Dr Emily McCann
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
Researcher biography
Dr Emily McCann is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Neurorehabilitation, Ageing and Balance Research (UQ). Her work focuses on improving the measurement and understanding of movement, physical activity, and cognition in ageing and neurological populations to support better rehabilitation outcomes.
She completed her PhD in 2024 at the Queensland Brain Institute, where she investigated visuoperceptual impairments across multiple neurodegenerative conditions. Through this work, she developed a strong interest in the importance of early dementia diagnosis, particularly in Parkinson's disease. At the UQ Centre for Clinical Research, she subsequently focused on the early identification of cognitive decline in Parkinson's disease, including contributions to the development of a Parkinson's disease‑specific cognitive assessment toolkit. She is now extending this expertise into neurorehabilitation within UQ's School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, with a focus on movement and functional outcomes in Parkinson's disease and stroke.
Journal Articles
Sriram, Deepa, Pourzinal, Dana, Bailey, Daniel X., Brooks, Deborah, Shrubsole, Kirstine, Yang, Jihyun, Page, Neil, McCann, Emily, Lobo, Elton H., King, James M., Mitchell, Leander K., Pachana, Nancy A. and Dissanayaka, Nadeeka N. (2026). Recommendations to improve healthcare service provision for cognitive impairment in people with Parkinson's disease: a mixed methods study of the lived experience expert perspective. Health Expectations, 29 (2) e70530, 1-13. doi: 10.1111/hex.70530
Pourzinal, Dana, Brooks, Deborah, Sriram, Deepa, Mccann, Emily, King, James M., Pachana, Nancy A., Shrubsole, Kirstine, Wood, Brian, Lehn, Alexander, Marsh, Rodney, Liddle, Jacki, Mitchell, Leander K., O'Sullivan, John D., Tan, Edwin C. K., Page, Neil, Lobo, Elton H., Verreynne, Martie-Louise, Lenzen, Sabrina and Dissanayaka, Nadeeka (2026). Best practice guidelines for the diagnosis, evaluation, and management of cognitive disorders in Parkinson's disease. Age and Ageing, 55 (3) afag063. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afag063
Pourzinal, Dana, King, James, Sivakumaran, Kumareshan, Yang, Jihyun, McCann, Emily, Mitchell, Leander K., Brooks, Deborah, Lehn, Alexander, Liddle, Jacki, Pachana, Nancy A., Tinson, Helen, Shrubsole, Kirstine, Bailey, Daniel X. and Dissanayaka, Nadeeka N. (2025). Evaluating evidence for a neuropsychological toolkit to predict cognitive decline in PD: a systematic review. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 1-28. doi: 10.1080/13854046.2025.2511966
Bradley, Claire, McCann, Emily, Nydam, Abbey S., Dux, Paul and Mattingley, Jason B. (2025). Causal evidence for increased theta and gamma phase consistency in a parieto-frontal network during the maintenance of visual attention. Neuropsychologia, 208 109079, 1-16. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109079
McCann, Emily, Lee, Soohyun, Coleman, Felicia, O’Sullivan, John D. and Nestor, Peter J. (2023). Pareidolias are a function of visuoperceptual impairment. PLoS One, 18 (11) e0293942, 1-11. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293942
Fazlollahi, Amir, Lee, Soohyun, Coleman, Felicia, McCann, Emily, Cloos, Martijn A., Bourgeat, Pierrick and Nestor, Peter J. (2023). Increased resolution of structural MRI at 3T improves estimation of regional cortical degeneration in individual dementia patients using surface thickness maps. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 95 (3), 1-10. doi: 10.3233/jad-230030
Conference Papers
King, James, Pourzinal, Dana, McCann, Emily, Hawes, Alexandra and Dissanayaka, Nadeeka (2025). Feasibility, acceptability, and reliable tests for direct-to-home tele-neuropsychological assessment in older adults. Psychology and Ageing Interest Group National Conference., Brisbane, QLD Australia, 28th November 2025.
McCann, Emily, Coleman, Felicia, Fazlollahi, Amir, Lee, Soohyun, O'Sullivan, John and Nestor, Peter J. (2025). Visual processing impairments are predictive of dementia in Lewy Body disease. Movement Disorders International Congress, Honolulu, HI, United States, 5-9 October 2025.
Dissanayaka, Nadeeka, Pourzinal, Dana, McCann, Emily, Lobo, Elton Henry Savio, Brooks, Deborah, Sriram, Deepa, Au, Tiffany, Mitchell, Leander K., Pachana, Nancy, Naismith, Sharon, Broome, Annette, Lehn, Alexander, Kelder, Anna, Liddle, Jacki, King, James, Marsh, Rodney, Robertson, Stuart, Shrubsole, Kirstine, Tinson, Helen, Verreynne, Martie-Louise, Wood, Brian, Worthy, Peter, Yang, Julia, Nestor, Peter J., Chatfield, Mark, Keramat, Syed Afroz, Tan, Edwin, Piccinini, Tomas, Beattie, Elizabeth ... O'Sullivan, John (2025). Improving diagnosis of dementia in Parkinson’s disease: PDCogniCare Australian Program. Movement Disorders International Congress, Honolulu, HI United States, 5-9 October 2025.
McCann, Emily, Pourzinal, Dana, Sriram, Deepa, Mitchell, Leander K., Liddle, Jacki, Lehn, Alexander and Dissanayaka, Nadeeka (2025). The PDCogniCare Toolkit: Developing a harmonised neuropsychological toolkit specific to Parkinson’s Disease. Movement Disorders International Congress, Honolulu, HI United States, 5-9 October 2025.
Dissanayaka, Nadeeka, Pourzinal, Dana, McCann, Emily, Lobo, Elton Henry Savio, Brooks, Deborah, Sriram, Deepa, Au, Tiffany, Mitchell, Leander K., O'Sullivan, John, Naismith, Sharon, Broome, Annette, Lehn, Alexander, Kelder, Anna, Liddle, Jacki, King, James, Robertson, Stuart, Shrubsole, Kirstine, Tinson, Helen, Verreynne, Martie-Louise, Wood, Brian, Worthy, Peter, Yang, Jihuyn, Nestor, Peter, Chatfield, Mark, Keramat, Syed Afroz, Tan, Edwin, Piccinini, Tomas, Beattie, Elizabeth, Marsh, Rodney ... Pachana, Nancy (2025). Critical steps to enhance identification of mild cognitive impairment and dementia in Parkinson’s disease: PDCogniCare Australian Program.. International Psychogeriatric Association Congress, Kanazawa, Japan, 25-27 September 2025. AMSTERDAM: ELSEVIER.
McCann, Emily, Pourzinal, Dana, Brooks, Deborah, Sriram, Deepa, Mitchell, Leander K., Pachana, Nancy A., King, James and Dissanayaka, Nadeeka (2025). Harmonising neuropsychological assessments to identify cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease: A systematic review and critique. 7th Pacific Rim Conference, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 2-5 July 2025.
Sriram, Deepa, Pourzinal, Dana, Bailey, Daniel X., Brooks, Deborah, McCann, Emily and Dissanayaka, Nadeeka (2025). Developing Recommendations for Best Practice Guidelines for Cognitive Evaluation in Parkinson’s Disease: Insights from Lived Experience Experts. International Neuropsychological Society and the Australasian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment 7th Pacific Rim Conference, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 2-5 July 2025.
Dissanayaka, Nadeeka, Au, Tiffany, Beattie, Elizabeth, Brooks, Deborah, Broome, Annette, Byrne, Gerard, Chatfield, Mark, Lehn, Alexander, Kelderm, Anna, Liddle, Jacki, Keramat, Syed Afroz, King, James, Lobo, Elton Henry Savio, Marsh, Rodney, McCann, Emily, Naismith, Sharon, Nestor, Peter, O'Sullivan, John, Pachana, Nancy, Piccinini, Tomas, Pourzinal, Dana, Robertson, Stuart, Shrubsole, Kirstine, Spooner, Donna, Sriram, Deepa, Tan, Edwin, Tinson, Helen, Verreynne, Martie-Louise, Wood, Brian ... Mitchell, Leander K. (2025). Enhancing utility of neuropsychological evaluation for earlier and effective diagnosis of dementia in Parkinson’s disease: PDCogniCare Project. 7th Pacific Rim Conference, Brisbane, Qld Australia, 2-5 July 2025.
Flavell, Joshua, Coleman, Felicia, Lee, Soohyun, McCann, Emily and Nestor, Peter (2023). The test of emotion recognition in social context (TERIC): A novel social cognition test for clinical practice. Australia Dementia Research Forum, Gold Coast, QLD Australia, 29 - 31 May 2023.
Fazlollahi, Amir, Lee, Soohyun, Coleman, Felicia, McCann, Emily and Nestor, Peter (2023). Significant diffusion MRI changes in the callosal genu in progressive supranuclear palsy compared to Lewy Body Diseases. Australia Dementia Research Forum, Gold Coast, QLD Australia, 29 - 31 May 2023.
McCann, Emily, Lee, Soohyun, Coleman, Felicia, O'Sullivan, John and Nestor, Peter (2023). Pareidolias are related to visuoperceptual ability. Australia Dementia Research Forum, Gold Coast, QLD Australia, 29 - 31 May 2023.
McCann, Emily, Lee, Soohyun, Coleman, Felicia and Nestor, Peter (2023). Exploring visuoperception in Lewy body diseases. Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease Conference, Gothenburg, Sweden, 28 March - 1 April 2023.
Fazlollahi, Amir, Lee, Soohyun, Coleman, Felicia, McCann, Emily and Nestor, Peter (2023). MRI Estimation of Iron Deposition Identifies Elevated Pallidal And Rubral Iron Levels In PSP Compared To Parkinson’s Disease. Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease Conference, Gothenburg, Sweden, 28 March - 1 April 2023.
McCann, Emily, Lee, Soohyun, Coleman, Felicia, O'Sullivan, John and Nestor, Peter (2023). Case Study: Patient HL, Parkinson’s Disease. Cognition and Basal Ganglia Club, Brisbane, QLD Australia, March 2023.
McCann, Emily, Lee, Soohyun, Coleman, Felicia, O'Sullivan, John and Nestor, Peter (2023). Pareidolias as misperceptions in Lewy Body Disorders. Clem Jones Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research (CJCADR) Scientific Symposium, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 9 February 2023.
Flavell, Joshua, Lee, Soohyun, Coleman, Felicia, McCann, Emily and Nestor, Peter (2023). The TERIC: The Test of Emotion Recognition in Social Context. Clem Jones Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research (CJCADR) Scientific Symposium, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 8 - 10 February 2023.
McCann, Emily, Lee, Soohyun, Coleman, Felicia, O'Sullivan, John and Nestor, Peter (2023). Do you see what I see? Hallucinations, misperceptions, and lewy bodies. Clem Jones Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research (CJCADR) Scientific Symposium, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 8 - 10 February 2023.
McCann, Emily and Nestor, Peter (2022). Visual processing in Lewy Body diseases. QBI Genomics, Clinical Research Theme Meeting, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 16 November 2022.
McCann, Emily and Nestor, Peter (2022). Hallucinations and misperceptions in neurodegenerative diseases. UQ Neuroscience Symposium, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 26 - 27 September 2022.
McCann, Emily and Nestor, Peter (2021). Development of new tests for Dementia diagnoses. Clem Jones Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research (CJCADR) Retreat, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 26 November 2021.
McCann, Emily and Nestor, Peter (2021). Visuoperception in Neurodegenerative diseases. Queensland Brain Institute: Genomics, Clinical Research Theme Meeting, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 26 November 2021.
Bradley, Claire, McCann, Emily, Dux, Paul and Mattingley, Jason (2019). Dynamic changes in brain networks for spatial attention revealed by transcranial magnetic stimulated evoked potentials. Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Launceston, TAS Australia, 21 - 24 November 2019.
Thesis
McCann, Emily (2024). The ‘what’ and ‘where’ of visual processing in neurodegeneration: the essential yet overlooked component of diagnostic testing in dementia. PhD Thesis, Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/04df1e7