Dr Campbell Le Heron
MBChB, FRACP, DPhil
Consultant Neurologist
Department of Neurology, Canterbury District Health Board, Christchurch
Cognitive Neuroscientist
New Zealand Brain Research Institute, Christchurch
Senior Lecturer
Department of Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch
I am a Neurologist and Cognitive Neuroscientist with a strong interest in cognitive disorders and the normal neural processes that underlie these deficits. My recent research has focussed on understanding the mechanisms that underlie apathy – a disorder of motivation with often debilitating consequences – in various neurological disorders including Parkinson’s disease, cerebral small vessel disease and Huntington’s disease. I use specifically designed behavioural paradigms, physiological recordings (e.g. of pupillary responses to reward) and imaging techniques (including fMRI, diffusion imaging and arterial spin labelling) to investigate whether apathy is caused by disruption of normal decision making processes – particularly the integration of reward information and action costs to drive choice. My work is heavily influenced by basic neuroscience developments, which I aim to translate to the clinical context. In turn, by studying patients with disorders of cognition I also aim to improve understanding of these underlying normal processes.
Following completion of Neurology specialist training in 2014 I undertook a DPhil at the University of Oxford in Professor Masud Husain’s cognitive neurology research group. I have now returned to New Zealand where I work as a Neurologist specialising in Cognitive and Movement disorders, and am developing a research program centred on understanding neurobehavioural disorders and the complex neural interplay between cortical and subcortical regions that leads to the generation (or not) of actions.
Affiliations:
- New Zealand Brain Research Institute
- Department of Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch
- Department of Neurology, Canterbury District Health Board
- Cognitive Neurology Research Group, Nuffield Dept of Clinical Neurosciences, Oxford, UK
- Motivation and Social Neuroscience Lab, Oxford, UK
Scholarships and Grants:
- 2019 – Canterbury Medical Research Fund (CMRF) Major Project Grant
- 2014 – Christopher Welch Scholarship in Biological Sciences, University of Oxford
- 2014 – Clarendon Scholarship, University of Oxford
Publications
Provided on request for non-commercial personal use by researchers.
2025
Le Heron, C., Morris, L. A., Manohar, S. (2025). Understanding disrupted motivation in Parkinson’s disease through a value-based decision-making lens. Trends in Neurosciences.
10.1016/j.tins.2025.02.008
2024
Aye, W. W., Stark, M. R., Horne, K.-L., Livingston, L., Grenfell, S., Myall, D. J., Pitcher, T.L., Almuqbel, M.M., Keenan, R. J., Meissner, W.G., Dalrymple-Alford, J., Anderson, T.J., Le Heron, C., Melzer, T. R. (2024). Early‐phase amyloid PET reproduces metabolic signatures of cognitive decline in Parkinson's disease. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, 16(2),
e12601..
10.1002/dad2.12601
Eustace, M.P., King, J., Le Heron, C., McGarr, K. and Theys, C. (2024). Māori ancestral knowledge of communication. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples,
20(4), .
10.1177/11771801241290117
Gazes, Y., Lee, S., Jin, Z., Chen, B., Huey, E.D., Heibronner, S., Heron, C.L. and Vanegas, N. (2024). Effort‐based decision making and white matter tracts associated with dimensions of apathy in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Alzheimer's & Dementia,
20, .
10.1002/alz.095204
Le Heron, C., Horne, K. L., MacAskill, M. R., Livingston, L., Melzer, T. R., Myall, D., Pitcher, T., Dalrymple-Alford, J., Anderson, T., Harrison, S. (2024). Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Association of Clinical and Neurocognitive Factors With Apathy in Patients With Parkinson Disease. Neurology,
102(12), .
10.1212/WNL.0000000000209301
Morris, L. A., Horne, K. L., Manohar, S., Paermentier, L., Buchanan, C., MacAskill, M., Myall, D., Apps, M., Roxburgh, R., Anderson, T., Husain, M., Le Heron, C. (2024). Decision cost hypersensitivity underlies Huntington’s disease apathy. Brain,
awae296.
10.1093/brain/awae296
2023
Berry‐Noronha, A., Myall, D., Hong, J.B., Collecutt, W., Krauss, M., Fink, J., Weggery, S., Chatterjee, A., Bartholomew, S., Smith, M., LeHeron, C., Busby, W., Brew, S., Barber, P., Wu, T., Wilson, D. (2023). Clinical outcomes with delayed mechanical thrombectomy: Descriptive analysis and development of a screening tool. European Journal of Neurology,
3, .
10.1111/ene.15658
Brodtmann, A., Darby, D., Oboudiyat, C., Mahoney, C. J., Le Heron, C., Panegyres, P. K., Brew, B. (2023). Assessing preparedness for Alzheimer disease‐modifying therapies in Australasian health care systems. The Medical Journal of Australia,
218(6), .
10.5694/mja2.51880
Evangelisti, S., Boessenkool, S., Pflanz, C.P., Basting, R., Betts, J.F., Jenkinson, M., Clare, S., Muhammed, K., Le Heron, C., Armstrong, R., Klein, J.C. (2023). Subthalamic nucleus shows opposite functional connectivity pattern in Huntington’s and Parkinson’s disease. Brain Communications,
5(6), .
10.1093/braincomms/fcad282
MacAskill, M. R., Pitcher, T. L., Melzer, T. R., Myall, D. J., Horne, K.-L., Shoorangiz, R., Almuqbel, M. M., Livingston, L., Grenfell, S., Pascoe, M. J., Marshall, E. T., Marsh, S., Perry, S. E., Meissner, W. G., Theys, C., Le Heron, C. J., Keenan, R. J., Dalrymple-Alford, J. C., Anderson, T. J. (2023). The New Zealand Parkinson’s Progression Programme. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand,
53, .
10.1080/03036758.2022.2111448
Morris, L. A., Harrison, S. J., Melzer, T. R., Dalrymple-Alford, J. C., Anderson, T. J., MacAskill, M. R., Le Heron, C. J. (2023). Altered nucleus accumbens functional connectivity precedes apathy in Parkinson’s disease. Brain,
awad113.
10.1093/brain/awad113
Thompson, N., MacAskill, M., Pascoe, M., Anderson, T., Heron, C. L. (2023). Dimensions of apathy in Parkinson’s disease. Brain and Behaviour,
e2862, .
10.1002/brb3.2862
2022
Contreras-Huerta, L. S., Pisauro, A., Kuechenhoff, S., Gekiere, A., Le Heron, C., Lockwood, P., Apps, M. A. (2022). A reward self-bias leads to more optimal foraging for ourselves than others. PsyArXiv Preprints .
10.31234/osf.io/8r45z
Le Heron, C. J. (2022). Reward and actions and the game of life. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry,
93, .
10.1136/jnnp-2021-328302
Le Heron, C., MacAskill, M. R., Myall, D. J. (2022). Reply to: “An Exponential Rather Than Multistep Model of Parkinson’s Disease Pathogenesis”. Movement Disorders,
37(5), .
10.1002/mds.28989
Morris, L., O’Callaghan, C., Le Heron, C. (2022). Disordered decision making: A cognitive framework for apathy and impulsivity in Huntington’s disease. Movement Disorders,
37(6), .
10.1002/mds.29013
Tippett, L. J., Cawston, E. E., Morgan, C. A., Melzer, T. R., Brickell, K. L., Ilse, C., Cheung, G., Kirk, I. J., Roberts, R. P., Govender, J., Griner, L., Le Heron, C., Buchanan, S., Port, W., Dudley, M., Anderson, T. J., Williams, J. M., Cutfield, N. J., Dalrymple-Alford, J. C., … the NZ-DPRC. (2022). Dementia Prevention Research Clinic: A longitudinal study investigating factors influencing the development of Alzheimer’s disease in Aotearoa. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
10.1080/03036758.2022.2098780
2021
Beharry, J., Palmer, D., Wu, T., Wilson, D., Le Heron, C., Mason, D., Reimers, J., Fink, J., Mulder, R., Duncan, R. (2021). Functional neurological disorders presenting as emergencies to secondary care. European Journal of Neurology,
28, .
10.1111/ene.14728
Blakemore, R. L., Pascoe, M. J., Horne, K. L., Livingston, L., Young, B. N., Elias, B., Goulden, M., Grenfell, S., Myall, D. J., Pitcher, T. L., Dalrymple-Alford, J. C., Le Heron, C. J., Anderson, T. J., MacAskill, M. R. (2021). Higher perceived stress and exacerbated motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease during the COVID-19 lockdown in New Zealand. The New Zealand Medical Journal,
134, .
Le Heron, C., MacAskill, M.R., Mason, D., Dalrymple-Alford, J., Anderson, T.J., Pitcher, T., Myall, D.J. (2021). A multi-step model of Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis. Movement Disorders,
36, .
10.1002/mds.28719
Le Heron, C., Myall, D., Anderson, T. (2021). Progression in Parkinson’s disease: a potpourri of plots and probabilities. Brain,
3, .
10.1093/brain/awab060
Saleh, Y., Le Heron, C., Petitet, P., Veldsman, M., Drew, D., Plant, O., Schulz, U., Sen, A., Rothwell, P. M., Manohar, S., Husain, M. (2021). Apathy in small vessel cerebrovascular disease is associated with deficits in effort-based decision making. Brain,
144, .
10.1093/brain/awab013
Wu, T. Y., Myall, D., Palmer, D., Beharry, J., Lim, J. Y., Mason, D. F., Reimers, J., Duncan, R., Weaver, J., Collecutt, W., Mouthaan, P., Lim, A., Hurrell, M. A., Barber, P. A., Ranta, A., Fink, J. N., Le Heron, C. J. (2021). Increased large vessel occlusive strokes following the Christchurch 2019 March 15 terror attack. Neurology,
96, .
10.1212/WNL.0000000000011341
Zhong, C. S., Beharry, J., Salazar, D., Smith, K., Withington, S., Campbell, B. C. V., Wilson, D., Le Heron, C., Mason, D., Duncan, R., Reimers, J., Mein-Smith, F., Diprose, W. K., Barber, P. A., Ranta, A., Fink, J. N., Wu, T. Y. (2021). Routine use of tenecteplase for thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke. Stroke, 52(3),
1087–1090.
10.1161/STROKEAHA.120.030859
2020
Le Heron, C., Kolling, N., Plant, O., Kienast, A., Janska, R., Ang, Y. S., Fallson, S., Husain, M., Apps, M. A. (2020). Dopamine modulates dynamic decision-making during foraging. Journal of Neuroscience,
40, .
10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2586-19.2020
2019
Le Heron, C. J., Holroyd, C., Salamone, J., Husain, M. (2019). Brain mechanisms underlying apathy. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry,
90, .
10.1136/jnnp-2018-318265
Sundaresan, V., Zamboni, G., Le Heron, C., Rothwell, P. M., Husain, M., Battaglini, M., ... , Griffanti, L. (2019). Automated lesion segmentation with BIANCA: impact of population-level features, classification algorithm and locally adaptive thresholding. Neuroimage,
202, .
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116056
2018
Ang, Y. S., Manohar, S., Plant, O., Kienast, A., Le Heron, C., Muhammed, K., Hu, M., Husain, M. (2018). Dopamine modulates option generation for behavior. Current Biology,
28, .
10.1016/j.cub.2018.03.069
Le Heron, C., Manohar, S., Plant, O., Muhammed, K., Griffanti, L., Nemeth, A., Husain, M. (2018). Dysfunctional effort-based decision-making underlies apathy in genetic cerebral small vessel disease. Brain,
141, .
10.1093/brain/awy257
Le Heron, C., Plant, O., Manohar, S., Ang, Y. S., Jackson, M., Lennox, G., Hu, M, Husain, M. (2018). Distinct effects of apathy and dopamine on effort-based decision-making in Parkinson’s disease. Brain,
141, .
10.1093/brain/awy110
2014
Hassan, I. K., Looi, J. C., Velakoulis, D., Gaillard, F., Lui, E. H., O’Brien, T. J., French, C, Le Heron, C. J., Adams, S. J. (2014). Psychosis with obsessive-compulsive symptoms in tuberous sclerosis. Journal of Clinical Neuroscience,
21, .
10.1016/j.jocn.2013.08.005
Le Heron, C. J., Fang, K., Gubbi, J., Churilov, L., Palaniswami, M., Davis, S., Yan, B. (2014). Wireless accelerometry is feasible in acute monitoring of upper limb motor recovery after ischemic stroke. Cerebrovascular Diseases,
37, .
10.1159/000360808
Le Heron, C. J., Wright, S. L., Melzer, T. R., Myall, D. J., MacAskill, M. R., Livingston, L., Keenan, R. J., Watts, R., Dalrymple-Alford, J. C. , Anderson, T.J. (2014). Comparing cerebral perfusion in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease dementia: an ASL-MRI study. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism,
34, .
10.1038/jcbfm.2014.40
2007
Muthu, C., Chu, J. J., Le Heron, C., Roake, J. A., Lewis, D. R. (2007). Patient awareness of risk factors for peripheral vascular disease. Annals of Vascular Surgery,
21(4), .
10.1016/j.avsg.2006.06.007
2005
Le Heron, C. J., MacAskill, M. R. , Anderson, T.J. (2005). Memory-guided saccades in Parkinson's disease: long delays can improve performance. Experimental Brain Research,
161, .
10.1007/s00221-004-2071-2
2004
Iles, S., Le Heron, C. J., Davies, G., Turner, J. G., Beckert, L. E. (2004). ECG score predicts those with the greatest percentage of perfusion defects due to acute pulmonary thromboembolic disease. Chest,
125(5), .
10.1378/chest.125.5.1651
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