Bruce Crosson

Dr. Crosson’s laboratory maps language and related brain functions using functional MRI. In the rich, multidisciplinary environment of this laboratory, a number of lines of inquiry are being pursued within this general framework. For example, an active area of inquiry involves changes in neural substrates of language with aging and how exercise mitigates those changes. Because hand motor functions are closely related to language from an evolutionary standpoint, the laboratory also studies changes in the neural substrates of hand movement with aging. Another area of inquiry relates to behavioral techniques for re-mapping the brain’s language functions for patients with aphasia. Dr. Crosson’s laboratory also investigates connections between the brain’s language-related structures using diffusion imaging tractography. The laboratory’s goal is to clarify how the brain’s language systems change across aging and in pathological states and to apply this knowledge to improve the quality of communication in neurologically normal older persons and persons with aphasia. To build future research capacity in this kind of research, the laboratory has supported mentored awards at the predoctoral, postdoctoral, and young investigator level.