
Kate LawrenceSt Mary's University Twickenham London · Psychology
Kate Lawrence
BA, PhD, FHEA
About
38
Publications
26,398
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
1,881
Citations
Introduction
Kate's research interests lie within the area of developmental cognitive neuroscience. She has a particular interest in the development of social skills and face and emotion recognition abilities, in childhood and adolescence.
She is also interested in the influence of diet and nutrition on mental health and emotional well-being, with a focus being on the therapeutic benefits of microbiome manipulations.
Additional affiliations
September 2012 - January 2013
September 2010 - July 2012
July 1997 - June 2007
Publications
Publications (38)
Introduction
Current interventions for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are primarily medication, behavioural therapy and parent training. However, research suggests dietary manipulations may provide therapeutic benefit for some. There is accumulating evidence that the gut microbiome may be atypical in ADHD, and therefo...
Background
Several underlying mechanisms potentially account for the link between sleep and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), including inflammation. However, studies so far have been cross sectional. We investigate (a) the association between early childhood sleep and probable ADHD diagnosis in childhood and (b) whether childhoo...
Background
Dietary interventions have been previously explored in children with ADHD. Elimination diets and supplementation can produce beneficial behaviour changes, but little is known about the mechanisms mediating change. We propose that these interventions may work, in part, by causing changes in the gut microbiota. A microbiome-targeted dietar...
Our ability to differentiate between simple facial expressions of emotion develops between infancy and early adulthood, yet few studies have explored the developmental trajectory of emotion recognition using a single methodology across a wide age-range. We investigated the development of emotion recognition abilities through childhood and adolescen...
Face recognition is thought to rely on configural visual processing. Where face recognition impairments have been identified, qualitatively delayed or anomalous configural processing has also been found. A group of women with Turner syndrome (TS) with monosomy for a single maternal X chromosome (45, Xm) showed an impairment in face recognition skil...
Background
Several underlying mechanisms potentially account for the link between sleep and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), including inflammation. However, studies so far have been cross-sectional. We investigate (i) the association between early childhood sleep and probable ADHD diagnosis in childhood; and (ii) whether childh...
One way in which we figure out how people are feeling is by looking at their faces. Being able to do this allows us to react in the right way in social situations. But, are young children good at recognizing facial expressions showing emotion? And how does this ability develop throughout childhood and the teenage years? Children are able to recogni...
The proportion of schoolchildren with mild social communicative deficits far exceeds the number diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). We aimed to ascertain both the population distribution of such deficits and their association with functional adaptation and cognitive ability in middle childhood.
The parent-report Social and Communica...
Are children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but normal-range intelligence, impaired on theory of mind skills measured by responses to abstract animations in the form of a computerized cartoon? Fifty-six cases and closely matched comparisons were tested. We rated verbal responses according to the length of their descriptions, their appropri...
Background: The incidence of autism seems to be increasing. Population estimates of prevalence may underestimate autistic characteristics of lesser severity, for two main reasons. First, cases are usually ascertained from secondary screening, based on initial selection of children with severe and obvious symptoms. Consequently, mild or moderate def...
A commonly used test of non-verbal memory, which measures recognition for unfamiliar face pictures, was developed by Warrington (1984), the Recognition Memory for Faces (RMF) test. The task has been widely used in adults in relation to neurological impairment of face recognition. We examined the relationship of RMF scores to age in 500 young people...
One-third of women with Turner syndrome (45,X) have autism-like social and communication difficulties, despite normal verbal IQ. Deletion mapping of the X-chromosome implicated 5 Mb of Xp11.3-4 as critical for recognition of facial fear, a quantitative measure of social cognition. Variability in fear recognition accuracy in Turner syndrome suggeste...
We hypothesized that women with Turner syndrome (45,X) with a single X-chromosome inherited from their mother may show mentalizing deficits compared to women of normal karyotype with two X-chromosomes (46,X). Simple geometrical animation events (two triangles moving with apparent intention in relation to each other) which usually elicit mental-stat...
Turner syndrome (TS) is a chromosomal disorder of X-monosomy in females. A minority have impaired social responsiveness, poor discrimination of facial emotions (especially fear), and abnormal amygdala-cortical connectivity. We tested the hypothesis that abnormal gaze fixation, especially with the eye region of faces, would be associated with these...
Recognition of emotions within others is a necessary life skill. We know that this is a learnt skill, which develops throughout childhood and is deficient in some individuals. To put individual development in context, it is necessary to understand the nature of development amongst the normal population. Age-related centiles can be used to add this...
Aspects of face processing, on the one hand, and theory of mind (ToM) tasks, on the other hand, show specific impairment in autism. We aimed to discover whether a correlation between tasks tapping these abilities was evident in typically developing children at two developmental stages. One hundred fifty-four normal children (6-8 years and 16-18 yea...
Background: Understanding the social meaning of the eyes is crucial to normal development. We studied this ability in a neuro-developmental genetic disorder, Williams syndrome (WS) that, among other characteristics, has a distinctive cognitive profile with reported proficiency in language, face processing and social skills, but seriously impaired v...
Behavioural phenotypes are specific psychological characteristics with a known genetic aetiology. Like their somatic counterparts, the identification of behavioural phenotypes is potentially of clinical value. Various genetic mechanisms are associated with characteristic cognitive and behavioural profiles. These include: normal functional variation...
Growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) are expressed in specific regions of the central nervous system during early human development. They may consequently influence aspects of cognition, or emotional and behavioural adjustment from childhood to adulthood, in conditions associated with abnormalities of the somatotropic axis....
The amygdala comprises part of an extended network of neural circuits that are critically involved in the processing of socially salient stimuli. Such stimuli may be explicitly social, such as facial expressions, or they may be only tangentially social, such as abstract shapes moving with apparent intention relative to one another. The coordinated...
The amygdala, which plays a critical role in emotional learning and social cognition, is structurally and functionally sexually dimorphic in humans. We used magnetic neuroimaging and molecular genetic analyses with healthy subjects and patients possessing X-chromosome anomalies to find dosage-sensitive genes that might influence amygdala developmen...
Women with Turner's syndrome (TS), who lack a complete X-chromosome, show an impairment in remembering faces and in classifying "fear" in face images. Could their difficulties extend to the processing of gaze? Three tasks, all of which rely on the ability to make use of the eye-region of a pictured face, are reported. Women with TS were impaired at...
The behavioural phenotype of women with Turner syndrome (X-monosomy, 45,X) is poorly understood, but includes reports of some social development anomalies. With this in mind, accuracy of direction of gaze detection was investigated in women with Turner syndrome. Two simple experimental tasks were used to test the prediction that the ability to asce...
This thesis explored the influence of X-linked genes on the development of face- processing abilities. It assessed face-processing abilities in women with Turner syndrome (TS) who have just one, instead of two, X-chromosomes. Study One assessed the nature and severity of face processing deficits by applying a diverse battery of neuropsychological t...
Face recognition is thought to rely on configural visual processing. Where face recognition impairments have been identified, qualitatively delayed or anomalous configural processing has also been found. A group of women with Turner syndrome (TS) with monosomy for a single maternal X chromosome (45, Xm) showed an impairment in face recognition skil...
The behavioural phenotype of women with Turner syndrome (X-monosomy, 45,X) is poorly understood, but includes reports of some social development anomalies. With this in mind, accuracy of direction of gaze detection was investigated in women with Turner syndrome. Two simple experimental tasks were used to test the prediction that the ability to asce...
Two experiments were conducted to explore the relationship between the discrimination of the facial expression of 'fear' in faces and facial recognition. On the basis of the reported role of the amygdala in both processes in patients, we hypothesised that the two skills would be correlated in normal adults. In Experiment 1, a series of tests of fac...
Face recognition is often considered to be a modular (encapsulated) function. This annotation supports the proposal that faces are special, but suggests that their identification makes use of general-purpose cortical systems that are implicated in high-level vision and also in memory and learning more generally. These systems can be considered to f...
Face recognition is often considered to be a modular (encapsulated) function. This annotation supports the proposal that faces are special, but suggests that their identification makes use of general-purpose cortical systems that are implicated in high-level vision and also in memory and learning more generally. These systems can be considered to f...
We tested the cognitive abilities and educational attainments of 47 patients with a ring X chromosome, to evaluate the extent to which these variables correlated with failure of r(X) inactivation and with mosaicism. We found possession of a r(X) chromosome was associated with an increased risk of significant learning difficulties, and with associat...
X-monosomy is a form of Turner syndrome (TS) in which an entire X chromosome is missing. It is usually assumed that neuropsychological deficits in females with TS result from insufficient dosage of gene products from alleles on the sex chromosomes. If so, then parental origin of the single X chromosome should be immaterial. However, if there are im...
Turner syndrome (TS) is a chromosomal disorder in which all, or a substantial part, of one X chromosome is missing due to nondisjunction, or chromosome loss, during gametogenesis or early cleavage of the zygote. The condition is associated with a range of psychosocial difficulties, primarily involving immaturity and problems with social relationshi...
Skuse D, Elgar K, Morris E. Quality of life in Turner syndrome is related to chromosomal constitution: implications for genetic counselling and management. Acta Pædiatr 1999; Suppl 428: 110–13. Stockholm. ISSN 0803–5326
Issues of self-appraisal, friendships and academic attainments are uniquely salient for all adolescents. For girls with Turner syn...