2012 TC Academics
Teachers College, Columbia University
Teachers College Columbia University

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Karen Froud

Professional Background

Educational Background

Scholarly Interests

Neural underpinnings of language representation and processing, especially in pathological situations: developmental and acquired speech and language disorders; language and cognitive processing in schizophrenia. Neural correlates of second language acquisition in adults. Contributions of cognitive neuroscience to determining efficacy and mechanisms of change in speech-language pathology and educational interventions.

Selected Publications

SELECT PEER REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

Froud, K. & Khamis-Dakwar, R. (2012). MisMatch Negativity Responses in children with a diagnosis of Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. 2012;21:302.

Khamis-Dakwar, R., Froud, K. & Gordon, P. (in press). Syntactic and Morphological Development in Arabic Diglossia. Journal of Child Language.

Khamis-Dakwar, R. & Froud, K. (in press). Aphasia, language and culture: Arabs in the U.S. To appear in Multilingual Matters: Multilingual Aphasia.

Froud, K., Titone, D., Marantz, A. & Levy, D.L. (2010). Brain/behavior asymmetry in schizophrenia: a preliminary MEG study of cross-modal semantic priming in schizophrenia. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 23, 3, 223-239.

Galgano, J. & Froud, K. (2008). Evidence of the Voice-Related Cortical Potential: an electroencephalographic study. NeuroImage, 41, 1313-1323. (Also Corrigendum. NeuroImage 42, published online July 2008.)

Froud, K. & van der Lely, H.K.J. (2008). The count-mass distinction in typically developing and grammatically specifically language impaired children: new evidence on the role of syntax and semantics. Journal of Communication Disorders, 41, 274-303.

Khamis-Dakwar, R., & Froud, K. (2007). Lexical processing in two language varieties: an event-related brain potential study of Arabic native speakers. In Mughazy, M. (Ed.) Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XX, 153-166. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.  

Froud, K. (2006). Unaccusativity as lexical argument reduction: evidence from aphasia. Lingua, 116, 1631-1650.

Gardner, H., Froud, K., McLelland, A. & van der Lely, H.K.J. (2006). The development of the Grammar and Phonology Screening (GAPS) test to assess key markers of specific language difficulties in young children. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 41 (5), 513-540.

Allen, K., Carlile, S., Alais, D. & Froud, K. (2005). Persistence of auditory streaming preserves release from masking. Canadian Acoustics, 33, 3, 46-47.

Druks, J. & Froud, K. (2002). The syntax of single words: evidence from a patient with a function word deficit. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 19(3), 207-244.

Froud, K. (2001). Prepositions and the lexical / functional divide: aphasic evidence. Lingua, 111, 1-28.

Froud, K. (1998). Aphasic evidence for the syntactic determination of unaccusativity. UCL Working Papers in Linguistics, 10, 1-18.


OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Froud, K. (in press). Understanding and addressing the theory-to-practice divide in clinical training and practice. To appear in Bowen, C. (Ed.), Children’s Speech Sound Disorders. London: John Wiley & Sons.

van der Lely, H.K.J., Froud, K., Gardner, H., McLelland, A. (2007). The grammar and phonology screening test (GAPS). University of London, UK. (Available online at www.dldcn.com).

Bury, D., Froud, K., Horsey, R. & Szendroi, K. (Eds.) (2004). Focus and the interaction between syntax and pragmatics. Lingua, 114, 3, 227-388.


WORK IN PROGRESS

Froud, K., Titone, D., Marantz, A. & Levy, D.L. (submitted). Brain/behavior asymmetry in schizophrenia: a preliminary MEG study of cross-modal semantic priming in schizophrenia. Journal of Neurolinguistics.

Froud, K. & Khamis-Dakwar, R. Diglossic variety switching: an event-related potential study of Arabic native speakers. (In preparation.)

Froud, K., Galgano, J., Randazzo, M. & Krieger, L. Acoustic and Spirometric Correlates of Phonation in Young and Middle-Aged Adults. (In preparation.)

Galgano, J. & Froud, K. Age-related changes of the voice-related cortical potential (VRCP). (In preparation.)

Sibuma, B., Froud, K., & Black, J. Effects of dimensionality on emotional face processing: an electrophysiological investigation. (In preparation.)

 

custom course list

Courses taught:
BBSQ5116 Language Disorders in Adults
BBSN4032 Neuroscience of Speech and Language
HUDK5024 Language Development
BBSN5199 Lab Methods for Electroencephalographic Investigations of Language & Cognition
BBSQ5112 Disorders of Articulation and Phonology

Seminars:
BBSQ6111 Linguistic theory, language development and language breakdown
BBSN6514 Neurophysiology of mental processes
BBSQ6514 Seminar in brain, language & cognition

current projects

service to the college and university

Program Chair, Speech and Language Pathology (2012 -- present)

Faculty Executive Committee, Subcommittee for Academic Personnel (2010 – present)

Institutional Review Board (2003 – present)

Search committee, Program in Movement Sciences (2007-2008)

Review committee, Dean’s Grant for Student Research (2005)

Review Committee, Walter Sindlinger Writing Award (2005)

Affirmative Action Representative, Faculty search committee, Program in Speech-Language Pathology (December 2004 – March 2005)

Program Committee for review of doctoral programs (2004 –2006)

office location

Faculty Office -- 1052, Thorndike Hall  (by appointment only -- email to request)
Laboratory -- 1153 Thorndike Hall  (active research - no unscheduled drop ins please)

professional presentations

biographical information

Dr Karen Froud is Associate Professor of Speech-Language Pathology and Neuroscience and Education, in the Department of Biobehavioral Sciences at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Dr Froud trained as a speech-language pathologist in the UK and worked with adults with severe neurological disabilities at the Royal Hospital for Neurodisability in London. She returned to academia to complete a master’s and PhD in Theoretical Linguistics at University College London. She then held a position as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Center for Developmental Language Disorders and Cognitive Neuroscience, where she conducted research on the effects of language impairment on the educational attainment and cognitive abilities of children. She participated in the development of the Grammar and Phonology Screening Test (the GAPS), the first assessment of its kind intended for use by parents, teachers and paraprofessionals for the early identification of language impairment.

In 2001, Dr Froud was recruited as a research fellow to the Mind Articulation Project at MIT. Using several different brain imaging modalities, including fMRI and MEG, she developed studies on the neuroscience of language and cognitive impairments in stroke and schizophrenia. She was awarded the Essell Young Investigator Award in 2003 by the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, and joined the faculty at Teachers College later the same year.

At TC, Dr Froud founded and directs the Neurocognition of Language Lab, a state of the art facility that uses high density electroencephalography to investigate questions about language, cognition and learning across the lifespan. She teaches graduate courses in language disorders, neuroscience of speech and language, research and lab methods. She also founded SLP-Cambodia, part of the Transcultural Speech-Language Pathology initiatives that take students to resource-poor regions around the world for service provision, education and training.

Dr Froud’s work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association, the National Institute for Deafness and Communication Disorders, and the National Institutes of Health. She and her students regularly present at national and international conferences, especially the meetings of the Society for Neuroscience, the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, and the Organization for Human Brain Mapping. Dr Froud has published in journals including NeuroImage, Journal of Neurolinguistics, Lingua, the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, and the Journal of Cognitive Neuropsychology, as well as making contributions to edited volumes including Perspectives in Arabic Linguistics, Multicultural Aspects of Aphasia, and Children’s Speech Sound Disorders.

Dr Froud lives in New York City with her son, Sam.


grants

GRANTS AND AWARDS

Teachers College, Columbia University Vice President’s Grant for Student Research in Diversity (2011) Sponsor. Neural correlates of African American English processing. $3,000

Teachers College, Columbia University Dean’s Grant for Student Research (2011) Sponsor. Specialized reading skills in Spanish-speaking adult neoliterates: an ERP study. $2,000

American Speech, Language & Hearing Association award for Students Preparing for Academic and Research Careers (SPARC) (2010) Sponsor. Neurocognitive investigations of African American Vernacular English as an instance of diglossia. $1,500

National Institutes of Mental Health. Co-Investigator (PI: George Bonnano). Predictors and diagnostic markers of prolonged grief. $1.1m

Teachers College, Columbia University Provost’s Faculty Development Award (2009) Awardee. Speech-Language Pathology Continuing Education and Service Provision in Cambodia. $20,000

 American Speech, Language & Hearing Association award for Students Preparing for Academic and Research Careers (SPARC) (2009) Sponsor. Neurocognitive investigations of sensory processing in developmental dyslexia. $1,500

Croll Foundation (2007-2009) Co-investigator (PIs John Saxman PhD, Bruce Roseman MD; other co-investigators Erika Levy PhD, Peter Gordon PhD). Changes in Speech, Language, and Motor abilities following therapeutic treatment for Benign Rolandic Epilepsy in children. $1,000,000

 National Institutes of Health / National Institute for Deafness and other Communication Disorders, F-31 (2007-2008) Sponsor. (Pre-doctoral trainee: Jessica Galgano) Neural correlates of laryngeal movement associated with young and aging voice planning and production: ERP characteristics of the Voice-Related Cortical Potential. $27,958

American Speech, Language & Hearing Association award for Students Preparing for Academic and Research Careers (SPARC) (2007) Sponsor. Integrating neuroscience educational experiences into master’s level speech-language pathology training. $1,500

Teachers College Policy & Research Doctoral Fellowship Award (2007-2008) Sponsor. Neural correlates of vowel perception in Spanish-speaking learners of English: a study of developing automaticity. $6,000

Spencer dissertation fellowship (2006-2007) Sponsor. Neural correlates of laryngeal movement associated with young and aging voice planning and production. $3,000

Spencer dissertation fellowship (2006-2007) Sponsor. Syntactic and morphological development in Arabic diglossia. $3,000

Dean’s Faculty Diversity Research Award (2006) Principal Investigator. An investigation of the neural correlates of diglossic language processing in native Arabic speakers. $3,000

Essell Young Investigator Award, National Alliance for Research into Schizophrenia and Affective Disorders (2003-2005) Principal Investigator. A magnetoencephalographic study of lexical processing and formal thought disorder in schizophrenia. $60,000

active professional organizations

American Association for Applied Linguistics

Society for Neuroscience

Linguistics Society of America

Organization for Human Brain Mapping

Cognitive Neuroscience Society

British Aphasiology Society

Linguistics Association of Great Britain

Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists

Arabic Linguistics Society

BBS 4032: Neuroscience of human speech and language

An introduction to the neurological bases of normal speech and language perception, production and use.

BBSN 5000: Elctencphigrphy Lab Mthds

BBSQ 5112: Articulation disorders

Prerequisites: Phonetics course and an introductory course in speech pathology. Study of phonological rule disorders and disorders associated with functional and various structural and neurological problems. Critical analysis of research in etiology, testing, and therapy.

BBSQ 5116: Language disorders in adults

Prerequisite: BBSQ 4040 and BBS 4032 or equivalent. Theoretical and practical approaches to understanding the etiology, assessment, classification, and treatment of aphasia and other communication disorders in adulthood.

BBSN 6904: Rsch-Indp Study: Neuroscience & Education

BBSN 9910: Rsch-Indp Study: Advanced Neuroscience & Education

Centers and Projects

Edward D. Mysak Clinic for Communication Disorders
Website: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/centers/mysak

Edward D. Mysak Clinic for Communication Disorders

The Edward D. Mysak Clinic for Communication Disorders is an integral part of the graduate training program in speech and language pathology at Teachers College.  The Clinic offers a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic services to individuals of all ages with communication disorders. 

Services are provided by program faculty and supervisory staff who hold national and state certification in their respective areas.  Qualified graduate students provide or assist in the provision of these services under the direct supervision of the faculty and staff.

The graduate program in Speech and Language Pathology at Teachers College is accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation of the American Speech Language and Hearing Association.  Academic concentrations leading to certifications include the Teacher of Students with Speech and Language Disabilities (TSSLD) and the Bilingual Extension to the TSSLD, both of which are registered with the New York State Education Department. 

 



Institutional Review Board
Website: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/irb


Neurocognition of Language Lab
Website: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/neurocog/

At the Neurocognition of Language Lab, we conduct experiments examining the neural underpinnings of aspects of language and cognitive processing, in both normal and damaged adult brains, utilizing combinations of behavioral and electrophysiological techniques.