Gerry A. Stefanatos, D. Phil.
Research Scientist

Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute
Korman Suite 204
1200 West Tabor Road
Philadelphia, PA 19141-3099
Telephone: 215-456-5962
Fax: 215-456-5926
E-mail: gstefana@einstein.edu

 

My interest in Neuropsychology grew out of my undergraduate studies and experiences in the Psychology Department at McGill University and the nearby Montreal Neurological Institute. The renowned neurosurgeon, Wilder Penfield, and the psychologist/theorist Donald Hebb (considered one of the fathers of Neuropsychology) had fostered a remarkable neuroscience community at McGill that provided rich learning experiences. I became thoroughly engrossed with Clinical Neuropsychology and the notion that the mechanisms of the mind could be discovered from careful study of alterations in behavior observed in neurological conditions.

I left McGill to pursue my doctoral studies at the University of Oxford, where I was based at the MRC Neuropsychology Unit situated in the University Department of Clinical Neurology. Oxford was the head injury center for World War II veterans and I went there with the intent of investigating disorders of spatial cognition in a well-studied group of patients who had sustained missile wounds to the brain. However, I was soon drawn to the problems of individuals with acquired aphasia and by the inexplicable failure to acquire language experienced by some children. I began a series of studies assessing cortical auditory mechanisms that mediate the perception of speech and other temporally complex sounds. This resulted in a close relationship with a remarkable interdisciplinary group of investigators in the University Laboratory of Physiology in Oxford, with whom I collaborated to develop novel techniques to record brain electrical responses to temporally complex sounds. I found that a new steady-state auditory evoked responses paradigm we developed was very informative in understanding the neurophysiological correlates of developmental language disorders and some forms of acquired aphasia in children and adults. I later determined that the technique was helpful in monitoring treatment effects when studying a type of acquired aphasia (epileptiform aphasia) associated with electrical abnormalities in the temporal lobe of the brain. Treating these individuals with medications to suppress the abnormal electrical activity resulted in a remarkable normalization of their brain electrical responses and improvements in language.

These studies consolidated my current interest in clinical trials and in developing advanced methods to monitor treatments based on knowledge of the neural basis of a disorder. This work has extended to investigations of the role of the right hemisphere of the brain in mediating aspects of attention, spatial cognition and emotional processing. I developed a test to look at "mental rotation" for use in children and adults that has been used to examine hormonal influences on changes in brain function. In addition, I have collaborated for several years on studies looking at spatial deficits in children and adults with Turner syndrome (a genetically-based condition) and how they might be modified or improved by hormonal treatments.

Research Focus

My current research focuses on examining the efficacy of behavioral and psychopharmacologic treatments and in understanding brain plasticity and the neural changes that accompany recovery and relearning. My orientation integrates neuropsychological, neurophysiological, and functional neuroimaging approaches to understanding the neural correlates of treatment. The long-term goal of this research is to facilitate the development of optimal treatments and to establish clinical predictors of treatment outcome.

• Disorders of language: Dr. Stefanatos is collaborating on research investigating the use of psychopharmacologic treatment as an adjuvant to speech and language therapy in aphasia. The use psychopharmacologic agents is based on the assumption that selective symptoms in aphasia may be modulated by deficiencies of specific neurotransmitters. Dr. Stefanatos is involved in clinical trials investigating whether combining speech and language therapy with particular medications improves outcome. He is also conducting studies examining temporal processing in aphasia.
• Disorders of spatial cognition and attention: Dr. Stefanatos is collaborating on research investigating the effects of hormonal treatments on deficiencies of spatial cognition and executive function associated with genetic and endocrine disorders.

Funding Sources

Dr Stefanatos has received funding from the National Institutes of Health including the National Institute on Deafness and Communicative Disorders and the National Institute of Child Health and Development. He has also received seed money from the Albert Einstein Society.

Selected Publications:

• Stefanatos, G.A., Kinsbourne, M. and Wasserstein, J. (2003) Acquired Epileptiform Aphasia: A dimensional view. Child Neuropsychology, 8 (3), 195-228.
• Ross, J.L., Stefanatos, G.A., Husher, H, Zinn, A, Bondy, C, Roeltgen, D. (2002) Persistent cognitive deficits in adult women with Turner syndrome. Neurology, 58, 218-225.
• Stefanatos, G.A. and Wasserstein, J. (2001) Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder as a right hemisphere syndrome: Selective review and detailed neuropsychological case studies. In Adult Attention Deficit Disorder: Brain Mechanisms and Life Outcomes, (Ed.) Wasserstein, J., Lorraine Wolf, L. and LeFever, F. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 931, 172-195
• Stefanatos, G.A., Kollros, P., Rabinovich, H. and Stone, J. J. (1998) Acquired Epileptiform Aphasia (Landau-Kleffner Syndrome). Current Concepts and Controversies. Journal of Developmental and Learning Disorders, 2 (1), 3-50.
• Stefanatos, G.A., Foley, C., and Grover, W. and Doherty, B.J. (1997) Steady-state auditory evoked responses to pulsed frequency modulation in children. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 104, 31-42.
• Ross, J.L., Stefanatos, G., Roeltgen, D., Kushner, H., and Cutler, G.B. (1995) Ullrich-Turner Syndrome: Neurodevelopmental changes from childhood through adolescence. American Journal of Medical Genetics, 58:74-82.
• Stefanatos, G.A., Grover, W., and Geller, E. (1995) Corticosteroid treatment of language regression in pervasive developmental disorder. Journal of the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 34(8):1107-1111.
• Stefanatos, G.A. and Musikoff, H. (1994) Specific neurocognitive deficit in de Lange syndrome. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 15(1), 39-43.
• Stefanatos, G.A. (1993) Frequency modulation (FM) analysis in children with Landau-Kleffner syndrome (VAA). Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 682, 412-414.
• Stefanatos, G.A., Green, G.G.R., and Ratcliff, G.G. (1989) Neurophysiological evidence of auditory channel anomalies in developmental dysphasia. Archives of Neurology, 46, 871-875.

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