Brenda Rapp

Last updated
Brenda Rapp
Born
Brenda Carla Rapp
Alma mater Johns Hopkins University
Scientific career
Fields Cognitive neuroscience
InstitutionsDepartment of Cognitive Neuroscience, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University
Thesis Sublexical orthographic structure in reading  (1990)
Doctoral advisor Alfonso Caramazza Richard G. Schwartz
Website Official website

Brenda Carla Rapp [1] professor and chair of the Department of Cognitive Neuroscience at Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University. [2] In 2010, she was appointed joint editor-in-chief of the journal Cognitive Neuropsychology . [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Rapp is originally from Madrid, Spain. [4]

During the summer after completing high school, Rapp grew interested in helping children with learning and language disabilities. [4] She pursued a Special Education degree at the University of Maryland. [4]

Rapp gained her doctorate in psychology in 1990 from Johns Hopkins University. [1] She has worked there since.

Research and career

Rapp's main research interests are written word production (spelling) [5] and dysgraphia (spelling problems). [6]

Rapp has published over 150 papers in scientific journals, such as the Brain , Cognitive Neuropsychology and Frontiers in Psychology, and has been cited over 6,000 times. [7] She has commented on her research findings in various media outlets, including The Guardian, CNN and the Baltimore Sun. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

Bibliography

Books
Journals

Related Research Articles

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In aphasia, a person may be unable to comprehend or unable to formulate language because of damage to specific brain regions. The major causes are stroke and head trauma; prevalence is hard to determine but aphasia due to stroke is estimated to be 0.1–0.4% in the Global North. Aphasia can also be the result of brain tumors, epilepsy, autoimmune neurological diseases, brain infections, or neurodegenerative diseases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dyslexia</span> Specific learning disability characterized by troubles with reading

Dyslexia, previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, writing words, "sounding out" words in the head, pronouncing words when reading aloud and understanding what one reads. Often these difficulties are first noticed at school. The difficulties are involuntary, and people with this disorder have a normal desire to learn. People with dyslexia have higher rates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), developmental language disorders, and difficulties with numbers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cognitive neuroscience</span> Scientific field

Cognitive neuroscience is the scientific field that is concerned with the study of the biological processes and aspects that underlie cognition, with a specific focus on the neural connections in the brain which are involved in mental processes. It addresses the questions of how cognitive activities are affected or controlled by neural circuits in the brain. Cognitive neuroscience is a branch of both neuroscience and psychology, overlapping with disciplines such as behavioral neuroscience, cognitive psychology, physiological psychology and affective neuroscience. Cognitive neuroscience relies upon theories in cognitive science coupled with evidence from neurobiology, and computational modeling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neurolinguistics</span> Neuroscience and linguistics-related studies

Neurolinguistics is the study of neural mechanisms in the human brain that control the comprehension, production, and acquisition of language. As an interdisciplinary field, neurolinguistics draws methods and theories from fields such as neuroscience, linguistics, cognitive science, communication disorders and neuropsychology. Researchers are drawn to the field from a variety of backgrounds, bringing along a variety of experimental techniques as well as widely varying theoretical perspectives. Much work in neurolinguistics is informed by models in psycholinguistics and theoretical linguistics, and is focused on investigating how the brain can implement the processes that theoretical and psycholinguistics propose are necessary in producing and comprehending language. Neurolinguists study the physiological mechanisms by which the brain processes information related to language, and evaluate linguistic and psycholinguistic theories, using aphasiology, brain imaging, electrophysiology, and computer modeling.

Agraphia is an acquired neurological disorder causing a loss in the ability to communicate through writing, either due to some form of motor dysfunction or an inability to spell. The loss of writing ability may present with other language or neurological disorders; disorders appearing commonly with agraphia are alexia, aphasia, dysarthria, agnosia, acalculia and apraxia. The study of individuals with agraphia may provide more information about the pathways involved in writing, both language related and motoric. Agraphia cannot be directly treated, but individuals can learn techniques to help regain and rehabilitate some of their previous writing abilities. These techniques differ depending on the type of agraphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neuropsychology</span> Study of the brain related to specific psychological processes and behaviors

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cognitive neuropsychology</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dysgraphia</span> Neurological disorder of written expression

Dysgraphia is a neurological disorder and learning disability that concerns impairments in written expression, which affects the ability to write, primarily handwriting, but also coherence. It is a specific learning disability (SLD) as well as a transcription disability, meaning that it is a writing disorder associated with impaired handwriting, orthographic coding and finger sequencing. It often overlaps with other learning disabilities and neurodevelopmental disorders such as speech impairment, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or developmental coordination disorder (DCD).

Doreen Kimura was a Canadian psychologist who was professor at the University of Western Ontario and professor emeritus at Simon Fraser University. Kimura was recognized for her contributions to the field of neuropsychology and later, her advocacy for academic freedom. She was the founding president of the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship.

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References

  1. 1 2 Rapp, Brenda Carla (1990). Sublexical orthographic structure in reading (Ph.D thesis). Johns Hopkins University. OCLC   27285013.
  2. "Brenda Rapp". cogsci.jhu.edu. Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University . Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  3. Rapp, Brenda (2010). "Editorial". Cognitive Neuropsychology . 27 (1–2): 1–2. doi: 10.1080/02687038.2010.514122 . PMID   20812057.
  4. 1 2 3 "Rapp studies brain recovery after strokes". The Johns Hopkins News-Letter. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
  5. Rapp, Brenda; Miozzo, Michele (2011). "Introduction to papers from the 5th Workshop on Language Production: The neural bases of language production". Language and Cognitive Processes. 26 (7): 869–877. doi:10.1080/01690965.2010.544595. S2CID   4802333. (Guest editors)
  6. Rapp, Brenda; Beeson, Pelagie M. (June–July 2003). "Introduction: Dysgraphia: cognitive processes, remediation, and neural substrates". Aphasiology. 17 (6–7): 531–534. doi:10.1080/02687030344000012. S2CID   218638970. (Guest editors)
  7. "brenda rapp - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
  8. Lea, Richard (2016-02-08). "Spelling uses multiple parts of the brain, research shows". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
  9. Gumbrecht, Jamie. "What makes a good speller (or a bad one)?". CNN. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
  10. Chapman, Ben. "Scientists hope to make strides in literacy tests by studying the brains of great spellers - NY Daily News". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
  11. "Researchers explore how the brain separates our abilities to talk, write". The Hub. 2015-05-06. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
  12. Wells, Carrie. "Studying stroke survivors gives Hopkins researchers a window into how we spell". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2018-08-09.