Antonucci Research
- Associate Professor Clinical Scholar, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
- Director, MossRehab Aphasia Center
MossRehab Aphasia Center
Jefferson Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute
50 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027
Overview of the MossRehab Aphasia Center
Dr. Antonucci is a clinical researcher and speech-language pathologist whose work focuses on aphasia and aphasia rehabilitation. Over the course of her career, she has pursued several lines of research. Her work, grounded in cognitive neuropsychology, investigates relationships between lexical retrieval and semantic processing, and the neuroanatomical substrates thereof, as well as lexical retrieval impairments in those with stroke aphasia and theoretically-motivated treatments thereof, particularly in the context of functional communication during connected speech. Her work has expanded to include animal-assisted treatment research founded within the perspective of the life participation approach to aphasia
Research Focus Areas
Lexical processing in the left inferior temporal lobe
From top left: coronal, sagittal, and axial views of the brain
Dr. Antonucci’s earliest work focuses on investigation of the neural substrates of impairment to semantically-guided lexical retrieval in individuals with unilateral left temporal lobe lesions, as well as on characterizing the nature of the impairment with respect to disruption to phonological-, semantic-, and orthographic-lexical processing.
Semantically-guided lexical retrieval in aphasia
A model of semantically-guided lexical retrieval
Dr. Antonucci has developed cognitive neuropsychological assessments designed to examine patterns of naming impairment in persons with aphasia, which have also informed development of theoretically-motivated treatments for anomia, specifically within the context of connected speech.
Animal-Assisted Interventions for people with aphasia
Dr. Antonucci’s work has expanded to the study of animal-assisted interventions for those with aphasia, with a focus on the practical, clinical, and ethical considerations.