Laura Murray

Laura Murray

Professor, Neural Science

Professor, Speech and Hearing Sciences


Education

  • B.Sc., University of Western Ontario, 1987
  • M.S., Minot State University, 1988
  • Ph.D., University of Arizona, 1994

Research interests

Dr. Murray\'s general research interest is the cognitive and neural bases of adult neurogenic communication disorders. She is particularly interested in determining how deficits in cognitive processes other than language, such as attention and memory, interact with communication skills. Her work describes and compares the integrity of language and cognition in adults with left or right hemisphere brain-damage, traumatic brain injury, or progressive diseases such as Alzheimer\'s, Huntington\'s, and Parkinson\'s Diseases.

Current projects compare dual-task performances of adults with aphasia and adults with right hemisphere brain damage to examine whether side of lesion or brain damage in general is most detrimental to attentional skills and to associations between attention and language processes.

Other interests include relating patterns of discourse production (i.e., syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic levels) in Huntington\'s and Parkinson\'s Diseases to the degree of cognitive, behavioral, and motor impairment to identify possible underlying sources of communication impairment, and consequently to develop interventions to improve or maintain effective interaction between brain-damaged patients and their daily communicative partners.

Another ongoing project has been designed to resolve the clinical diagnostic dilemma of distinguishing reversible pseudodementia from the irreversible dementing illness, Alzheimer\'s disease by quantitatively and qualitatively comparing the language and attention skills of elderly adults with these disorders.

Representative publications

A Comparison of Relaxation Training and Syntax Stimulation for Chronic Nonfluent Aphasia (2001)
Laura L. Murray and A. Heather Ray
Journal of Communication Disorders, 34 (1-2), 87-113

A review of select alternative treatment approaches for acquired neurogenic disorders: Relaxation therapy and acupuncture (2004)
Laura L. Murray and Hye-Young Kim
Seminars in Speech and Language, 25 (2), 133-149

Accuracy Monitoring and Task Demand Evaluation in Aphasia (1997)
Laura L. Murray, Audrey L. Holland and Pelagie M. Beeson
Aphasiology, 11 (4-5), 401-414

Anomia for Famous Faces: An Examination of Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomena in Aphasia and Alzheimer's Disease (1997)
Pelagie M. Beeson, Audrey L. Holland and Laura L. Murray
Aphasiology, 11 323-336

Applying a structured cognitive training protocol to address progressive cognitive decline in vascular dementia (2012)
Jamie F. Mayer, Laura L. Murray and Lilli A. Bishop
American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 21 167-179

Approaches to the Treatment of Alexia in Chronic Aphasia (2002)
Laura L. Murray
Aphasiology, 16 (7), 727-743

Assessing the Executive Function Abilities of Adults with Neurogenic Communication Disorders (2000)
Laura L. Murray and Amy E. Ramage
Seminars in Speech and Language, 21 (2), 153-168

Assessment of Language Disorders in Adults (2001)
Laura L. Murray
Lippincott, Williams, & Wilkins. 4 55-126

Attention and Aphasia: Theory, Research and Clinical Implications (1999)
Laura L. Murray
Aphasiology, 13 91-112

Attention and other cognitive deficits in Aphasia: Presence and relation to language and communication measures (2012)
Laura L. Murray
American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 21 (2), S51-S64

Auditory Processing in Individuals With Mild Aphasia: A Study of Resource Allocation (1997)
Laura L. Murray, Audrey L. Holland and Pelagie M. Beeson
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 40 (4), 792-809

Bilingual aphasia: A theoretical and clinical review (2008)
B. Lorenzen and L. L. Murray
American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 17 1-19

Cognitive Distinctions Between Depression and Early Alzheimer's Disease in the Elderly (2002)
Laura L. Murray
Aphasiology, 16 (4-5), 573-586

Cognitive Treatments for Aphasia: Should We and Can We Help Attention and Working Memory Problems? (2004)
Laura Murray
Medical Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 12 (3), xxi-xxxviii

Direct and indirect treatment approaches for addressing short-term or working memory deficits in Aphasia (2012)
Laura L. Murray
Aphasiology, 26 (3-4), 317-337

Dissertation Committee Service

Author Dissertation Title Committee
Blackburn, Judith Reading Skills in Children Exposed to Domestic Violence (January 2006) Anderson, R. (Chair), Forrest, K., Holtzworth-Munroe, A., Murray, L.
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