Professor Patricia E Cowell

BA, MS, PhD

Human Communication Sciences, School of Allied Health Professions, Nursing and Midwifery

Deputy Dean

p.e.cowell@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 2426

362 Mushroom Lane

Full contact details

Professor Patricia E Cowell
Human Communication Sciences, School of Allied Health Professions, Nursing and Midwifery
362 Mushroom Lane
Sheffield
S10 2TS

Profile: Patricia Cowell is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Sheffield. Before coming to Sheffield she was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (1992-1995) in the Brain Behavior Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania Medical School with a research focus on cortical sex differences in adults in relation to aging and schizophrenia. Patricia completed her PhD (1992) and masters (1990) in Biobehavioral Sciences at the University of Connecticut through research on the corpus callosum and behavioural laterality in humans and rodents. Her undergraduate education at Boston University (1983-1987) was in Psychology and Statistics.

Research interests

Modelling mechanisms of neurocognitive plasticity across the life span
Sex differences in cortical development and aging
Cerebral asymmetries and interhemispheric relationships
Ovarian hormone effects on speech, language and cognition

Current projects and collaborations

Ovarian Hormone Effects of Speech and Language. Collaborators: Prof Sandra Whiteside, Human Communication Sciences, University of Sheffield.
Language and Neurocognitive Asymmetries in MZ twins. Dr Jennifer Gurd, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Oxford University.
Neurocognitive plasticity in Apraxia of Speech. Collaborators Prof Sandra Whiteside, University of Sheffield and Prof Rosemary Varley, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, UCL.

Publications

Journal articles

Maitreyee R, Varley R & Cowell PE (2023) Verbal ability in postmenopausal women in relation to age, cognitive and reproductive factors. Acta Psychologica, 238, 103963-103963.
Alshahwan MI, Cowell PE & Whiteside SP (2020) Diadochokinetic rate in Saudi and Bahraini Arabic speakers: Dialect and the influence of syllable type. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, 27(1), 303-308. View this article in WRRO
Cowell P & Gurd J (2018) Handedness and the corpus callosum: A review and further analyses of discordant twins. Neuroscience, 388, 57-68. View this article in WRRO
Rosch RE, Cowell P & Gurd JM (2018) Cerebellar Asymmetry and Cortical Connectivity in Monozygotic Twins with Discordant Handedness. The Cerebellum, 17(2), 191-203. View this article in WRRO
Cowell P, Ibrahim A & Varley R (2017) Word frequency predicts translation asymmetry. Journal of Memory and Language, 95, 49-67. View this article in WRRO
Varley R, Cowell PE, Dyson L, Inglis L, Roper A & Whiteside SP (2016) Self-Administered Computer Therapy for Apraxia of Speech: Two-Period Randomized Control Trial with Crossover. Stroke, 47(3), 822-828. View this article in WRRO
Stivaros SM, Radon MR, Mileva R, Connolly DJA, Cowell PE, Hoggard N, Wright NB, Tang V, Gledson A, Batty R , Keane JA et al (2016) Quantification of structural changes in the corpus callosumin children with profound hypoxic–ischaemic brain injury. Pediatric Radiology, 46(1), 73-81. View this article in WRRO
Whiteside SP, Dyson L, Cowell PE & Varley RA (2015) The Relationship Between Apraxia of Speech and Oral Apraxia: Association or Dissociation?. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 30(7), 670-682. View this article in WRRO
Maitreyee R, Varley R, Whiteside S & Cowell P (2015) The effects of age and menopause on verbal fluency. Maturitas, 81(1), 216-217.
Zimmerer VC, Cowell P & Varley RA (2013) Artificial grammar learning in individuals with severe aphasia. Neuropsychologia.
Gurd JM & Cowell P (2013) Discordant cerebral lateralisation for verbal fluency is not an artefact of attention: evidence from MzHd twins. Brain Structure and Function.
Gurd JM, Cowell PE, Lux S, Rezai R, Cherkas L & Ebers GC (2013) FMRI and corpus callosum relationships in monozygotic twins discordant for handedness. Brain Structure and Function, 218(2), 491-509.
Whiteside SP, Inglis AL, Dyson L, Roper A, Harbottle A, Ryder J, Cowell PE & Varley RA (2012) Error reduction therapy in reducing struggle and grope behaviours in apraxia of speech.. Neuropsychol Rehabil, 22(2), 267-294.
Ankerstein CA, Varley RA & Cowell PE (2012) Feature types and object categories: Is sensorimotoric knowledge different for living and nonliving things?. Applied Psycholinguistics, 33(3), 539-569.
Cowell PE, Ledger WL, Wadnerkar MB, Skilling FM & Whiteside SP (2011) Hormones and dichotic listening: evidence from the study of menstrual cycle effects.. Brain Cogn, 76(2), 256-262.
Zimmerer VC, Cowell PE & Varley RA (2011) Individual behavior in learning of an artificial grammar. MEM COGNITION, 39(3), 491-501.
Wignall EL, Griffiths PD, Papadakis NG, Wilkinson ID, Wallis LI, Bandmann O, Cowell PEE & Hoggard N (2010) Corpus Callosum Morphology and Microstructure Assessed Using Structural MR Imaging and Diffusion Tensor Imaging: Initial Findings in Adults with Neurofibromatosis Type 1. AM J NEURORADIOL, 31(5), 856-861.
Cowell PE, Whiteside SP, Windsor F & Varley RA (2010) Plasticity, permanence, and patient performance: study design and data analysis in the cognitive rehabilitation of acquired communication impairments.. Front Hum Neurosci, 4, 213. View this article in WRRO
James S, Brumfitt S & Cowell P (2009) The influence of communication situation on self-report in people who stutter. INT J SPEECH-LANG PA, 11(1), 34-44.
Ankerstein CA, Varley RA & Cowell PE (2009) A new set of 84 colored nonobjects.. Behav Res Methods, 41(1), 172-176.
Chen ZY, Cowell PE, Varley R & Wang YC (2009) A cross-language study of verbal and visuospatial working memory span. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 31(4), 385-391.
Rees JM, Regunath G, Whiteside SP, Wadnerkar MB & Cowell PE (2008) Adaptation of wavelet transform analysis to the investigation of biological variations in speech signals.. Med Eng Phys, 30(7), 865-871. View this article in WRRO
Wadnerkar MB, Whiteside SP & Cowell PE (2008) Dichotic listening asymmetry: sex differences and menstrual cycle effects.. Laterality, 13(4), 297-309.
Cowell PE, Sluming VA, Wilkinson ID, Cezayirli E, Romanowski CAJ, Webb JA, Keller SS, Mayes A & Roberts N (2007) Effects of sex and age on regional prefrontal brain volume in two human cohorts.. Eur J Neurosci, 25(1), 307-318.
Wadnerkar MB, Cowell PE & Whiteside SP (2006) Speech across the menstrual cycle: a replication and extension study.. Neurosci Lett, 408(1), 21-24. View this article in WRRO
Varley R, Cowell PE, Gibson A & Romanowski CAJ (2005) Disconnection agraphia in a case of multiple sclerosis: The isolation of letter movement plans from language. Neuropsychologia, 43(10), 1503-1513.
Boucher J, Cowell P, Howard M, Broks P, Farrant A, Roberts N & Mayes A (2005) A combined clinical, neuropsychological, and neuroanatomical study of adults with high functioning autism. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, 10(3), 165-213.
Whiteside SP, Hanson A & Cowell PE (2004) Hormones and temporal components of speech: sex differences and effects of menstrual cyclicity on speech.. Neurosci Lett, 367(1), 44-47. View this article in WRRO
Howard MA, Roberts N, García-Fiñana M & Cowell PE (2003) Volume estimation of prefrontal cortical subfields using MRI and stereology. Brain Research Protocols, 10(3), 125-138.
Whiteside SP & Cowell PE (2001) Comment on delayed left-ear accuracy in dichotic listening.. Percept Mot Skills, 92(2), 548-550.
Gur RE, Turetsky BI, Cowell PE, Finkelman C, Maany V, Grossman RI, Arnold SE, Bilker WB & Gur RC (2000) Temporolimbic volume reductions in schizophrenia.. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 57(8), 769-775.
Gur RE, Cowell PE, Latshaw A, Turetsky BI, Grossman RI, Arnold SE, Bilker WB & Gur RC (2000) Reduced dorsal and orbital prefrontal gray matter volumes in schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 57(8), 761-768.
Howard MA, Cowell PE, Boucher J, Broks P, Mayes A & Roberts N (2000) A structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) study of adults with Asperger's syndrome. NeuroImage, 11(5 PART II).
Howard MA, Cowell PE, Boucher J, Broks P, Mayes A, Farrant A & Roberts N (2000) Convergent neuroanatomical and behavioural evidence of an amygdala hypothesis of autism. NeuroReport, 11(13), 2931-2935.
Cowell P & Hugdahl K (2000) Individual differences in neurobehavioral measures of laterality and interhemispheric function as measured by dichotic listening.. Dev Neuropsychol, 18(1), 95-112.
Cowell PE (1999) Book Review: Evaluating theories of language: evidence from disordered communication. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 15(1), 65-68.
Cowell PE, Fitch RH & Denenberg VH (1999) Laterality in animals: Relevance to schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 25(1), 41-62.
Gur RE, Cowell P, Turetsky BI, Gallacher F, Cannon T, Bilker W & Gur RC (1998) A follow-up magnetic resonance imaging study of schizophrenia: Relationship of neuroanatomical changes to clinical and neurobehavioral measures. Archives of General Psychiatry, 55(2), 145-152.
Fitch RH, Cowell PE & Denenberg VH (1998) The female phenotype: Nature's default?. Developmental Neuropsychology, 14(2-3), 213-231.
Kumar A, Miller D, Ewbank D, Yousem D, Newberg A, Samuels S, Cowell P & Gottlieb G (1997) Quantitative anatomic measures and comorbid medical illness in late-life major depression.. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry, 5(1), 15-25.
Cowell PE, Waters NS & Denenberg VH (1997) The effects of early environment on the development of functional laterality in Morris maze performance. Laterality, 2(3-4), 221-232.
Cowell PE, Kostianovsky DJ, Gur RC, Turetsky BI & Gur RE (1996) Sex differences in neuroanatomical and clinical correlations in schizophrenia.. Am J Psychiatry, 153(6), 799-805.
Turetsky B, Cowell PE, Gur RC, Grossman RI, Shtasel DL & Gur RE (1995) Frontal and temporal lobe brain volumes in schizophrenia. Relationship to symptoms and clinical subtype.. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 52(12), 1061-1070.
Cowell PE, Jernigan TL, Denenberg VH & Tallal P (1995) Language and learning impairment and prenatal risk: an MRI study of the corpus callosum and cerebral volume. Journal of Medical Speech-Language Pathology, 3, 1-13.
Cowell PE, Turetsky BI, Gur RC, Grossman RI, Shtasel DL & Gur RE (1994) Sex differences in aging of the human frontal and temporal lobes.. J Neurosci, 14(8), 4748-4755.
Cowell PE, Allen LS, Kertesz A, Zalatimo NS & Denenberg VH (1994) Human Corpus Callosum: A Stable Mathematical Model of Regional Neuroanatomy. Brain and Cognition, 25(1), 52-66.
Cowell PE, Kertesz A & Denenberg VH (1993) Multiple dimensions of handedness and the human corpus callosum.. Neurology, 43(11), 2353-2357.
Mack CM, Fitch RH, Cowell PE, Schrott LM & Denenberg VH (1993) Ovarian estrogen acts to feminize the female rat's corpus callosum.. Brain Res Dev Brain Res, 71(1), 115-119.
Cowell PE, Allen LS, Zalatimo NS & Denenberg VH (1992) A developmental study of sex and age interactions in the human corpus callosum.. Brain Res Dev Brain Res, 66(2), 187-192.
FITCH RH, MCGIVERN RF, REDEI E, SCHROTT LM, COWELL PE & DENENBERG VH (1992) NEONATAL OVARIECTOMY AND PITUITARY-ADRENAL RESPONSIVENESS IN THE ADULT-RAT. ACTA ENDOCRINOL-COP, 126(1), 44-48.
Denenberg VH, Fitch RH, Schrott LM, Cowell PE & Waters NS (1991) Corpus callosum: interactive effects of infantile handling and testosterone in the rat.. Behav Neurosci, 105(4), 562-566.
Denenberg VH, Kertesz A & Cowell PE (1991) A factor analysis of the human's corpus callosum.. Brain Res, 548(1-2), 126-132.
Fitch RH, Cowell PE, Schrott LM & Denenberg VH (1991) Corpus callosum: ovarian hormones and feminization.. Brain Res, 542(2), 313-317.
Denenberg VH, Cowell PE, Fitch RH, Kertesz A & Kenner GH (1991) Corpus callosum: multiple parameter measurements in rodents and humans.. Physiol Behav, 49(3), 433-437.
Fitch RH, Cowell PE, Schrott LM & Denenberg VH (1991) Corpus callosum: demasculinization via perinatal anti-androgen.. Int J Dev Neurosci, 9(1), 35-38.
Fitch RH, Berrebi AS, Cowell PE, Schrott LM & Denenberg VH (1990) Corpus callosum: effects of neonatal hormones on sexual dimorphism in the rat.. Brain Res, 515(1-2), 111-116.

Chapters

Cowell PE (2010) The two halves of the brain In Hugdahl K & Westerhausen R (Ed.), The two halves of the brain (pp. 349-377). MIT Press (MA)
Cowell PE (2003) The Parallel Brain In Zaidel E & Iacoboni M (Ed.), The Parallel Brain (pp. 64-69). The MIT Press
Cowell PE, Denenberg V, Boehm G, Kertesz A & Nasrallah H (2003) The Parallel Brain In Zaidel E & Iacoboni M (Ed.), The Parallel Brain (pp. 433-444). The MIT Press
Cowell PE & Denenberg VH (2002) Development of laterality and the role of the corpus callosum in rodents and humans In Rogers LJ & Andrew RJ (Ed.), Comparative Vertebrate Lateralization (pp. 274-305). Cambridge University Press
Cowell PE, Waters NS & Denenberg VH (1997) Hemispheric Specialisation in Animals and Humans In Fagot J (Ed.), Hemispheric Specialisation in Animals and Humans (pp. 221-232). Psychology Pr

Professional activities and memberships

Affiliations

Society for Neuroscience
Organization for the Study of Sex Differences

School of Allied Health Professions, Nursing and Midwifery