Leslie J. Gonzalez-Rothi, Ph.D. - US grants

The mission of the proposed Program Project shall be to foster excellence in research focusing on the rehabilitation of language and related disorders resulting from acquired brain impairment. The Program Project contains four Subprojects and two Core Units. The four Subprojects are designed to develop and study the efficacy of theoretically motivated, behavioral treatments for specified cognitive deficits associated with aphasia using multiple replications of within subject, experimental design, experimental designs. The cognitive deficits targeted for study include agrammatisms, anomia, aprosodia, and attention disorders associated with aphasia. In addition, it is our interest to embed this research into biological underpinnings in two ways. First, predictions about the efficacy of choices of treatment strategy (restitutive versus vicariative/substitutive) in a portion of the Subprojects involve an interpretation at the cellular level of the physiology of the recovering system at different points in the recovery process (acute versus chronic). Second, we plan to study the nature of biological changes in the processing system that result from these experimental behavioral interventions by studying a portion of the experimental subjects using pre- and post-treatment fMRI. Finally, the impact that these behavioral treatment may have on the quality of the lives of participants (including their caregivers) will be monitored via a variety of methods.

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This grant application is aligned with the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research which highlights the need to accelerate the pace of discovery in neuroscience research and to translate new discoveries into clinical interventions that will reduce the public health burden of the chronic consequencce of nervous system disorders. Across the nation there is a shortage of scientists who can translate discoveries from molecular, cellular and systems neuroscience into diagnostic tests/markers and strategies for treatment of disorders affecting the nervous system in general and communication and swallow functional systems in particular. Rapid translation of promising interventions from animal models to clinical trials will require the concomitant training of academic clinicians and basic scientists who are capable of promoting this scientific synergy by bridging the two fields in order to address disorders of a complex nervous system that affect communication and swallowing functions. The University of Florida has established a priority in rehabilitation research targeting neurologically induced communication disorders of adults as well as experiential and molecular influences on neuroplasticity. To fulfill the need for trained scientists in this area, the purpose of this application is to develop and implement at the University of Florida a comprehensive, integrated postdoctoral training program that focuses on fundamental pathobiological mechanisms, clinical ramifications, as well as critical features of research design that facilitate the discovery-to-treatment process. The broad, long term objective is to increase the number of highly trained basic and applied scientists prepared to participate in translational research targeting the treatment of communication and swallow disorders resulting from diseases or injury to the nervous system. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]