Skip to the content
 

Associate Professor Marilyn Lucas

Biography

I am married with two sons, both now adults. I live in South Africa but am of British origins.

Professional Activities

I lecture at undergraduate and post graduate level at Monash South Africa, conduct research in the areas that can be found under the South African Team. I am the Chair of the Research Committee and Head of Department in Psychology at Monash South Africa. I am the Deputy Chair for the Schizophrenia Foundation of South Africa and the founding psychologist of the Predictive Testing Program for Huntington’s Disease. I am a clinical psychologist specialising in assessment and psychotherapy in the areas of neuropsychology and adult psychopathology.

Research Interests

  • Stress and Coping in Students
  • Psychiatric Disorders of Depression and Schizophrenia
  • Cultural Differences when faced with social change
  • Non-Western perceptions of Psychiatry
  • Predictive Testing in Huntington's Disease
  • The Deinstitutionalisation Process
  • Violence in Psychiatric Institutions

Postgraduate Research Projects

I currently supervise a masters student in the Neuropsychology of Bipolar Disorder.

Potential Student Projects

To dovetail in with research interests

Teaching

  • Abnormal Psychology
  • Biological Psychology
  • Statistics and Research Design

Collaborations

  • Dr Sue Burney, Monash University, Caufield Campus, Australia
  • Dr Maria Ponto, Kingston University, London, United Kingdom
  • Mrs Linda Backus, Werribee Mercy Mental Health Program, Melbourne, Australia
  • Dr Dean Stevenson, Werribee Mercy Mental Health Program, Footscray, Australia
  • Department of Genetics, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
  • Schizophrenia Foundation of South Africa

Grant Support

Currently from Monash South Africa

Publications

Turnbull, O.H. & Lucas, M.D. (1991). Lateral cradling preferences in males: The relationship to infant experience. Journal for Genetic Psychology, 152, 375-376.

Lucas, M.D., Turnbull, O.H., & Kaplan Solms, K.L. (1993). Laterality of cradling in relation to perception and expression of facial affect. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 154, 347-352.

Lucas, M.D. (1993). Laterality of cradling in relation to non-dominant hemispheric functions. In proceedings of the 5th National Neuropsychology Conference, Durban, 1993, pp.273-282.

Turnbull. O.H., Stein, L., & Lucas, M.D. (1995) Lateral preferences in adult embracing: A test of the "hemispheric asymmetry" theory of infant cradling. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 156, 17-21.

Lucas, M.D., Berk, M. Strijdom, S. & Hart, G.A.D. (1995) Quality of life, sexual functioning and sex role identity after surgical orchidectomy in patients with prostatic cancer. Scandinavian Journal of Urology and Nephrology, 29, 497-500.

Lucas, M.D. & Sonnenberg B.R. (1996). Neuropsychological trends in the Parkinsonism Plus syndrome: A pilot study. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 18, 88-97.

Berk, M., Terre Blanche, M.J., Maude, C., Lucas, M.D., Mendelsohn, M., & O'Neill-Kerr, A.J. (1996). Season of birth and schizophrenia: Southern hemisphere data. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. Vol. 30.

Berk, M., Lucas, M.D. & Allwood, C. (1996). How to do research on a shoestring. South African Journal of Psychiatry. Supplement to South African Medical Journal. Vol. 86.

Turnbull, O.H. & Lucas, M.D. (1996). 'Is the leftward cradling bias related to lateral asymmetries in attention?'. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 157, 161-167.

Lucas, M.D. & Sonnenberg, B.R. (1996). Neuropsychological trends in the Parkinsonism Plus syndrome: A pilot study. Parkinson/Alzheimer Digest. December, 3-6.

Mattson, D., Berk, M., & Lucas, M.D. (1997). A neuropsychological study of prefrontal lobe function in the positive and negative subtypes of schizophrenia. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 158, 487-494.

Strijdom, S., Berk, M. & Lucas, M.D. (1997) Neuropsychological effects of sleep deprivation in medical interns' performance. Geneeskunde, 39, 7-9.

Kalk, W.J., Cleaton-Jones, P.E., Allwood, C.W., Cooper, P.A., Mokhachane, M., Feldman, C., Hofmeyr, G.J., Lownie M.A., Lucas, M., Mark, S., McKendrick, B.W., Penn, C., Robertson, B., Saadia, R., Segal, I., Skeen, A.S., van Gelderen, C.J., Wadee, A.A., Kriel, J.R., Broekman, R., Jenkins, T., Price, M., Beckett, G.C., Penn, C. & Wright A. (1997). Virodene--support misguided. South African Medical Journal, 87, 775-6.

Lucas, M.D. (1998). Genetic testing: A profile of those who participate in a South African Predictive Testing Programme. In L Schlebusch (Ed.), South Africa beyond Transition: psychological well-being. Proceedings of the 3rd annual congress of the Psychological Society of South Africa (pp.172-175). Pretoria: The Psychological Society of South Africa.

Lucas, M.D. (1998). Neuropsychology in Psychiatry. The Leech, 67, 28-32.

Kromberg, J.G.R., Krause, A., Spurdle, A.B., Temlett, J., Lucas, M., Rodseth, D. , Stevens, G., Jenkins, T. (1999). Utilisation of predictive, prenatal and diagnostic testing for Huntington's disease in Johannesburg. South African Medical Journal, 89, 774-778.

Lucas, M.D., Pefile, L., Goldstein, M. van Staaten, M. & Allwood, C. (1999). Multidisciplinary Teams: Do they work? The South African Journal of Psychiatry, 5, 32.

Emsley, R.A., Roos, L., Tsjabelala. J., van Rensburg, B., Lucas, M., Mbanga, N.I., Wilson, Z. & Sartorius, N. (1999). The establishment of a national advocacy group for schizophrenia: The Schizophrenia Foundation of South Africa. The South African Journal of Psychiatry, 5, 28-30.

Burrows, S. & Lucas, M.D. (2000). Comparison of two tests of executive functioning. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 161, 253-255.

Levert, T., Lucas, M. & Ortlepp, J. (2000). Burnout in psychiatric nurses: Contributions of the work environment and a Sense of Coherence. South African Journal of Psychology, 30, 36-43.

Burrows, S., Kolloori, J. & Lucas, M.D. (2000). The use of rating scales to detect alcohol abuse in a South African Community setting. Clinical Medicine, June, 32-36.

Lucas, M.D. & Levert, T. (2001). Nursing staff exposure to violence in psychiatric wards: Gauteng, South Africa. South African Journal of Psychiatry, 7, 68-72.

Lucas, M.D. (2001). Neuropsychology and Psychiatry. South African Journal of Psychiatry, 7, 6-7.

Sonnenberg, B.R., Lucas, M.D. & Temlett, J.A. (2001). Cognitive functions in Multiple-System Atrophy 'On' and 'off' medication. South African Neurology Review, 6, 4-13.

Lucas, M.D., Turnbull, O.H., Berk, M. & Fritz, V.U. (2002). Predictive testing in Huntington's Disease: How does it impact upon cognitive performance? South African Journal of Psychology, 32, 39-47.

Lucas M.D. (2003). Neuropsychological evidence for subjective memory complaints in the neurologically well individual. South African Journal of Psychiatry, 9, 29-32.

Violence and abuse in psychiatric in-patient institutions: A South African perspective. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry. Conditionally accepted for publication 2004.

Chapter in Book

Turnbull, O.H. & Lucas, M.D. (2000). "Tell me, where is [this] fancy bred?": The cardiac and cerebral accounts of the lateral cradling bias. In M.K. Mandal, M.B. Bulman-Fleming & G. Tiwari (eds). Side Bias: A Neuropsychological Perspective (pp.267-287). Amsterdam: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Other publications

Lucas, M.D. (1995). The Neuropsychology of Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia - A multidisciplinary Approach' (Seminar Manual presented at Tara Hospital, the H.Moross Centre), Gauteng. pp.1-9.

Lucas, M.D. (1996). The Dementias. Dementia (Seminar Manual presented at Tara Hospital, the H.Moross Centre, Gauteng. pp.1-9.

Lucas, M.D. (2004). Techniques to manage aggression. Pamphlet for Schizophrenia Foundation of South Africa.

Backus, L., Weinkove, J., Lucas, M. & Jespersen, S. (2004). The safety of an aggressive discharge policy in case management of the severely mentally ill. Paper presented to Jansen-Cilag, Melbourne, Australia.

Lucas, M. (2004). A life-threatening disorder: A potential boundary experience? Serenity, 2.

Publications as abstracts

Lucas, M.D. & Berk, M. (1997). A profile of those who participate in a South African predictive testing programme for Huntington's Disease. Supplement to Biological Psychiatry - abstracts of the 6th World Congress of Biological Psychiatry, Nice, France.

Gordon, C., Berk, M., & Lucas, M.D. (1997). Neuropsychological distinction between the schizophrenic subsyndromes. Supplement to Biological Psychiatry - abstracts of the 6th World Congress of Biological Psychiatry, Nice, France.

Kolloori, J., Lucas, M. & Burrows, S. (1998). The use of rating scales in the detection of alcohol abuse in a psychiatric population. The South African Journal of Psychiatry, September 1998.

Levert, T. & Lucas, M. (1998). Burnout in psychiatric nurses: contributions of the job and the individual. The South African Journal of Psychiatry, September 1998.

Clarence, L. & Lucas, M. (1998). The role of fear in the length, process and cost of pre-diagnostic illness behaviour in panic disorder patients. The South African Journal of Psychiatry, September 1998.

Lucas, M.D., Fritz, V.W., & Berk, M. (1999). Is the cognitive decline found in those at risk for Huntington's disease due to noncognitive factors? Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, Vol. 5.

Lucas, M. (2004). Violence and Abuse in Psychiatric In-patient Institutions: A South African Perspective. South African Journal of Psychiatry, 10, 81.