clinical experiences provided me with first-hand exposure to the lived-in experience of acquired brain injury and the deleterious effect this has on social behaviour, emotion regulation, and mental health. This contact with patients and the impact of social difficulties served as the catalyst for my move to human based research. Consequently, I gained a competitive post as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the neuropsychology laboratory at the University of New South Wales under the supervision of Professor Skye McDonald. I received excellent research training on the theoretical and clinical aspects of research within the social cognitive field, and was able to collaborate with leading international experts in social neuroscience and traumatic brain injury. Despite my change in research trajectory, I have published on social cognition and brain injury since 2017 and have disseminated my research at international conferences (e.g., ASSBI 17/18, INS 17/18/20/22, AS4SAN 17/18/20, WFNR 17/18). I was appointed to Senior Lecturer in Clinical Neuropsychology within the School of Psychology at WSU in August 2021.
While I completed my PhD in the pharmacology of psychiatric disorders, I have expanded and translated my research interests into the area of clinical neuropsychology, with particular emphasis upon social cognition and behaviour. I am particularly interested in disorders of social cognition (emotion, empathy, theory of mind etc) and deficits in social skills. The subjects I study include those with frontal lobe dysfunction as a result of traumatic brain injury, cerebrovascular accident, tumour and some dementing illnesses. Recently, I have acquired a particular interest in theoretical models of social functioning and how these can help explain differences in social behaviour.
I am currently on the Executive Committee and the Social Media Manager for the Australian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment (ASSBI; 2018 - present). I am also an executive committee member for the Australasian Society for Social and Affective Neuroscience (AS4SAN; 2018 - present) and was elected Secretary in June 2020.
This information has been contributed by Doctor Wearne.
Qualifications
- MClinNeuroPsy Macquarie University
- PhD Macquarie University
Professional Memberships
- International Neuropsychological Society (2019)
- Australasian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment (2015)
- AHPRA - Registered Psychologist with Endorsement in Clinical Neuropsychology (2014)
- AHPRA - Registered Clinical Supervisor (2020)
- Australasian Society for Social and Affective Neuroscience (AS4SAN) (2017)
Awards
- International Neuropsychological Society Program Chair Outstanding Leadership Award 2021-06-30
- Best Platform Presentation, Australasian Society for Social and Affective Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Brisbane, Queensland 2018-06-22
- Best Platform Presentation by an Early Career Researcher, Australasian Society for Social and Affective Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Melbourne, Victoria 2017-06-09
- The Doris McIlwain Prize for Excellent PhD Thesis in Psychology, Macquarie University 2017-04-14
- Australian Psychological Society Award for Excellent PhD Thesis in Psychology 2016-09-16
- Letter of Commendation, Mental Health Service Award, Early Career Research Category 2019-11-01
Interests
- Emotion
- Neuropsychology
- Psychological Assessment
- Social Cognition
- Social and Emotional Wellbeing
Organisational Unit (School / Division)
- Specialist Psychology
- Specialist Psychology
Contact
| Email: | T.Wearne@westernsydney.edu.au |
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| Phone: | |
| Mobile: | |
| Location: | Penrith (Kingswood) |
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Teaching
Previous Teaching Areas
- BEHV2002 Brain and Behaviour, 2022
- BEHV7001 Advanced Therapeutic Modalities, 2022
- BEHV7003 Assessment: Cognitive Functions, 2022
- BEHV7005 Child Clinical Psychology, 2022
- BEHV7009 Clinical Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, 2021
- BEHV7009 Clinical Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, 2022
- BEHV7012 Clinical Research Methods, 2022
- BEHV7037 Psychological Practice in Contemporary Contexts, 2022
Publications
Chapters in Books
- Wearne, T., Kelly, M. and McDonald, S. (2022), 'Disorders of social cognition in adults with acquired brain injury', Clinical Disorders of Social Cognition, Routledge 9780367461201.
Journal Articles
- Filipcikova, M., Wearne, T. and McDonald, S. (2024), 'Disinhibited and angry : investigating the relationship between social disinhibition and the components of aggression following severe TBI', Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, vol 34, no 1 , pp 23 - 44.
- McDonald, S., Wearne, T. and Kelly, M. (2023), 'Calling on clinicians to get social and emotional', Clinical Neuropsychologist, vol 37, no 3 , pp 506 - 544.
- Chen, W., McDonald, S., Wearne, T., Sabel, I., Long, E. and Grisham, J. (2023), 'A pilot study of adapted social cognition and intervention training (SCIT) for hoarding disorder', Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, vol 36 .
- Martin, D., Rushby, J., De Blasio, F., Wearne, T., Osborne-Crowley, K., Francis, H., Xu, M., Loo, C. and McDonald, S. (2023), 'The effect of tDCS electrode montage on attention and working memory', Neuropsychologia, vol 179 .
- Kersivien, C., Doumit, A., Gascoigne, M. and Wearne, T. (2023), '[In Press] The protective role of resilience in the reporting of post-concussive symptoms within a non-clinical sample', Clinical Neuropsychologist, .
- McDonald, S., Wilson, E., Wearne, T., Darke, L., Cassel, A. and Rosenberg, H. (2022), 'The complex audio visual emotion assessment task (CAVEAT) : development of a shorter version for clinical use', Disability and Rehabilitation, vol 44, no 8 , pp 1498 - 1507.
- Tauro, J., Wearne, T., Belevski, B., Filipcikova, M. and Francis, H. (2022), 'Social cognition in female adults with anorexia nervosa : a systematic review', Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, vol 132 , pp 197 - 210.
- Chen, W., McDonald, S., Wearne, T. and Grisham, J. (2022), 'Interpersonal functioning in hoarding : an investigation of the link between hoarding symptoms and social support, social anhedonia, and social rewards', Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, vol 8 .
- Filipcikova, M., Quang, H., Cassel, A., Darke, L., Wilson, E., Wearne, T., Rosenberg, H. and McDonald, S. (2022), '[In Press] Exploring neuropsychological underpinnings of poor communication after traumatic brain injury : the role of apathy, disinhibition and social cognition', International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, .
- Rushby, J., De Blasio, F., Logan, J., Wearne, T., Kornfeld, E., Wilson, E., Loo, C., Martin, D. and McDonald, S. (2021), 'tDCS effects on task-related activation and working memory performance in traumatic brain injury : a within group randomized controlled trial', Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, vol 31, no 5 , pp 814 - 836.
- Chen, W., McDonald, S., Wearne, T. and Grisham, J. (2021), 'Investigating associations between hoarding symptoms and affective and cognitive empathy', British Journal of Clinical Psychology, vol 60, no 2 , pp 177 - 193.
- Wearne, T. and McDonald, S. (2021), 'Social cognition v. emotional intelligence in first-episode psychosis : are they the same?', Psychological Medicine, vol 51, no 7 , pp 1229 - 1230.
- Filipcikova, M., Wearne , T., Li, R. and McDonald, S. (2021), 'The prevalence, predictors, associated symptoms, and outcomes of social disinhibition following moderate-to-severe TBI : a scoping review of quantitative evidence', Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, vol 43, no 7 , pp 716 - 736.
- Wearne, T., Logan, J., Trimmer, E., Wilson, E., Filipcikova, M., Kornfeld, E., Rushby, J. and McDonald, S. (2021), 'Regulating emotion following severe traumatic brain injury : a randomized controlled trial of heart-rate variability biofeedback training', Brain Injury, vol 35, no 11 , pp 1390 - 1401.
- Kumfor, F., Tracy, L., Wei, G., Chen, Y., Dominguez D., J., Whittle, S., Wearne, T. and Kelly, M. (2020), 'Social and affective neuroscience : an Australian perspective', Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, vol 15, no 9 , pp 965 - 980.
- Wearne, T., Osborne-Crowley, K., Logan, J., Wilson, E., Rushby, J. and McDonald, S. (2020), 'Understanding how others feel : evaluating the relationship between empathy and various aspects of emotion recognition following severe traumatic brain injury', Neuropsychology, vol 34, no 3 , pp 288 - 297.
- Osborne-Crowley, K., Wilson, E., De Blasio, F., Wearne, T., Rushby, J. and McDonald, S. (2020), 'Empathy for people with similar experiences : can the perception-action model explain empathy impairments after traumatic brain injury?', Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, vol 42, no 1 , pp 28 - 41.
- Wearne, T., Anderson, V., Catroppa, C., Morgan, A., Ponsford, J., Tate, R., Ownsworth, T., Togher, L., Fleming, J., Douglas, J., Docking, K., Sigmundsdottir, L., Francis, H., Honan, C. and McDonald, S. (2020), 'Psychosocial functioning following moderate-to-severe pediatric traumatic brain injury : recommended outcome instruments for research and remediation studies', Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, vol 30, no 5 , pp 973 - 987.
- Osborne-Crowley, K., Wilson, E., De Blasio, F., Wearne, T., Rushby, J. and McDonald, S. (2019), 'Subjective emotional experience and physiological responsivity to posed emotions in people with traumatic brain injury', Neuropsychology, vol 33, no 8 , pp 1151 - 1162.
- Honan, C., McDonald, S., Tate, R., Ownsworth, T., Togher, L., Fleming, J., Anderson, V., Morgan, A., Catroppa, C., Douglas, J., Francis, H., Wearne, T., Sigmundsdottir, L. and Ponsford, J. (2019), 'Outcome instruments in moderate-to-severe adult traumatic brain injury : recommendations for use in psychosocial research', Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, vol 29, no 6 , pp 896 - 916.
- Wearne, T. and Cornish, J. (2019), 'Inhibitory regulation of the prefrontal cortex following behavioral sensitization to amphetamine and/or methamphetamine psychostimulants : a review of GABAergic mechanisms', Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacolgy and Biological Psychiatry, vol 95 .
- Osborne-Crowley, K., Wilson, E., De Blasio, F., Wearne, T., Rushby, J. and McDonald, S. (2019), 'Preserved rapid conceptual processing of emotional expressions despite reduced neuropsychological performance following traumatic brain injury', Neuropsychology, vol 33, no 6 , pp 872 - 882.
- Wearne, T., Osborne-Crowley, K., Rosenberg, H., Dethier, M. and McDonald, S. (2019), 'Emotion recognition depends on subjective emotional experience and not on facial expressivity : evidence from traumatic brain injury', Brain Injury, vol 33, no 1 , pp 12 - 22.
- Wearne, T., Lucien, A., Trimmer, E., Logan, J., Rushby, J., Wilson, E., Filipcikova, M. and McDonald, S. (2019), 'Anxiety sensitivity moderates the subjective experience but not the physiological response to psychosocial stress', International Journal of Psychophysiology, vol 141 , pp 76 - 83.
- Wearne, T. and Cornish, J. (2018), 'A comparison of methamphetamine-induced psychosis and schizophrenia : a review of positive, negative, and cognitive symptomatology', Frontiers in Psychiatry, vol 9 .
- Wearne, T. (2018), 'Elucidating the role of the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex in economic decision-making', Journal of Neuroscience, vol 38, no 17 , pp 4059 - 4061.
- Cornish, J., Franklin, J., Goodchild, A., Parker, L. and Wearne, T. (2018), 'GABA gene expression is differentially expressed across the prefrontal cortex following sensitisation to methamphetamine', Australian Psychologist, vol 53, no Suppl. 1 , pp 5 - 5.
- Berry, J., Martin, D., Wallace, K., Miller, A., Wearne, T. and Porter, M. (2017), 'A holistic neuropsychological approach to cognitive remediation for a community-based mixed psychiatric sample', SM Journal of Psychiatry & Mental Health, vol 2, no 1 .
- Parker, L., Le, S., Wearne, T., Hardwick, K., Kumar, N., Robinson, K., McMullan, S. and Goodchild, A. (2017), 'Neurochemistry of neurons in the ventrolateral medulla activated by hypotension : are the same neurons activated by glucoprivation?', Journal of Comparative Neurology, vol 525, no 9 , pp 2249 - 2264.
- Franklin, J., Wearne, T., Homewood, J. and Cornish, J. (2017), 'The behavioral effects of chronic sugar and/or caffeine consumption in adult and adolescent rats', Behavioral Neuroscience, vol 131, no 4 , pp 348 - 358.
- Wearne, T., Parker, L., Franklin, J., Goodchild, A. and Cornish, J. (2017), 'Behavioral sensitization to methamphetamine induces specific interneuronal mRNA pathology across the prelimbic and orbitofrontal cortices', Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacolgy and Biological Psychiatry, vol 77 , pp 42 - 48.
- Wearne, T., Parker, L., Franklin, J., Goodchild, A. and Cornish, J. (2016), 'GABAergic mRNA expression is differently expressed across the prelimbic and orbitofrontal cortices of rats sensitized to methamphetamine : relevance to psychosis', Neuropharmacology, vol 111 , pp 107 - 118.
- Franklin, J., Mirzaei, M., Wearne, T., Sauer, M., Homewood, J., Goodchild, A., Haynes, P. and Cornish, J. (2016), 'Quantitative shotgun proteomics reveals extensive changes to the proteome of the orbitofrontal cortex in rats that are hyperactive following withdrawal from a high sugar diet', Proteomics, vol 16, no 4 , pp 657 - 673.
- Franklin, J., Mirzaei, M., Wearne, T., Homewood, J., Goodchild, A., Haynes, P. and Cornish, J. (2016), 'Extended exposure to sugar and/or caffeine produces distinct behavioral and neurochemical profiles in the orbitofrontal cortex of rats : implications for neural function', Proteomics, vol 16, no 22 , pp 2894 - 2910.
- Franklin, J., Mirzaei, M., Wearne, T., Homewood, J., Goodchild, A., Haynes, P. and Cornish, J. (2016), 'Quantitative proteomic analysis of the orbital frontal cortex in rats following extended exposure to caffeine reveals extensive changes to protein expression : implications for neurological disease', Journal of Proteome Research, vol 15, no 5 , pp 1455 - 1471.
- Hassan, S., Wearne, T., Cornish, J. and Goodchild, A. (2016), 'Effects of acute and chronic systemic methamphetamine on respiratory, cardiovascular and metabolic function, and cardiorespiratory reflexes', Journal of Physiology, vol 594, no 3 , pp 763 - 780.
- Wearne, T., Parker, L., Franklin, J., Goodchild, A. and Cornish, J. (2016), 'GABAergic mRNA expression is upregulated in the prefrontal cortex of rats sensitized to methamphetamine', Behavioural Brain Research, vol 297 , pp 224 - 230.
- Wearne, T., Mirzaei, M., Franklin, J., Goodchild, A., Haynes, P. and Cornish, J. (2015), 'Methamphetamine-induced sensitization is associated with alterations to the proteome of the prefrontal cortex : implications for the maintenance of psychotic disorders', Journal of Proteome Research, vol 14, no 1 , pp 397 - 410.
Current Projects
| Title: | Clinical practice guidelines for the management of psychosocial disorders following adult traumatic brain injury (via UoT) |
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| Funder: |
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| Western Researchers: | Travis Wearne |
| Years: | 2022-03-01 - 2024-08-05 |
| ID: | P00027892 |