Department of Linguistics

Research focuses on deficits in language and cognition in adult neurologic patients with stroke, head injury, and dementia. Patients studied include those with aphasia (language impairment), alexia (reading impairments), anomia (word finding problems), and semantic memory impairments. Neurologically intact adults are studied as well. The research program includes clinical case studies, experimental group studies, cognitive rehabilitation studies, fMRI studies, and eyetracking studies. A major component of Dr. Friedman’s research focuses on the rehabilitation of acquired reading deficits, and the elucidation of factors that might predict the success of a particular treatment for a particular patient. Another research project concerned with rehabilitation focuses on anomia, an impairment in word retrieval that can have grave consequences upon one’s ability to communicate effectively, and can interfere with work, social function, and everyday life. Studies of dementia are concentrating on differences between semantic processing deficits in patients with Alzheimer's Disease and patients with semantic dementia, a type of fronto-temporal dementia.

brain
language
stroke
head injury
dementia
Alzheimer Disease
neurology
neuropsychology
aphasia
speech
reading
alexia
fMRI
memory
rehabilitation
eyetracking