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Dr Greg Elder

Assistant Professor

Department: Psychology

I am a sleep researcher and I am Associate Director of Northumbria Sleep Research. I joined Northumbria University in March 2018 following post-doctoral work at Newcastle University and a short time as a lecturer at Teesside University.

I use a range of techniques to measure sleep, including overnight laboratory studies. I have research interests in applied and clinical sleep research projects. I have a particular interest in the aetiology and treatment of sleep disturbances in neurodegenerative dementia, and in healthy ageing more generally. I also have interests in the use of non-invasive brain stimulation (transcranial direct current stimulation and transcranial magnetic stimulation) and their applications in sleep and dementia research. I have managed clinical trials in the UK and India which have used tDCS as a treatment for attentional problems and visual hallucinations in Lewy body dementia. Finally, I have a general interest in Lewy body dementia research, with a focus on neuropsychological symptoms and clinical trial outcome measures.

Please feel free to get in contact if you are working with me as a collaborator or potential PhD student.

Greg Elder

Campus Address

Room 119 Northumberland Building
Northumbria University
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 8ST

  • the aetiology and treatment of sleep disturbances in neurodegenerative dementia (primarily Lewy body dementia)
  • the relationship between sleep, cognition and behavioural symptoms in neurodegenerative dementia
  • sleep in healthy ageing
  • stress and sleep disturbances
  • non-invasive brain stimulation (transcranial direct current stimulation and transcranial magnetic stimulation) and their applications in sleep and dementia research.
  • Lewy body dementia research, with a focus on neuropsychological symptoms and clinical trial outcome measures.

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • Nutritional interventions in treating menopause-related sleep disturbances: a systematic review, Polasek, D., Santhi, N., Alfonso-Miller, P., Walshe, I., Haskell, C., Elder, G. 6 Mar 2023, In: Nutrition Reviews
  • Stress and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis: how can the COVID-19 pandemic inform our understanding and treatment of acute insomnia?, Elder, G., Altena, E., Ellis, J., Palagini, L. 7 Feb 2023, In: Journal of Sleep Research
  • CBT-I Applied to Acute Insomnia, Ellis, J., Alfonso-Miller, P., Elder, G. 12 Aug 2022, Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy For Insomnia (CBT-I) Across The Life Span, Hoboken, US, Wiley
  • Habitual subjective sleep continuity is not associated with fluid intelligence: an exploratory study, Jensen, E., Santhi, N., Elder, G. 28 Dec 2022, In: Sleep Medicine Research
  • How can light be used to optimize sleep and health in older adults?, Elder, G., Flo-Groeneboom, E. 2022, Circadian and Visual Neuroscience, Amsterdam, Elsevier
  • Investigation of structural brain changes in Charles Bonnet Syndrome, Firbank, M., da Silva Morgan, K., Collerton, D., Elder, G., Parikh, J., Olsen, K., Schumacher, J., Ffytche, D., Taylor, J. 13 May 2022, In: NeuroImage: Clinical
  • Poor false sleep feedback does not affect pre-sleep cognitive arousal or subjective sleep continuity in healthy sleepers: a pilot study , Robson, A., Ellis, J., Elder, G. 1 Oct 2022, In: Sleep and Biological Rhythms
  • Pre-Sleep Cognitive Arousal Is Negatively Associated with Sleep Misperception in Healthy Sleepers during Habitual Environmental Noise Exposure: An Actigraphy Study, Sharman, R., Perlis, M., Bastien, C., Barclay, N., Ellis, J., Elder, G. 24 Feb 2022, In: Clocks & Sleep
  • Pre-Sleep Cognitive Arousal Is Unrelated to Sleep Misperception in Healthy Sleepers When Unexpected Sounds Are Played during Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep: A Polysomnography Study, Sharman, R., Bastien, C., Perlis, M., Wetherell, M., Barclay, N., Santhi, N., Ellis, J., Elder, G. 9 Sep 2022, In: Brain Sciences
  • Quantifying test–retest reliability of repeated objective attentional measures in Lewy body dementia, Elder, G., Colloby, S., Firbank, M., Taylor, J. 1 Jul 2022, In: Journal of Neurology


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