Dr Alexandra Adams

Dr Alexandra Adams completed her PhD at the University of Queensland in 2020, before joining the University of Newcastle as an Associate Lecturer in early 2021. Her research to date has focused primarily on social cognitive function following stroke. Social cognition refers broadly to how we process and respond to social information, and is fundamental to the development and maintenance of strong interpersonal relationships.

In her PhD, Alexandra used two complementary methodological approaches to enhance current understanding of post-stroke social cognitive impairment: meta-analysis, and empirical assessment. In addition to these PhD studies, Alexandra has also led a major longitudinal research project which provided the first direct test of whether the social cognitive difficulties evident acutely post-stroke have potentially important prognostic validity. She has also collaborated on a large-scale study examining the neural substrates involved in post-stroke social cognitive dysfunction, as well as on research studies focused on social cognitive function in other groups including healthy older adults, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis.