Tom Burke

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Verified

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• Doctor of Psychology
• Assistant Professor at Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway

Objective: Schizophrenia is a complex functionally debilitating neurodevelopmental disorder, with associated social cognitive impairment. Corpus Callosum (CC) white matter tract deficits are reported for people with schizophrenia; however, few studies focus on interhemispheric processing relative to social cognition tasks. This study aimed to deter...

This study is a quantitative synthesis of meta-analytic evidence for the effectiveness of very broadly defined positive psychological interventions (PPIs), i.e. interventions that enhance wellbeing through pathways consistent with positive psychology theory. The definition covers a wide range of PPIs including single and multi-element PPI programs...

Background Huntington’s disease (HD) is a genetic, neurodegenerative disease. Due to the progressive nature of HD and the absence of a cure, (health-related) quality of life ((HR)QoL) is an important topic. Several studies have investigated (HR)QoL in HD, yet a clear synthesis of the existing literature is lacking to date. We performed a systematic...

Objective Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a psychiatric condition characterised by a pervasive pattern of impulsivity, low self-image, and interpersonal conflicts. Previous findings indicate a mixed relationship between BPD and social cognition; little research as investigated whether BPD traits influence performance on specific elements o...

BACKGROUND In the context of a sharp rise in help-seeking in youth mental health, digital mental health interventions offer enormous potential to improve outcomes, facilitate access, and meet the increasing demand on mental health services. For young adults attending third level education, for example, digital mental health interventions may suppor...

The aim of this study was to reexamine relationships between the Dark Triad traits and aspects of emotional functioning, such as emotional intelligence and empathy, as traits and abilities, by using a network analysis approach. The sample consisted of 359 Hungarians from Serbia. The results indicated that the optimal description of the network stru...

Background Depressive and negative symptoms are related to poor functional outcomes in schizophrenia. Cognitive deficits, reduced brain cortical thickness and volumes, and inflammation may contribute to depressive and negative symptoms, but pharmacological treatment and disease progression may confound the associations. Methods We evaluated whethe...

Background Understanding quality of life (QoL) is important in diseases for which there is no cure to date, such as Huntington’s disease (HD). A deeper level of understanding is, however, compromised by the lack of studies examining QoL from the perspectives of HD gene expansion carriers (HDGECs). Only a few qualitative studies on QoL in HD have be...

Background Apathy is one of the most frequently reported psychological symptoms of Huntington’s Disease (HD), and has previously been associated with cognitive, functional and motor impairment in premanifest HD. Aims The aim of the current study is to investigate if the relationship between apathy and verbal fluency is mediated by motor scores, de...

Background Huntington’s Disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disease that follows an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern. The motor symptoms associated with HD are well characterised and characterological on manifestation, however, there are also significant behavioural and psychiatric symptom phenotypes. The HD biological classification and Inte...

Background Defined as the presence of hallucinations and/or delusions, psychosis in Huntington’s Disease (HD) has an estimated prevalence of 3–11%. HD-psychosis has been repeatedly linked to lower functional ability, greater motor disturbances, longer illness duration and reduced cognition. While there is evidence of a unique clinical course, it re...

Background Defined as the presence of hallucinations and/or delusions, psychosis in Huntington’s Disease (HD) has an estimated prevalence of 3–11% (van Duijn et al., 2007). HD-psychosis has been repeatedly linked to lower functional ability, greater motor disturbances, longer illness duration and reduced cognition (van Duijn et al., 2014; Pérez-Pér...

Background Huntington’s Disease (HD) is a genetic neurodegenerative disease characterized by cognitive, motor, psychiatric and behavioural symptoms (McColgan & Tabrizi, 2018). Inhibitory control and perseveration are prevalent cognitive and neuropsychiatric features of HD that have been associated with substance use behaviour (SUB) (Chirokoff et al...

Introduction eHealth seems promising in addressing challenges in the provision of care for Huntington’s disease (HD) across Europe. By harnessing information and communication technologies, eHealth can partially relocate care from specialized centers to the patients’ home, thereby increasing the availability and accessibility of specialty care serv...

Introduction: Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by functional and structural brain dysconnectivity and disturbances in perception, cognition, emotion, and social functioning. In the present study, we investigated whether the microstructural organisation of the uncinate fasciculus (UF) was associated with emo...

Objective The Corona Radiata (CR) is a large white matter tract in the brain comprising of the anterior CR (aCR), superior CR (sCR), and posterior CR (pCR), which have associations with cognition, self-regulation, and, in schizophrenia, positive symptom severity. This study tested the hypothesis that the microstructural organisation of the aCR, as...

Social cognition has a broad theoretical definition, which includes the ability to mentalise, i.e., recognise and infer mental states to explain and predict another’s behaviour. There is growing recognition of the clinical, diagnostic, and prognostic value of assessing a person’s ability to perform social cognitive tasks, particularly aspects of th...

Childhood trauma (CT) is associated with lower cognitive and social cognitive function in schizophrenia. Recent evidence suggests that the relationship between CT and cognition is mediated by both low-grade systemic inflammation and reduced connectivity of the default mode network (DMN) during resting state. This study sought to test whether the sa...

Growing evidence points to a spectrum of non-motor symptoms, including cognitive difficulties that have a greater impact on functional outcomes and quality of life than motor symptoms in cervical dystonia (CD). Some cognitive impairments have been reported; however, findings are inconsistent, and described across mixed groups of dystonia. The curre...

Cognitive impairment is a core feature of psychosis. Full cognitive assessments are not often conducted in routine clinical practice as administration is time-consuming. Here, we investigated whether brief tests of cognition could be used to predict broader neurocognitive performance in a manner practical for screening use in mental health services...

Following the global outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, individuals report psychological distress associated with the “new normal”—social distancing, financial hardships, and increased responsibilities while working from home. Given the interpersonal nature of stress and coping responses between romantic partners, based on the systemic transac�tio...

Background: Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a psychiatric condition characterized by impulsivity, affect instability, dysregulation, low self-image, and interpersonal difficulties. There are many instruments to measure traits of BPD, however, few can be administered quickly. The Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder (SI-...

Psychotic experiences (PEs) such as hallucinations and delusions are common among young people without psychiatric diagnoses and are associated with connectivity and white matter abnormalities, particularly in the limbic system. Using diffusion MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) in adolescents with reported PEs and matched controls, we examined the c...

Background Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a psychiatric condition characterized by impulsivity, affect instability, dysregulation, low self-image, and interpersonal difficulties. There are many instruments to measure traits of BPD, however few can be administered quickly. The SI-Bord is an instrument offering a brief administration time w...

Background Cervical dystonia patients have a high prevalence of anxiety and depression which is the main predictor of quality of life. Reports of abnormal cognition in cervical dystonia may be confounded by concurrent mood disorder. Aim To assess the relationships between measures of cognition, mood disorder, disease severity, and quality of life...

Objectives: Quality of life (QoL) is a multi-dimensional phenomenon composed of core domains that are influenced by personal characteristics, values, and environmental contributions. There are eight core domains of quality of life aligned with both the United Nations and the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Dev...

Background: The psychological impact of COVID-19 is multifaceted, both acute and chronic, and has not affected everyone equally. Method: This longitudinal study compared those with and without Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on measures of psychological distress and wellbeing. Results: All groups (No ACE, Low ACE, and High ACE) had similar l...

Following the global outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, individuals report psychological distress associated with the “new normal”—social distancing, financial hardships, and increased responsibilities while working from home. Given the interpersonal nature of stress and coping responses between romantic partners, based on the systemic transaction...

Objective Social cognition is considered a trait marker of psychosis, and has rarely been investigated in young adults who have reported psychotic experiences (PE). The aim of the present study was to explore whether social cognition, self-reported Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) traits and functioning were associated with PE. Methods Participants...

Background: This longitudinal cohort study aimed to examine the impact of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland on parents of children with externalising difficulties, in comparison to parents of such difficulties. Method: Parents of 159 children completed online self-report measures at three time points during the first wave of the C...

Despite recent and potent technological advances, the real-world implementation of remote digital health technology in the care and monitoring of patients with motor neuron disease has not yet been realized. Digital health technology may increase the accessibility to and personalization of care, whereas remote biosensors could optimize the collecti...

Background: This longitudinal cohort study aimed to examine the impact of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland on parents of children with externalising difficulties, in comparison to parents of children without such difficulties. Method: Parents of 159 children completed online self-report measures at three time points during the fir...

Background: This protocol outlines procedures for the development and evaluation of a remotely accessible intervention tool known as the ‘Psychology And yoU: Self-Enhancement programme’ (i.e., PAUSE programme). The PAUSE programme aims to support and promote psychological well-being using positive psychological concepts and principles. The programm...

Background: Staff member’s views and attitudes have a significant impact on people with an intellectual disability. This study explores staff attitudes and experiences of people with an intellectual disability’s expression of relationships and sexuality in Ireland. Methods: Staff (n=86) from service providers (n=5) completed the Attitudes to Sexua...

Social cognition is the ability to identify, understand, and interpret mental states and emotions. Psychopathic traits are typically described in two ways; Primary: shallow affect, emotional detachment, and relationship difficulties, and Secondary Psychopathic Traits: antisocial traits, impulsiveness, and emotional dysregulation. People with high p...

Objective The unprecedented occurrence of a global pandemic is accompanied by both physical and psychological burdens that may impair quality of life. Research relating to COVID-19 aims to determine the effects of the pandemic on vulnerable populations who are at high risk of developing negative health or psychosocial outcomes. Having an ongoing me...

Understanding other’s emotions is an important aspect of interpersonal engagement, with difficulties in reading emotive cues often being linked to lower social competence, communication proficiency, and quality of life (Sofologi et al. 2019). Social cognition refers to the range of complex cognitive processes that are utilised when attempting to un...

Introduction The cingulum is a white matter tract lying underneath the cingulate cortex, connecting frontal, parietal and medial temporal regions and a role has been suggested in psychosis. Few studies have found robust differences in either psychosis or the extended psychosis phenotype, possibly due to the heterogeneous nature of the tract. We hyp...

Objective: The unprecedented occurrence of a global pandemic is accompanied by both physical and psychological burdens that may impair quality of life. Research relating to COVID-19 aims to determine the effects of the pandemic on vulnerable populations who are at high risk of developing negative health or psychosocial outcomes. Having an ongoing m...

UNSTRUCTURED Despite recent and compelling technological advances, the real-world implementation of remote digital health technology in care and monitoring of patients with motor neuron disease (MND) has not yet been realized. Digital health technology may increase the accessibility to and personalization of care, whereas remote biosensors could op...

Despite recent and potent technological advances, the real-world implementation of remote digital health technology in the care and monitoring of patients with motor neuron disease has not yet been realized. Digital health technology may increase the accessibility to and personalization of care, whereas remote biosensors could optimize the collecti...

Background Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is often associated with cognitive and/or behavioural impairment. Cognitive reserve (CR) may play a protective role in offsetting cognitive impairment. This study examined the relationship between CR and longitudinal change in cognition in an Irish ALS cohort. Methods Longitudinal neuropsychological a...

Background: Complicated grief involves the experience of grief-related symptoms at a time, and severity, beyond which could be considered adaptive, while persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD) has been identified as a condition that requires further study in the typical population. The aims of this study are to (1) explore the symptoms of c...

Introduction Non-motor features of cervical dystonia (CD) have been identified, including depression, anxiety, and neuropsychological deficits. The aims were: to provide a clinical neuropsychological profile of CD patients with specific focus on social cognition; assess levels of psychological distress; and investigate the relationship between non-...

Background: The emergence of the coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) resulted in a global pandemic. The psychological impact of an epidemic is multifaceted and acute, with long-term consequences. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey-based design was employed, assessing the psychological impact of COVID-19 on members of the Irish public during t...

Background Although considered a motor disorder, adult onset isolated focal dystonia has many non-motor symptoms. There is a paucity of neuropsychological research on cognitive processing in adult onset focal dystonia. Methods We employed a battery of clinical and cognitive assessments, including basic and complex social cognition, and assessed 46...

Objective: Deficits in social cognition are part of the cognitive phenotype of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). This study investigated the psychometric properties and test-retest reliability of two short-form versions of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test. Method: Patients with ALS (n=50), alongside age and IQ matched controls (n=50) were...

In families with a child with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) much is known about the usefulness of parent training interventions focusing on children's behaviour, social or linguistic development. In contrast clinician led parent targeted interventions focusing on positive parental outcomes such as mental health and psychological well-being ar...

Introduction: Few studies investigate cognitive outcomes in patients with angiographically negative subarachnoid haemorrhage (anSAH), which is traditionally viewed as a condition with excellent prognosis. The aim of this study was to assess neuropsychological outcomes in a prospective cohort of anSAH patients 1-year post-event. Method: This prospec...

Background In cases of brain pathology, current levels of cognition can only be interpreted reliably relative to accurate estimations of pre-morbid functioning. Estimating levels of pre-morbid intelligence is, therefore, a crucial part of neuropsychological evaluation. However, current methods of estimation have proven problematic. Objective To ev...

Background: ALS is a multidimensional condition, with many patients presenting with cognitive and/or behavioural impairment. Caregivers of patients with ALS, commonly non-paid immediate family members, often take primary responsibility for the complex care needs of patients in non-medicalised setting, and many as a consequence experience caregiver...

Background: Few studies in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) have profiled caregivers’ burden, subjective distress, quality of life, and investigated this triad post-bereavement. Sixty two ALS patients and their primary caregivers were enrolled with caregivers interviewed post bereavement for the current study. Caregivers completed measures of an...

Background: Huntington’s disease (HD), an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease consists of pre-manifest and manifest phases. The aims of this study was to investigate cognitive outcomes in the premanifest and manifest HD patients compared to controls. Methods: The Enroll-HD database of 15,301 participants was analysed by stratifying partic...

Abstract Introduction: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rapid and fatal motor disease marked by progressive physical impairment due to muscle weakness and wasting. It is multidimensional with many patients presenting with cognitive and/or behavioural impairment. Caregivers of patients with ALS, commonly non-paid immediate family members, of...

Whereas the diagnosis of moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is readily visible on current medical imaging paradigms (magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] and computed tomography [CT] scanning), a far greater challenge is associated with the diagnosis and subsequent management of mild TBI (mTBI), especially concussion which, by definition,...

Clinical outcomes, including performance on cognitive assessment, in patients with angiographically negative subarachnoid haemorrhage (anSAH) are often interpreted as benign with a good prognostic trajectory. However, diffuse cognitive deficits have been reported within this patient cohort resulting from anSAH, albeit to a lesser extent when compar...

Cognitive impairment and behavioural dysfunction is an integral part of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) for many patients. This presentation reports a series of studies which investigated cognition, behavioural features and phenotypes, service engagement, and clinico-demographics of patients with ALS, to assess the relationship with caregiver b...

Clinical outcomes, cognitive assessment, and neuropsychological evaluation in patients with angiographically negative subarachnoid haemorrhage (anSAH) are often interpreted as benign, however, diffuse cognitive deficits have been reported within this cohort. To this end, the present study consists of three distinct yet interlocked projects: 1) A sy...

Prospective Systematic Review Protocol (CRD42018110289)

Clinical outcomes, cognitive assessment, and neuropsychological evaluation in patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage of unknown origin (SAH-UO) are often interpreted as benign, however, diffuse cognitive deficits have been reported within this cohort. To this end, the present study consists of three distinct yet related projects: 1) A systematic re...

Prolonged and pervasive cognitive and psychological complaints following a subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) are frequently reported. They are well-highlighted in recent literature and are closely connected to the trajectory of a patient’s recovery. Neuropsychological deficits have been shown to reduce patients’ quality of life, inhibit return to empl...

Objective: Caregiver burden is a recognised consequence of caring for a patient with neurodegeneration. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) differs from other neurodegenerations by its rapid progression and impairment of motor, cognitive, and behavioural function, which contribute to caregiver burden. However, longitudinal factors that determine th...

This poster outlines the findings of a systematic review of cognitive outcomes in patients who experienced a subarachnoid haemorrhage of unknown origin. This work is currently undergoing peer-review.

Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), experience cognitive and behavioural impairment that share features with Huntington ’s disease (HD), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Stroke, and Parkinson ’s disease (PD). Lessons can be learned across these conditions about recognition, evaluat...

Objective To evaluate the utility of mismatch negativity (MMN), a neurophysiologic marker of non-motor cognitive processing, in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Methods 89 patients, stratified into 4 different phenotypic presentations of ALS (67 spinal-onset, 15 bulbar-onset, 7 ALS-FTD, 7 C9ORF72 gene careers), and 19 matched controls underwen...

The Beaumont Behavioural Inventory (BBI) is a behavioural proxy report for the assessment of behavioural changes in ALS. This tool has been validated against the FrSBe, a non-ALS-specific behavioural assessment, and further comparison of the BBI against a disease-specific tool was considered. This study cross-validates the BBI against the ALS-FTD-Q...

Few studies in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS) have profiled disease-specific features of the condition in conjunction with assessment of caregivers' burden, distress, quality of life, and investigated patient survival. Eighty-four ALS patients and their primary caregivers were enrolled. Patients completed ALS-specific measures of physical and cogn...

Figure S1. Scree plot derived from the factor analysis of BBI data.

Table S1. Additional data on the subcohort completing the cognitive assessment. Table S2. Item loading and cross‐loading on five identified factors (oblique method, oblimin rotation). Table S3. Frequency of all reported behaviors in the ALS cohort versus healthy controls.

Figure S2. A schema of the identified behavioral factors and their neuroanatomical correlates based on the literature. mPFC: medial prefrontal cortex; OFC: orbitofrontal cortex; aI: anterior Insula; ACC: anterior cingulate; dlPFC: dorsolateral prefrontal regions TL temporolimbic area. Factor 1: mPFC‐OFC‐aI (black); Factor 2: OFC‐ACC (blue); Factor...

Objective: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a clinically heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorder associated with cognitive and behavioral impairment. The primary aim of this study was to identify behavioral subphenotypes in ALS using a custom designed behavioral assessment tool (Beaumont Behavioural Inventory, BBI). Secondary aims were to (...

Objective: This study aimed to illustrate the variation of non-executive cognitive processes, i.e. visual memory, considering executive dysfunction in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Methods: Patients with ALS (n = 203), and matched healthy controls (n = 117) completed a battery of neuropsychological tests. Sub-stratification was based on w...

Objective: Caregiver burden is a recognized consequence of caring for someone suffering from a neurodegenerative condition. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is rapidly progressive and can impair cognitive function, movement, and behaviour. This rapid disease trajectory separates it from other neurodegenerative conditions. The role of psychologic...

Abstract Background: Cognitive and behavioural changes are an important aspect in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS) briefly assesses these changes in ALS. Objective: To validate the ECAS against a standardised neuropsychological battery and assess its sensitivity and specificity using a...

Objective: Behavioural changes are an important part of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, most tools do not account for the influence of motor impairment. Furthermore, they do not fully measure the broad range of behavioural changes specific to ALS. This study aimed to develop and validate an ALS specific behavioural inventory, the Bea...

Introduction ALS functional rating scale (revised) (ALSFRS-R) is the most widely used functional rating system in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, heterogeneity in ALSFRS-R progression renders analysis challenging. We have explored the characteristics of total ALSFRS-R, and ALSFRS-R subscores in longitudinal and survival...

Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disease. Executive dysfunction is common in patients with ALS, with up to 50% of patients performing within an impaired range. There is evidence that social cognitive deficits associated with ALS are a function of deficits in executive function. The 'Reading...