Centre for Neurogenic Communication Disorders Research

	Profile

The Centre for Neurogenic Communication Disorders Research was established to promote and conduct research into communication disorders of neurological origin, and to investigate the assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of these disorders.

Under the directorship of the former Head of the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Professor Bruce Murdoch, who leads a team of national and international scholars, the Centre has acquired an international reputation as a leader in this field. The Centre has the most comprehensively equipped laboratory for the physiological analysis of the speech production mechanism in Australia and is one of the top three internationally. The Centre has received in excess of $AU5 million in research grants from a range of prestigious national and international funding agencies.

In addition to its research standing, the Centre is also internationally recognised for having led the development of new instrumentation for the assessment and treatment of motor speech dysfunction, including developing a range of transducer systems capable of measuring the functioning of the orofacial muscles, and a pressure-sensing electropalatographic system – a world first. It is also a leading national centre for the application of transcranial magnetic stimulation technology in the treatment of neurogenic language disorders.

Specific Objectives:

• To provide a focus for national and international research into neurogenic communication disorders.

• To examine the use of physiological instrumentation to develop profiles of the function of the major subcomponents of the speech mechanisms in a range of neurological conditions including traumatic brain injury, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, brain tumours, motor neuron disease and Huntingdon’s chorea.

• To investigate the contribution of subcortical brain structures to language processing.

• To develop new projects to determine the efficacy of revolutionary new techniques, such as biofeedback and transcranial magnetic stimulation, for the treatment of neurogenic speech and language disorders in the above populations.

• To evaluate the impact of surgical procedures on speech and language function and stereotactic neurosurgical procedures (pallidotomy and thalamotomy for Parkinson’s disease), and orthognathic surgery.

• To disseminate research findings through publication in relevant journals and participation at conferences.

• To educate undergraduate and postgraduate speech pathologists in the treatment and rehabilitation of motor speech disorders.

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