Myrna F. Schwartz, PhD
Associate Director, MRRI
Director, Language and Aphasia Lab
Co-Director, Complex Action Analysis Lab
Research Director, Moss Aphasia Center

Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute
Korman Suite 205
1200 West Tabor Road
Philadelphia, PA 19141-3099
Telephone: 215-456-5921
Fax: 215-456-5926
E-mail: mschwart@einstein.edu

Speaking comes so easily to most of us that we assume it’s a simple thing for the brain to accomplish. Certainly, this was my assumption until I witnessed what stroke, brain trauma and degenerative brain disease can do to speech and other functions that depend on language. As I began my study of aphasia, I was struck by how different facets of language were affected in different individuals. Some patients had particular problems remembering what words signify, others had problems remembering how words are pronounced. Some were unable to combine sounds to create words, others to combine words to create sentences. It appears that language is represented in the brain in a manner that resembles a jigsaw puzzle. Normally, the pieces fit together seamlessly, so that one is not even aware of individual components. But stroke and other forms of brain damage can compromise the efficiency of one or another component, thereby disrupting the integrated functioning of the system as a whole. Identifying the functional components of the jigsaw puzzle and understanding how they fit together became the focus for my research, first at Johns Hopkins University, then at the University of Pennsylvania, where I taught for several years, and since 1986, at MossRehab and Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute (MRRI).

The jigsaw metaphor has implications for rehabilitation. It suggests that therapy for aphasia should be individualized according to which functional components are impaired in a given patient, and which are spared. At MRRI, my colleagues and I are researching whether this approach to therapy is practical and gives good results. This is one of the many ways that MRRI fulfills its mission to conduct research that is of theoretical interest and that is relevant to how rehabilitation is practiced.

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Research Focus

• Psycholinguistic analysis of aphasic and non-aphasic language: The central focus of the Language and Aphasia Lab is how language functions are represented in the intact brain and how these functions are disrupted in individuals with aphasia. For example, in computational studies of picture naming, we have shown that the breakdown of word retrieval in aphasia is different in degree, not kind, from the momentary speech disturbances that occur in non-aphasic speakers (e.g., slips-of-the-tongue; word blocks). These modeling studies are part of an ongoing collaboration with Gary S. Dell at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana and  Nadine Martin at Temple University in Philadelphia.  The Language and Aphasia Lab also conducts studies in multi-word language production and its disruption in agrammatic Broca's aphasia.

• Computer-based aphasia therapy: Innovative application of computing technology has widespread application for persons with disabilities, including those who live with aphasia. My colleagues and I developed MossTalkWords® ( http://www.mosstalk.com) to enable those with aphasia to engage in multimodal, independent practice of word comprehension and production. In collaboration with Dr. Marcia Linebarger, we are currently testing applications of an innovative "processing prosthesis" for aiding and enhancing sentence-level speech production in aphasia.

• Research on errors of action:"Naturalistic action" is action in the service of practical goals, such as grooming and meal preparation. Like speech, naturalistic action in non-brain injured adults takes place so effortlessly that it is easy to underestimate the complexity of the cognitive operations that the brain must perform. My studies with Laurel Buxbaum and others have shown that the entire brain is involved in organizing naturalistic action. Many types of brain insult (e.g., trauma, stroke) impair processes necessary for planning and executing action, with the result that action becomes more vulnerable to errors of action (e.g., taking the wrong medication; failing to turn off the oven when the roast is done). We developed the Naturalistic Action Test (NAT) ( http://www.tvtc.com) to assist clinicians and researchers in diagnosing and measuring naturalistic action impairment. In the Complex Action Analysis lab, we are continuing to explore the causes and consequences of such impairment.

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Funding Sources

Dr. Schwartz's research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health through its National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (NINDS), and National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR). She has also received grants from Albert Einstein Healthcare Network's Albert Einstein Society and from the McLean Contributionship.

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Selected Publications

Dell, G. S., Schwartz, M. F., Martin, N., Saffran, E., & Gagnon, D. A. (1997). Lexical access in aphasic and non-aphasic speakers. Psychological Review, 104, 811-838.

     Fink, R. B., Brecher, A., Schwartz, M. F., & Robey, R. R. (2002). Clinician vs. partially self-guided computer-assisted naming therapy. Aphasiology, 16, 1061-1086.

     Linebarger, M., Schwartz, M., Romania, J., Kohn, S. & Stephens, D. (2000). Grammatical encoding in aphasia: Evidence from a 'processing prosthesis.' Brain and Language, 75, 416-427.

     Schwartz, M. F., Buxbaum, L. J., Ferraro, M., Veramonti, T., & Segal, M. (2003). The Naturalistic Action Test. Bury St. Edmunds: Thames Valley Test Company.

     Schwartz, M. F., & Hodgson, C. (2002). A new multiword naming deficit: Evidence and interpretation. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 19, 263-288.

     Schwartz, M. F., Segal, M. E., Veramonti, T., Ferraro, M., & Buxbaum, L. J. (2002). The Naturalistic Action Test: A standardized assessment for everyday-action impairment. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 12, 311-339.

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