Uncovering the Cognitive & Linguistic Basis of PPA
Current areas of interest include:
• Behavioral rehabilitation of PPA via speech pathology therapy trial
• Early non-linguistic cognitive deficits in PPA
• Neural support of speech and language functions such as repetition, grammar and motor speech
• tDCS + speech pathology treatment trial for motor speech disorders in nfvPPA
• Sensitive & automated analysis of motor speech deficits in PPA
• Assessment and diagnosis of PPA in languages other than English, including Mandarin, Cantonese, Taiwanese, Spanish, French and Italian
• Correlating cognitive and linguistic difficulties with neuroimaging studies in languages other than English
Advancing Neuroimaging Analyses of Neurodegenerative Diseases
Current areas of interest include:
• Neuroimaging (sMRI, fMRI, DTI, MEG, PET) of PPA clinical and pathological correlates
• Distributed semantics via novel behavioral assessments and MEG studies
• Prediction of longitudinal gray matter changes in PPA based on pre-defined healthy functional networks
• Deep learning and advanced mathematical models in PPA for prediction of in-vivo pathological changes in PPA
• Longitudinal tracking of structural changes in PPA and its association with behavioral and cognitive impairment
• Multilingualism-related differences in clinical presentation and neural correlates of PPA
• Theory- and data-driven clustering of PPA into reproducible clinical syndromes and associated brain atrophy patterns
• Dissection of white matter pathways related to language and speech features in PPA
• Intrinsic connectivity networks critical for specific aspects of language in PPA
• Machine learning predictive modeling of cognitive and language decline in PPA
• Behaviorally relevant compensatory neural mechanisms in PPA
• Treatment-induced structural and functional neuroplasticity in PPA
• Structural and functional organization of language in the human brain
Seeking Novel Risk or Protective Factors for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Current areas of interest include:
• Neuroinflammation in frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
• The role of handedness and neurodevelopmental differences in PPA
• Neurodevelopment in children of familial FTD parents
Phenotyping Dyslexia
Current areas of interest include:
• Phenotyping pediatric dyslexia, by identifying the cognitive strengths and weaknesses of each child and their neuroimaging correlates.
• Multimodal neuroimaging in children with dyslexia, including:
o Diffusion imaging
o Resting state fMRI
o Task-based fMRI
o Structural morphometric imaging
• The relationship between dyslexia and other neurodevelopmental differences including ADHD and impulsive behaviors
• Mathematically based learning differences
• Examining cognitive and brain development trajectories in dyslexia
• The prevalence of dyslexia in prison populations