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NEUROPSYCHOLOGY

Education

In the Clinical Neuropsychology Unit, many undergraduate students from Psychology University Departments as well as students of the “MSc in Clinical Neuropsychology-Cognitive Neurosciences” program of the School of Medicine of the National and Kapodistrian University make their clinical practice. Training is focused on neuropsychological assessment and includes theoretical knowledge of neuropsychology, psychometric techniques, selection of specific neuropsychological tests based on patient’s individual needs, history taking, scoring and interpretation of performance in standardized tests, diagnosis, neuropsychological report write-up, and data entry/compilation of databases. Finally, students are able to conduct master’s and doctoral theses and participate in research protocols.

Since 2006, a series of Discussions on Language in Eginition Hospitalare being conducted as a contribution to the multidisciplinary investigation of mechanisms and disorders of Speech, for students and national and international researchers, but also for broad audiences interested in these matters. These lectures also offer a chance for the birth of new ideas and research topics, as well as the establishment of new national and international collaborations. The annual cycles so far include Language and Cognition, Language and Memory, Language and Movement, Language and Feelings, with the participation of worldwide recognized researchers and academics (please visit www.blod.gr, for lectures’ videos). Moreover, six volumes with texts from these lectures in Greek have been already published (Synapsis editions). Lectures currently take place for the thirteenth year.

In 2008, the Clinical Neuropsychology Unit was created the MSc in Clinical Neuropsychology-Cognitive Neurosciences, which now operates with the assistance of the Montreal Neurological Institute-McGill University. Postgraduate students from this program participate in clinical and research activities of the Clinical Neuropsychology Unit, within the framework of their training and Master thesis fulfillment.

Clinical research

The Neuropsychology Unit has conducted – and is still conducting - several studies on cognitive abilities in several neurological disorders, including – but not restricted to – investigation of memory disorders and dementia syndromes (in collaboration with Neurogenerative Diseases Unit of the 1st Department of Neurology of Eginition hospital), multiple sclerosis (in collaboration with Demyelinating Diseases Unit of the 1st Department of Neurology of Eginition hospital), Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (in collaboration with the Neuromuscular Diseases Unit of the 1st Department of Neurology of Eginition hospital), Epilepsy, in Parkinson’s Disease, chronic cephalalgia, narcolepsy, Obstructive Sleep Apnea (in collaboration with the 1st Department of Psychiatry of Eginition hospital and Evangelismos Hospital). In addition, the Laboratory of clinical neuropsychology has been specialized in the standardization of several neuropsychological tests and batteries in Greek-speaking population, and in the development of new neuropsychological tests, as the Clock Rotation Neuropsychological Test.

The main research interests of the Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit focus on the study of language and other cognitive disorders of patients with several neurological diseases, including stroke (in collaboration with Stroke Unit of the 1st Department of Neurology of Eginition hospital, as well as the Neurological and Pathological Clinics of Alexandra Hospital, Evangelismos Hospital, Laiko Hospital and General Hospital of Nikaia). The current research protocols include the investigation of common anatomical substrate of linguistic and non-linguistic deficits in post-stroke aphasia in collaboration with the Department of Psychiatry, University of Crete and Boston University, the investigation of linguistic deficits in right stroke patients, the investigation of linguistic deficits in patients with Primary Progressive Aphasia in comparison with cognitive deficits in patients with Frontotemporal Dementia and Alzheimer Disease (in collaboration with Neurogenerative Diseases’ Unit of the 1st Department of Neurology of Eginition hospital), the investigation of cognitive deficits in patients with neurogenetic peripheral myopathies (in collaboration with the Neurogenetics Unit of the 1st Department of Neurology of Eginition hospital), and the investigation  of structural brain metrics in relation narrative abilities and cognitive performance in healthy participants (in collaboration with Boston University, Freiburg University, and McGill University).

 

Selected publications in peer-reviewed journals

  1. Kasselimis D, Angelopoulou G, Simos P, Petrides M, Peppas C, Velonakis G, et al. Working memory impairment in aphasia: The issue of stimulus modality. (2018) J Neurolinguistics. (in press)
  2. Angelopoulou G, Kasselimis D, Makrydakis G, Varkanitsa M, Roussos P, Goutsos D, et al. (2018) Silent pauses in aphasia. Neuropsychologia. 114 : 41-49.
  3. Zalonis I, Christidi F, Artemiadis A, et al. Verbal and Figural Fluency in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: Does Hippocampal Sclerosis Affect Performance? (2017) Cogn Behav Neurol. 2:48-56.
  4. Paraskevas GP, Kasselimis D, Kourtidou E, Constantinides V, Bougea A, Potagas C, et al. Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers as a Diagnostic Tool of the Underlying Pathology of Primary Progressive Aphasia. (2017) J Alzheimer’s Dis. 55(4):1453–61.
  5. Kasselimis DS, Simos PG, Peppas C, Evdokimidis I, Potagas C. The unbridged gap between clinical diagnosis and contemporary research on aphasia: A short discussion on the validity and clinical utility of taxonomic categories. (2017) Brain Lang 164:63–7.
  6. ZalonisΙ, Christidi F, Potagas C, Rentzos M, Evdokimidis I, and Kararizou E. Central Nervous System Involvement as Relapse in Undiagnosed Whipple’s Disease with Atypical Symptoms at Onset. (2015) Open Neurol J. 9: 21–23.
  7. Kasselimis DS, Potagas C. Language Disorders, Treatment and Remediation. (2015) Second Edition. Vol. 13, International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences: Second Edition. Elsevier pp.329-336.
  8. Zalonis I, Christidi F, Paraskevas G, Zabelis T, Evdokimidis I, Kararizou E. Can executive cognitive measures differentiate between patients with spinal- and bulbar-onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis? (2012) Arch ClinNeuropsychol. 3:348-54.
  9. Liozidou A, Potagas C, Papageorgiou SG, Zalonis I. The role of working memory and information processing speed on Wisconsin card sorting test performance in Parkinson disease without dementia. (2012) J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol. 4:215-21.
  10. Zalonis, I., Christidi, F., Bonakis, A., Kararizou, E, Triantafylloy, N. I., Paraskevas, G., Kapaki, E., Vasilopoulos, D. The Stroop Effect in Greek Healthy Population: Normative Data for the Stroop Neuropsychological Screening Test. (2009) Arch ClinNeuropsychol24(1): 81-88.
  11. Potagas C, Kasselimis D, Evdokimidis I. Short-term and working memory impairments in aphasia. (2011) Neuropsychologia. 49(10):2874-8
  12. Zalonis, Ι.,Kararizou, E., Christidi, F., Kapaki, E., Triantafyllou, N. I., Varsou, A., Typaldou, M., Paraskevas, G., Vassilopoulos, D. Selective Reminding Test: Demographic Predictors of Performance and Normative Data for the Greek Population. (2009) Psychol Rep 104(2): 593-607.
  13. Tsapkini K, Vlahou CH, Potagas C. Adaptation and validation of standardized aphasia tests in different languages: Lessons from the Boston diagnostic aphasia examination - Short form in Greek. (2009) Behav Neurol. 22(3–4):111–9.
  14. Zalonis, I., Kararizou, E., Triantafyllou, N.I., Kapaki, E., Papageorgiou, S., Sgouropoulos, P., Vassilopoulos, D. A normative study of the trail making test A and B in Greek adults. (2008) ClinNeuropsychol22(5): 842-850.
  15. PotagasC, GiogkarakiE, KoutsisG, MandellosD, TsirempolouE, SfagosC, etal. Cognitive impairment in different MS subtypes and clinically isolated syndromes. (2008) J Neurol Sci. 267(1–2):100–6.
  16. Evdokimidis, I., Constantinidis, T.S., Gourtzelidis, P., Smyrnis, N., Zalonis, I., Zis, P.V., Andreadou, E., Papageorgiou, C. (2002) Frontal lobe dysfunction in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis J NeurolSci 195(1): 25-33.

Contact

Ioannis Zalonis, Associate Professor Psychology-Neuropsychology (Laboratory of clinical neuropsychology).

Telephone contact: 210-7289141

email: zalonis@med.uoa.gr

and

Constantin Potagas, Associate Professor Neurology-Neuropsychology (Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit)

Telephone contact: 210-7289307

email: cpotagas@otenet.gr

Fellows: 

Dimitrios Kasselimis, Neuropsychologist, PhD, post-doctoral researcher with main clinical and research focus on acquired language and memory disorders

Fotini Christidi, Neuropsychologist, PhD, post-doctoral researcher

Georgia Angelopoulou, Neuropsychologist, PhD candidate

Dimitrios Tsolakopoulos, Neuropsychologist, PhD candidate

Georgios Papageorgiou, Speech Pathologist, MSc in Clinical Neuropsychology – Cognitive Neuroscience

1ST DEPARTMENT OF NEUROLOGY: