Associate Professor Sophie Andrews
DPsych Monash, BSci Hons Monash, GradDipPsych Monash, BA RMIT University
Associate Professor, Healthy Brain Ageing and Neurocognition
Thomspon Institute
Email: sandrews1@usc.edu.au
Location: Online (with residency), Thompson Institute
Associate Professor Sophie Andrews is Lead of the Healthy Brain Ageing Research Program in the Thompson Institute. She is a cognitive neuroscientist, registered clinical neuropsychologist, and course coordinator within the Mental Health and Neuroscience Postgraduate Programs at Thompson Institute. Her research is currently supported by a Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA), funded by the Australian Research Council.
Sophie’s research is focused on how lifestyle can improve brain and cognitive health and reduce risk for dementia, and how best to support people to change their lifestyle habits. The Healthy Brain Ageing research program uses cutting-edge neuroscience techniques, including MRI, EEG and TMS, to investigate the effectiveness of multi-modal lifestyle interventions for dementia risk reduction and brain health in older people. Sophie also investigates the cognitive neuroscience of habit formation and change in ageing, and investigates how to better support healthy ageing in rural and regional communities, using co-design approaches. In 2024 Sophie was awarded a QLD Young Tall Poppy Award from the Australian Institute of Policy and Science, and in 2023-2024 she was a selected for the national Superstar of STEM program, run by Science and Technology Australia.
Prior to joining UniSC and commencing her DECRA, from 2019 – 2021 Sophie was a Research Fellow at Neuroscience Research Australia and University of New South Wales School of Psychology, Sydney, where she worked within the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Cognitive Health. From 2014 – 2018 Sophie was a Research Fellow in the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health at Monash University, Melbourne, where she completed a Huntington’s Disease Society of America Fellowship, investigating the effects of exercise on neuroplasticity and cognition in Huntington’s disease. Her additional research interests include understanding the relationships between neuropsychiatric and cognitive symptoms in neurodegenerative diseases.
In 2013, Sophie completed a DPsych (Clinical Neuropsychology) at Monash University. Her doctoral thesis investigated the mirror system in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder using TMS and EEG.
Research
Publications
Andrews SC, Curtin D, Coxon JP, & Stout JC, 2022. “Motor cortex plasticity response to acute cardiorespiratory exercise and intermittent theta- burst stimulation is attenuated in premanifest and early Huntington’s disease”, Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04378-2
Andrews SC, Parekh DP, Brooke B, Delbaere K, Huque MH, Killcross S & Anstey KJ, 2021. “Associations between planned exercise, walking, incidental physical activity, and habit strength in older people: a cross-sectional study”, Journal of Aging and Physical Activity. doi: 10.1123/japa.2021-0284
Andrews SC, Langbehn DR, Craufurd D, Durr A, Leavitt BR, Roos RA, Tabrizi SJ, Stout JC, & the TRACK-HD Investigators, 2021. “Apathy predicts cognitive decline over 24 months in premanifest Huntington's disease”, Psychological Medicine, 51 (8), 1338-1344. doi: 10.1017/S0033291720000094.
Andrews SC, Curtin D, Hawi Z, Wongtrakun J, Stout JC, & Coxon JP ,2020. “Intensity matters: High-intensity interval exercise enhances motor cortex plasticity more than moderate exercise”, Cerebral Cortex. 30: 101-112. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/BHZ075
McClaren B, Glikmann-Johnston Y, Mercieca E, Murray NWG, Loy C, Bellgrove MA, Stout JC, & Andrews SC, 2021. “Greater time in bed and less physical activity associate with poorer cognitive functioning performance in Huntington’s disease”, Neuropsychology, 35 (6), 656-667. https://doi.org/10.1037/neu0000757
Explore Associate Professor Sophie Andrews' publicationsResearch Summary
Research Grants
- 2021-2024 Andrews, S.C.
Value: $437,000
Australian Research Council - Discovery Early Career Researcher Award
Habit formation and change in ageing: Developing a neuropsychological model. - 2020 – 2022 Andrews, S.C., Anstey, K.J., Lautenschlager, N., & Delbaere, K.
Value: $75,000
Dementia Centre for Research Collaboration – Dementia Australia Research Foundation Pilot Grant
Harnessing habits to increase physical activity in people with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Subjective Cognitive Decline. - 2020 Xu, Y., Keay, L., Peters, R., Phu, J., Anstey, K., Anderson, C., Ee, N., Andrews, S.C., & Kootar, S.
Value: $39,000
UNSW Ageing Futures Institute Seed Project Grant.
Eye biomarkers for cognitive impairment. - 2019 Andrews, S.C., Anstey, K.J., Delbaere, K., Killcross, S., & Brady, B.
Value: $30,000
UNSW Ageing Futures Institute Seed Project Grant.
Investigating the role of habit in maintaining physical activity in older people. - 2019 Kootar, S., Anstey, K.J., Bryant, R.A, & Andrews, S.C.
Value: $29,126
UNSW Ageing Futures Institute Seed Project Grant.
To develop an algorithm using different anxiety and stress-related factors to predict cognitive decline in older adults. - 2016 – 2019 Andrews, S.C., Stout, J.C., & Coxon, J.P.
Value: $200,536 ($US145,775)
HD Human Biology Project Fellowship & Project Grant, Huntington’s Disease Society of America.
Exercise and brain stimulation as modifiers of neuroplasticity in HD. - 2016 – 2018 Stout, J.C., Loy, C., Andrews, S.C., Drummond, S.
Value: $49,074
Dementia Collaborative Research Centre Project Grant.
Remote Assessment of Cognition in Huntington’s Disease: Assessing day-to-day variability and relationship to sleep and physical activity levels. - 2016 Coxon, J.P., Rogasch, N., & Andrews, S.C.
Value: $8,600
Faculty Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences Platform Access Grant.
Augmenting motor learning with high-intensity exercise and non-invasive brain stimulation - 2014 Andrews, S.C., & Stout, J.C.
Value: $5,000
Monash Biomedical Imaging & Swinburne University of Technology Psychology Grant.
Potential research projects for HDR students
- Developing new approaches to behaviour change support for healthy lifestyles in ageing and dementia risk reduction
- Investigating neuroplasticity and related brain changes in response to lifestyle interventions in healthy ageing and mild cognitive impairment
Teaching and supervision
Teaching Summary
Sophie is available as a primary or co-supervisor for Honours, Masters or PhD students.
Potential research topics
- Investigating the cognitive neuroscience of habit formation and change in ageing
- Habit formation and change in Huntington’s and Parkinson’s disease
- Developing a personalized medicine approach to behaviour change support for healthy lifestyles in ageing
- Investigating neuroplasticity in response to lifestyle interventions in healthy ageing and mild cognitive impairment
Professional
Awards and memberships
- Registered clinical neuropsychologist
- Associate Editor for Journal of Alzheimer's Disease