Our areas of research interest include:

1. Refining reliable assessment methods to more sensitively measure communication difficulties after brain changes.
2. Utilizing adjuvants alongside best practice speech-language therapies to find more efficient means of recovery.
3. Optimizing the pairing of speech-language therapies with patient profiles.

While the majority of our research focuses on adults who have aphasia following a stroke, our findings may be applicable to individuals with communication impairments caused by traumatic brain injury, right hemisphere stroke and dementia.

We use an array of methods to address these research interests, and further our goal of improving quality of life for individuals with neurogenic communication disorders.  Dr. Dalton has almost a decade of experience in behavioral assessment and treatment as a speech-language pathologist.  She has also published or presented on investigations using MRI, EEG, fNIRS, and eye-tracking.     Dr. Dalton has conducted several investigations aimed at understanding the impact of brain stimulation (specifically transcranial direct current stimulation [tDCS]) on brain function and treatment outcomes in persons with aphasia and health controls.

The BRAIN Lab currently houses a 64-channel BrainVision actiCHamp+ EEG system, three conventional sponge tDCS devices, and a 4x1 high deffinition tDCS device.

Interested in Collaboration?

Collaborators are particularly sought across the health sciences, psychology, and counseling disciplines.  However, any collaborations that align with our research interest would be welcomed.  Interested in collaborating with the BRAIN Lab please contact Dr. Dalton (sarahgrace.dalton@marquette.edu).

How are students involved and can I get involved?

Graduate and undergraduate students are welcome in the BRAIN lab.  Students have the opportunity to contribute to all stages of research.  If interested in working or volunteering with the lab, or would like to complete a thesis, please email Dr. Dalton at brainlab@marquette.edu.