Author Archives: Muireann Irish

“The World Needs Science – Science Needs Women”

Dr Muireann Irish has received a 2015 L’Oréal UNESCO For Women in Science Fellowship in recognition of her outstanding contribution to her field of cognitive neuroscience. The L’Oréal Australia and New Zealand For Women in Science Fellowships were created to help early career women scientists to consolidate their careers in science and rise to leadership positions. The Fellowships are awarded to women […]

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Memories are made of this

Dr Muireann Irish’s research explores episodic and autobiographical memory in frontotemporal dementia. She has developed a new line of research investigating how damage to the memory system in neurodegenerative conditions affects the ability to imagine possible future events. Much in the same way as the quality of a photograph begins to fade with time, such is the fate of the […]

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The Social Brain

Dr Muireann Irish uncovers the part of the brain that underpins social cognitive deficits in semantic dementia, further unraveling mysteries behind the disease. It may sound like the subject matter of a science fiction movie, but mind-reading is a process in which we regularly engage. On a daily basis, whenever we interact in social scenarios, we go beyond our own […]

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Mental time travel – insights from semantic dementia

At NeuRA, we work with patients who have a form of younger-onset dementia called semantic dementia (SD). These patients experience progressive damage to a specific region of the brain called the temporal lobes; as a result, they forget the names and functions of simple objects and lose the ability to recognise familiar faces or popular tunes. Despite these profound difficulties […]

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