Brains and how they work

Dr Jenny Batchelor (centre) and students.

Macquarie University is a specialist in neuropsychological training and students are able to add real clinical experience to their research as they work for their Masters or Doctorates.

Neuropsychologist Dr Jenny Batchelor, who is a Lecturer and postgraduate supervisor in Macquarie’s Department of Psychology, says that having access to both University facilities and patients in real clinical settings is a way of bringing the theoretical, practical and research aspects of the discipline together.

“Neuropsychology is the study of brain behaviour relationships. You’re looking at how damage to specific areas of the brain affects people’s thinking and personality,” she says.

The scope of the work

Batchelor and the teams with which she works, including her students, deal with patients with any form of acquired brain damage: epilepsy, substance or alcohol abuse or tumours. Mild traumatic brain injury is the focus of the Macquarie University Clinic at Westmead Hospital. There are also Macquarie researchers looking at epilepsy at the Children’s Hospital, and at dementia at Concord Hospital.

“We do Masters and Doctors professional programs, with clinical placements,” she says. “Students who do best have a good understanding of neuropsychology before they apply. They understand what we teach, and they know they want to commit themselves. They have to have a desire to contribute to patient care and management.”

There are four clinical placements for students, each of 250 hours. During the first two, they are supervised, but by the third, they are expected to undertake routine work independently. Throughout the postgrad course, however, there is a high degree of support from academic staff.

Her own career path

In her third year of a degree in psychology, Batchelor went to hear a series of guest lectures on brain damage. She was immediately interested, and knew that this was where she wanted to specialise.

After her studies finished, she applied for a job at Westmead Hospital that involved research on people with head injury. She has been involved with work there ever since.

Her current work is in neural reserves, asking questions such as: Are bigger brains and more education protective factors against the expression of neurological disease? This could be described as a 'use it or lose it' theory.

Job possibilities in this area

Batchelor says the ageing of the population is creating more job opportunities for neuropsychologists. With new medications slowing down the expression of conditions such as dementia, they can help in determining which form a person is suffering, and so help with better clinical outcomes.

For further information, contact Dr Jenny Batchelor at batchelo@psy.mq.edu.au The Department of Psychology website is at www.psy.mq.edu.au

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