Professor Katie McMahon
Faculty of Health,
School of Clinical Sciences
Biography
Summary: Prof McMahon is the Deputy Director of Herston Imaging Research Facility, and Academic Lead Research for the School of Clinical Sciences. She has over 25 years' experience in biomedical imaging and imaging analysis.Research: Her research interests lie in understanding the neurobiology of language, learning and memory, and the genetic and environmental influences on brain structure and function. When these cognitive systems fail, either due to stroke or a degenerative disease like Parkinson’s, imaging markers of lesion size, position and brain network damage might be able to be used to optimise therapeutic intervention, by providing insights on the best type of therapy. She is also investigating behavioural and neurological markers in children with language development problems, such as autism or specific language impairment. In addition, Prof McMahon collaborates on work looking at musculoskeletal function and MRI markers in whiplash.
Teaching: Prof McMahon contributes to undergraduate lectures in radiation therapy and medical imaging, and has helped develop the online professional development course, MR guided radiation therapy. She has co-developed several hands on practicals at HIRF, for 3rd and 4th year undergraduate courses. She has several higher research degree students. If you are interested in discussing projects, please reach out.
Personal details
Positions
- Professor
Faculty of Health,
School of Clinical Sciences
Keywords
functional magnetic resonance imaging, neuroimaging, language, genetics, brain development, memory, aphasia
Research field
Clinical Sciences, Neurosciences, Cognitive Science
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- PhD (University of Queensland)
Professional memberships and associations
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6357-615X
Member - International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine Member; Society for Neuroscience Member; Society for Neurobiology of Language; Organisation of Human Brain Mapping; National Imaging Facility Human Thematic Group Member: National Imaging Facility Scientific Advisory Committee; Affiliate: CRE Aphasia Recovery and Rehabilitation.
Teaching
Prof McMahon contributes several guest lectures to the Clinical Sciences undergraduate courses (CSH077, CSB059, CBS063). She also contributes to the continuing professional development course in MR guided radiation therapy.
Experience
I work closely with Queensland Health in many of my research projects, with generous support from philanthropic organisations, such as Cancer Care Queensland, Perpetual and Royal Brisbane Foundation. I am a member of the National Imaging Facility human imaging theme, and scientific advisory committee.
Publications
Research outputs by year
- O'Callaghan, V., Couvy-Duchesne, B., Strike, L., McMahon, K., Byrne, E. & Wright, M. (2021). A meta-analysis of the relationship between subjective sleep and depressive symptoms in adolescence. Sleep Medicine, 79, 134–144. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/207929
- de Zubicaray, G., McMahon, K. & Arciuli, J. (2021). A sound explanation for motor cortex engagement during action word comprehension. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 33(1), 129–145. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/204712
- Dissanayaka, N., Forbes, E., Yang, J., Pourzinal, D., O'Sullivan, J., Mitchell, L., Copland, D., McMahon, K. & Byrne, G. (2022). Anxiety disorders are associated with verbal memory impairment in patients with Parkinson's disease without dementia. Journal of Neurology, 269(3), 1600–1609. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/212443
- Campos, A., Thompson, P., Veltman, D., Pozzi, E., van Veltzen, L., Jahanshad, N., Adams, M., Baune, B., Berger, K., Brosch, K., Bülow, R., Connolly, C., Dannlowski, U., Davey, C., de Zubicaray, G., Dima, D., Erwin-Grabner, T., Evans, J., Fu, C., Gotlib, I., Goya-Maldonado, R., Grabe, H., Grotegerd, D., Harris, M., Harrison, B., Hatton, S., Hermesdorf, M., Hickie, I., Ho, T., Kircher, T., Krug, A., Lagopoulos, J., Lemke, H., McMahon, K., MacMaster, F., Martin, N., McIntosh, A., Medland, S., Meinert, S., Meller, T., Nenadic, I., Opel, N., Redlich, R., Reneman, L., Repple, J., Sacchet, M., Schmitt, S., Schrantee, A., Sim, K., Singh, A., Stein, F., Strike, L., van der Wee, N., van der Werff, S., Völzke, H., Waltemate, L., Whalley, H., Wittfeld, K., Wright, M., Yang, T., Zarate, C., Schmaal, L., Rentería, M. & other, a. (2021). Brain Correlates of Suicide Attempt in 18,925 Participants Across 18 International Cohorts. Biological Psychiatry, 90(4), 243–252. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/211515
- McMahon, K., Piai, V., Kleinman, D., de Zubicaray, G. & Mascelloni, M. (2021). Mediated phonological-semantic priming in spoken word production: evidence for cascaded processing from picture-word interference. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 74(7), 1284–1294. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/207256
- McSween, M., McMahon, K., Maguire, K., Coombes, J., Rodriguez, A., Erickson, K. & Copland, D. (2021). The Acute Effects of Different Exercise Intensities on Associative Novel Word Learning in Healthy Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 29(5). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/208242
- Iyer, K., Angwin, A., Van Hees, S., McMahon, K., Breakspear, M. & Copland, D. (2020). Alterations to dual stream connectivity predicts response to aphasia therapy following stroke. Cortex, 125, 30–43. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/180797/
- Gauvin, H., McMahon, K. & de Zubicaray, G. (2020). Top-down resolution of lexico-semantic competition in speech production and the role of the left inferior frontal gyrus: An fMRI study. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 36(1), 1–12. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/201326
- Brownsett, S., Ramajoo, K., Copland, D., McMahon, K., Robinson, G., Drummond, K., Jeffree, R., Olson, S., Ong, B. & de Zubicaray, G. (2019). Language deficits following dominant hemisphere tumour resection are significantly underestimated by syndrome-based aphasia assessments. Aphasiology, 33(10), 1163–1181. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/132374
- Gauvin, H., McMahon, K., Meinzer, M. & de Zubicaray, G. (2019). The shape of things to come in speech production: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of visual form interference during lexical access. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 31(6), 913–921. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/126931
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Katie, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Selected research projects
- Title
- Predicting and Promoting Aphasia Recovery
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 1104194
- Start year
- 2016
- Keywords
- Aphasia; Stroke Rehabilitation; Speech Pathology; Brain Imaging; Language Impairment
- Title
- A Prospective Study of Language Impairment and Recovery Following Surgery for Brain Tumours
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 1079157
- Start year
- 2015
- Keywords
- Title
- Enhancing Language Learning in Ageing with Exercise
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP160104162
- Start year
- 2016
- Keywords
- Title
- Concepts and Control in Speech Production
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP150103997
- Start year
- 2015
- Keywords
- Speech Production; Cognitive Neuroscience; Aphasia
- Title
- Neural Mechanisms of Language Facilitation in Aphasia due to Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 1085272
- Start year
- 2015
- Keywords
- Stroke; Language Impairment; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI); Language Disorders; Stroke Rehabilitation
- Title
- Neurodevelopment during Adolescence: A Longitudinal Imaging Study
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 1078756
- Start year
- 2015
- Keywords
- Twins; Brain Imaging; Quantitative Genetics; Adolescent Health; Mental Health
Projects listed above are funded by Australian Competitive Grants. Projects funded from other sources are not listed due to confidentiality agreements.
Supervision
Current supervisions
- Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms for Perceiving and Misperceiving Speech
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Greig de Zubicaray - Exploring the Role of Australian Radiographers in the Quality Use of Medicines
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Adjunct Professor Lisa Nissen, Professor Debbie Starkey