Dimitrios S. Kasselimis
Professor of Psychology
School of Liberal Arts and Sciences

When: Monday, April 11, 15:00 – 15:50

Where: Deree Faculty Lounge

Organized by: Faculty Research Seminars 2015-16 Series

Aphasia is traditionally considered to be an acquired language impairment, due to a focal (usually left-lateralized) brain lesion. However, during the last decades, there has been mounting evidence that aphasic patients also demonstrate non-linguistic processing deficits. This presentation is focused on the relationship between language and memory deficits. Three studies of an ongoing research project carried out by the Neuropsychology Unit of Eginition Hospital will be presented. The first study (Potagas et al., 2011) investigates the relationship between working memory and aphasic deficits, and further suggests a possible underlying common mechanism. The second study (Kasselimis et al., 2013a) aims to clarify whether such memory deficits are dependent on the presence of aphasia in left brain damaged patients. The third study (Kasselimis et al., 2013b) investigates possible effects of lesion extent and location on modality-independent and modality-specific memory deficits in aphasia. The findings of the above papers are discussed in the context of the relevant aphasiology literature.

References

Kasselimis, D. S., Simos, P. G., Economou, A., Peppas, C., Evdokimidis, I., & Potagas, C. (2013a). Are memory deficits dependent on the presence of aphasia in left brain damaged patients? Neuropsychologia, 51(9), 1773-1776. 

Kasselimis, D., Simos, P., Peppas, C., Chatziantoniou, L., Kourtidou, E., Evdokimidis, I., & Potagas, C. (2013b). Modality-independent and Modality-specific Memory Deficits in Aphasia: Effects of Left Hemisphere Lesion Extent and Location. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 94, 120-121.

Potagas, C., Kasselimis, D., & Evdokimidis, I. (2011). Short-term and working memory impairments in aphasia. Neuropsychologia, 49(10), 2874-2878.

Dimitris Kasselimis has been a member of the Deree faculty since 2015. He currently teaches “Analysis of Behavioral Data” and “Psychology as a Natural Science.” His research interests are mainly focused on the neuropsychology of aphasia and neurodegenerative diseases. He has collaborated with researchers in Universities and Research Centers both in Greece and abroad, and co-authored several research papers, book chapters, and conference abstracts. He serves as a research associate at Eginition Hospital, 1st Neurology Department, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.