Eleanor Saffran

Eleanor M. Saffran (May 16, 1938 – November 23, 2002) was a researcher in the field of Cognitive Neuropsychology. Her interest in Neuropsychology began at the Baltimore City hospitals of Johns Hopkins University, where her research unit focused on neurological patients with language or cognitive impairments. In papers published between 1976 and 1982, Dr. Saffran spelled out the methodological tenets of “cognitive neuropsychology” exemplified in her studies of aphasia,alexia (acquired dyslexia), auditory verbal agnosia, and short-term memory impairment.

In 1980, Saffran joined the Neurology Department of Temple University and established the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. Here she built an interdisciplinary research group composed of neurologists, psychologists, and speech-language pathologists. Under her leadership, this group extended the cognitive neuropsychological approach to the analysis of neurological disorders of perception, visual attention, and semantics.

These years also marked the continuation of her longstanding collaboration with Myrna Schwartz of Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute (part of the Einstein Healthcare Network) which began in Baltimore in 1975. An innovative aspect of their research was its emphasis on application of language theory to diagnosis and treatment of language disorders. This model was embraced by other researchers of language and remains a standard approach in aphasia research today. As the field of cognitive neuropsychology matured, Saffran became recognized as one of its most influential practitioners. In 1989, her grant on the psycholinguistic analysis of language disorders was awarded the Claude Pepper Award of Excellence by the National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders.

...
Wikipedia