Dr Stuart Cathcart

Research background: My research background is in areas of stress, pain, clinical neuroscience, and clinical psychology. I completed my Honours and PhD projects on stress and pain processing in headache, and have been involved in various other projects in this area. I am currently a postdoctoral research fellow at the Pain and Anaesthesia Research Clinic at University of Adelaide, examining immunological, inflammatory, and central sensitization mechanisms of chronic pain. I am also involved in a number of studies at UniSA Centre for Applied Psychological Research, School of Psychology, and School of Pharmacology, examining CNS mechanisms of stress, mindfulness meditation, and chronic pain. We are currently recruiting headache sufferers to participate in our studies. Interested persons are invited to contact me at stuart.cathcart@unisa.edu.au for more information.

Clinical background: I am a registered psychologist with clinical, general counselling, rehabilitation, and employee assistance program experience in public and private settings. I am currently a sports psychologist at the South Australian Sports Institute, and consult privately on a limited basis.

South Australian Sports Institute

Pain and Anaesthesia Research Clinic

Centre for Applied Psychological Research

• Clinical psychology
• Health psychology
• Clinical psychophysiology & neuroscience
• Biofeedback assessment and training
• Sport and performance psychology

South Australian Psychological Board (Registered Psychologist)

Member Australian Psychological Society

Member Australian Pain Society

Member International Association for the Study of Pain

Member Australian Association for Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

BA (Psych) (Woll)

BA (Hons) (Psych) (Adel)

PhD (Psych) (UniSA)

• Please see the above Introduction section for details on my research interests and activities.

Cathcart, S., Winefield A.H., Lushington, K. & Rolan, P. Stress and headache mechanisms. Cephalalgia (in press, accepted 18/1/10)

Cathcart, S., Winefield A.H., Lushington, K. & Rolan, P. (2009) Noxious inhibition of temporal summation is impaired in tension-type headache. Headache (in press, accepted 17/8/09).

Cathcart, S., Petkov, J., Winefield A.H., Lushington, K. & Rolan, P. (2009) Central mechanisms of stress-induced headache. Cephalalgia (in press, accepted 30/4/09).

Cathcart, S., Winefield A.H., Rolan, P. & Lushington, K. (2009) Reliability of temporal summation and diffuse noxious inhibitory controls. Pain Research & Management 14(6): 433-438.

Cathcart, S. (2009) A neural hypothesis for stress-induced headache. Medical Hypotheses 73:1011-1013.

Cathcart, S., Winefield A.H., Lushington, K. & Rolan, P. (2009) Effect of mental stress on cold pain in chronic tension-type headache sufferers. Journal of Headache and Pain 10 (5): 367-373.

Cathcart, S., Petkov, J. & Pritchard, D. (2008) Effects of induced stress on experimental pain sensitivity in Chronic Tension-Type Headache sufferers. European Journal of Neurology 15 (6): 552-558.

Cathcart, S. & Pritchard, D. (2008) Daily hassles and pain sensitivity in Chronic Tension-Type Headache Sufferers. Stress and Health 24 (2); 123-127.

Cathcart, S. (2008). Pain sensitivity following induced stress in headache sufferers. Proceedings of the 43rd Annual APS Conference, Hobart, 101 – 104.

Cathcart, S. & Pritchard, D. (2006) Reliability of pain threshold measurement in young adults. Journal of Headache and Pain 7 (1) 21-26

Bonham, J, Cathcart, S, Petkov, J & Lumb, P, (2006), 'Safety in Numbers: A Strategy for Cycling', Australasian Transport Research Forum 2006, ATRF, 1-9, Queensland, The 29th Australasian Transport Research Forum.

Materazzo, F. Cathcart, S. & Pritchard, D. (2001) Anger, depression and coping interactions in headache activity and adjustment: A controlled study. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 49 (1) 69-75

Sachdev, P. Smith, J.S.. & Cathcart, S. (2001) Schizophrenia-like psychosis following traumatic brain injury: A chart-based descriptive and case control study. Psychosomatic Medicine 31: 231-239.

Sachdev, P. Brodaty, H. Cheang, D. & Cathcart, S. (2000) Hippocampus and amygdala volumes in elderly schizophrenic patients as assessed by magnetic resonance imaging. Psychiatry & Clinical Neuroscience 54 (1) 105-112

Cathcart, S. & Materazzo, F. (1999) Headache interference as a function of affect and coping: An artificial neural network analysis. Headache 39 (4); 270-274.

Cathcart, S. & Pritchard, D. (1999) Time series analysis of general arousal and headache activity in the natural environment. Headache 39 (3);213-217

Sachdev, P. Cathcart, S. Shnier, R. & Brodaty, H. (1999) The reliability and validity of signal hyperintensities on MRI by visual inspection and computerized measurement. Psychiatry Research 92:103-105.

Sachdev, P. Brodaty, H. & Cathcart, S (1999) A quantitative study of T2-weighted hyperintensities on magnetic resonance imaging in late-onset schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry. 156 (12):1958-67

Sachdev, P. Saharov, T. & Cathcart, S. (1999) The preventative role of antioxidants (Selegiline and vitamin E) in a rat model of dyskinesia. Biological Psychiatry 46:1672-1681

Sachdev, P. Brodaty, H. Rose, N. & Cathcart, S. (1999) Schizophrenia with onset after age 50 years: II Neurological, neuropsychological and MRI investigation. British Journal of Psychiatry 175:416-421

Cathcart, S. & Pritchard, D. (1998) Relationships between arousal related moods and episodic tension type headache: A biopsychological study. Headache 38 (3); 214-221

I am able to provide media comment in the following areas of expertise:

Discipline: Psychology and Counselling

• Pain mechanism and management
• Stress mechanisms and management
• Clinical Psychology
• Sport and Performance Psychology
• Psychophysiology