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Projects
Projects
Visuospatial deficits after stroke: Towards better classification, diagnostics, and rehabilitation
In a nutshell: The goal of this project is to disentangle the heterogeneous and dissociable impairments of visuospatial functioning and attention that are often associated with right-hemisphere stroke and subsumed under umbrella terms like “neglect syndrome”. Teasing apart these impairments and gaining a better understanding of their neural bases will allow for the development of better diagnostics, more precise prognostics, and more targeted rehabilitation approaches.
Collaborators: Peter Turkeltaub, Andrew DeMarco, Barbara Bregman, AM Barrett
Funding: NIH R01 HD105735 (PI: Anna Greenwald); the basis for this project was laid with a mentored research award through the Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science (NIH KL2 TR001432, PI: Jason Umans) to Anna Greenwald
Peter Turkeltaub, M.D., Ph.D
Georgetown University Medical Center and MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital
Barbara Bregman, PT, Ph.D
Georgetown University Medical Center and MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital
Rehabilitation for emotion recognition impairment after stroke: building a scientific basis
In a nutshell: This project investigates the role of emotion recognition impairments in determining long-term outcomes after stroke in adults. Especially right-hemisphere strokes are commonly associated with difficulties in recognizing and/or producing vocal and/or facial emotion. We hypothesize that these difficulties, which often go unrecognized and untreated, can negatively impact interpersonal communication and relationships. Such relationships are well-known to be crucial for not just mental but also physical health. Thus, better diagnostic tools and interventions for emotion recognition impairments could significantly improve long-term outcomes for affected stroke survivors and those around them.
Collaborators: Abigail Marsh, Sarah Phillips
Funding: NIH R21 HD095273 (PI: Anna Greenwald); the beginnings of this project were made possible through Georgetown’s Dean’s Toulmin Pilot Award and a Music for the Mind Young Investigator Award to Anna Greenwald
Sarah Phillips, Ph.D
Georgetown University Medical Center, Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science
Language and cognition after perinatal stroke
In a nutshell: This project seeks to determine the effects of perinatal stroke on long-term neural reorganization and language outcomes in later childhood and early adulthood. It is built around the hypothesis that after early injury to the left cerebral cortex (which is dominant for language processing in most neurologically healthy adults), corresponding areas of the right cerebral cortex can support language function instead.
Collaborators: Elissa Newport, Bill Gaillard, Barbara Landau
Funding: NIH R01 DC016902 (MPIs: Elissa Newport & William Davis Gaillard)
Elissa Newport, Ph.D
Georgetown University Medical Center and MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital
William Gaillard, M.D.
Children's National Medical Center, Georgetown University, and George Washington University
Effects of early focal brain injury on emotional prosody and social outcomes
In a nutshell: This project uses detailed behavioral assessments and functional neuroimaging to determine how perinatal injury to the cerebellum or cerebral cortex affect the development of emotional prosody processing and social communication in school-age children. It is guided by the hypothesis that after early injury to the right cerebral cortex (which is dominant for emotional prosody processing in most neurologically healthy adults), corresponding areas of the left cerebral cortex can support this function instead. We further hypothesize that the cerebellum plays a key role in determining the functional organization of cerebral cortex in early development, and that early lesions to the cerebellum disrupt this scaffolding function, resulting in atypical functional organization of the cerebral cortex and impairments in emotional prosody processing.
Collaborator: Catherine Stoodley
Funding: Pilot award through the District of Columbia Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center under NIH P50 HD105328 (PI: William Davis Gaillard)
Collaborative Research: The developmental course of cerebral lateralization for space and language
In a nutshell: In most neurologically healthy adults, core language functions such as comprehending sentences are supported predominantly by the brain’s left hemisphere, whereas certain aspects of visuospatial processing and attention are supported predominantly by the brain’s right hemisphere. However, this relative division of labor between hemispheres seems to be less clear in young children. This project investigates the developmental course of cerebral lateralization in children, to determine when lateralization of function emerges for language and for spatial functions and to gain insight into what the determinants of adult lateralization of function may be.
Collaborators: Elissa Newport, Barbara Landau
Funding: NSF 2318608 (PI: Barbara Landau), NSF 2318609 (Co-PIs: Elissa Newport & Anna Greenwald)
Research Methods
Research Methods
The impact of a stroke on a person’s life depends on many factors, such as the size and location of the stroke, the general health of the person, their living circumstances and activities prior to stroke, and the support available to them after the stroke. To assess all these factors and study how they interact, we use the following methods:
Behavioral Assessments
Behavioral Assessments
Behavioral assessments include a variety of tasks. Some of them are fun and easy, and some of them (so-called adaptive tests) are designed to bring everybody to their limit. For example, we might ask participants to put together a puzzle, define some words, find objects in a cluttered scene, draw something, or remember a list of things.
Surveys and Interviews
Surveys and Interviews
Surveys and interviews give us an idea what a participant’s life is like. Do they live in a place that requires them to get up stairs? Are there people/pets who depend on them? Do they have people who will help them if needed? Do they have easy access to health care? What are their favorite activities, and are they still able to do them? What has already been done, and what else could be done, to enable a return to these activities?
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) allows us to take pictures of a person’s brain. This way, we can see where in the brain the stroke happened. Functional MRI (fMRI) lets us see which parts of the brain receive a boost in oxygen-rich blood when a person engages in a certain cognitive activity (e.g., solving a puzzle). This can change after a stroke, and the results will help us understand which parts of the braincan potentially take over when others have been damaged by stroke.
A note on our MRIs:
A note on our MRIs:
The MRIs we take do NOT require a contrast agent: No needles or radiation exposure involved.
The MRI scanner is a very strong magnet. Because of that, certain metallic or magnetically activated objects (e.g., pacemakers) are not safe to be near the MRI scanner. Some implants are MRI-safe. If you are interested in participating, please let us know about any implants or other objects you cannot remove from your body, so that we can check whether they are safe to go in the MRI scanner!
The MRI scanner is also a relatively tight space, and we can only get good images if you can lie still on your back for about 6 minutes at a time. Thus, if you think you may get frightened in a tight space, or if it would be uncomfortable for you to lie on your back without moving for several minutes, you may want to skip the MRI.
You can still participate without the MRI!
Participate!
Participate!
To learn how stroke impacts lives and how to help people reclaim their lives after stroke, we need the help of stroke survivors as well as people without stroke. If you are interested in participating in one of our studies, please contact us!
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