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Dr Rachel Holland

Lecturer in Language & Communication Science

School of Health Sciences Division of Language and Communication Science

Contact details

Address

Dr Rachel Holland M101, Myddelton Street Building
City, University of London
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
United Kingdom

About

Overview

Rachel is a cognitive neuroscientist specialising in acquired disorders of language who joined City University London in 2013. She previously worked at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, as a Career Development Fellow and the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, London as a senior postdoctoral research fellow.

Rachel studied at the University of Manchester where her degree and PhD were in Psychology. During her doctoral research she specialised in neurocognitive models of language processing and acquired disorders of language following stroke. During her PhD she used a complementary range of neuroimaging and neuropsychological techniques to explore verb processing in healthy and impaired speakers. Rachel then moved to work at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge to work with Professor Karalyn Patterson to explore the neural timings of verb processing using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Rachel's last position was as a senior research fellow at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience where her work focused on investigating the neural basis of language recovery and treatment of anomia after stroke.

Qualifications

BSc, MRes, PhD.

Teaching

Undergraduate modules

Modules taught as of September 2014:

• SL2002 - Biomedical Sciences (ear, nose and throat anatomy & neurology, module leader)
• SL3002 - Language Sciences (language processing models and brain and behaviour, module leader)

Postgraduate modules

Modules taught as of September 2014:

• SLM002 - Biomedical Sciences (ear, nose and throat anatomy & neurology, module leader)
• SLM008 - Language Sciences (language processing models and brain and behaviour, module leader)

Other teaching expertise

Neuroimaging techniques, research methods.

Research

Research Overview

The focus of Rachel's research is how language function is organised within the human brain and how it deteriorates following brain damage or disease. Her current research projects are focused on investigating the neural basis of language processes, language recovery and treatment of anomia after aphasic stroke using a combination of complementary neuroscience techniques including non-invasive brain stimulation, functional neuroimaging and neuropsychological investigation.

Research Areas

- Acquired disorders of language
- Neuroimaging
- Non-invasive brain stimulation
- Neurocognitive models of language

Research Centres

- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, London

Principal Collaborators

- Karalyn Patterson, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge UK
- Anna Woollams, NARU, University of Manchester, Manchester UK
- Jenny Crinion, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, London, UK
- Cathy Price, Wellcome Centre for Neuroimaging, London, UK
- Alex Leff, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, London, UK

Publications

Publications by category

Journal articles (13)

  1. Hope, T.M.H., Nardo, D., Holland, R., Ondobaka, S., Akkad, H., Price, C.J. … Crinion, J. (2021). Lesion site and therapy time predict responses to a therapy for anomia after stroke: a prognostic model development study. Scientific Reports, 11(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-021-97916-x.
  2. Cope, T.E., Shtyrov, Y., MacGregor, L.J., Holland, R., Pulvermüller, F., Rowe, J.B. … Patterson, K. (2020). Anterior temporal lobe is necessary for efficient lateralised processing of spoken word identity. Cortex, 126, pp. 107–118. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2019.12.025.
  3. Efstratiadou, E.-.A., Papathanasiou, I., Holland, R., Varlokosta, S. and Hilari, K. (2019). Efficacy of elaborated semantic features analysis in Aphasia: a quasi-randomised controlled trial. Aphasiology, 33(12), pp. 1482–1503. doi:10.1080/02687038.2019.1571558.
  4. Holland, R., Johns, S.L. and Woollams, A.M. (2018). The impact of phonological versus semantic repetition training on generalisation in chronic stroke aphasia reflects differences in dorsal pathway connectivity. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 28(4), pp. 548–567. doi:10.1080/09602011.2016.1190384.
  5. Efstratiadou, E.A., Papathanasiou, I., Holland, R., Archonti, A. and Hilari, K. (2018). A Systematic Review of Semantic Feature Analysis Therapy Studies for Aphasia. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 61(5), pp. 1261–1278. doi:10.1044/2018_jslhr-l-16-0330.
  6. Nardo, D., Holland, R., Leff, A.P., Price, C.J. and Crinion, J.T. (2017). Less is more: neural mechanisms underlying anomia treatment in chronic aphasic patients. Brain : a journal of neurology, 140(11), pp. 3039–3054. doi:10.1093/brain/awx234.
  7. Holland, R., Leff, A.P., Penny, W.D., Rothwell, J.C. and Crinion, J. (2016). Modulation of frontal effective connectivity during speech. NeuroImage, 140, pp. 126–133. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.01.037.
  8. Patterson, K. and Holland, R. (2014). Patients with impaired verb-tense processing: Do they know that yesterday is past? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 369(1634). doi:10.1098/rstb.2012.0402.
  9. Holland, R., Brindley, L., Shtyrov, Y., Pulvermüller, F. and Patterson, K. (2012). They played with the trade: MEG investigation of the processing of past tense verbs and their phonological twins. Neuropsychologia, 50(14), pp. 3713–3720. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.10.019.
  10. Holland, R., Brindley, L., Shtyrov, Y., Pulvermüller, F. and Patterson, K. (2012). They played with the trade: MEG investigation of the processing of past tense verbs and their phonological twins. Neuropsychologia, 50(14), pp. 3713–3720. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.10.019.
  11. Holland, R. and Crinion, J. (2012). Can tDCS enhance treatment of aphasia after stroke? APHASIOLOGY, 26(9), pp. 1169–1191. doi:10.1080/02687038.2011.616925.
  12. Holland, R., Leff, A.P., Josephs, O., Galea, J.M., Desikan, M., Price, C.J. … Crinion, J. (2011). Speech facilitation by left inferior frontal cortex stimulation. Curr Biol, 21(16), pp. 1403–1407. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2011.07.021.
  13. Holland, R. and Lambon Ralph, M.A. (2010). The anterior temporal lobe semantic hub is a part of the language neural network: selective disruption of irregular past tense verbs by rTMS. Cereb Cortex, 20(12), pp. 2771–2775. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhq020.

Professional activities

Events/conferences (5)

  1. Improving naming ability in patients with anomia post-stroke: An error reducing computer-based approach. (2012).
    Description: Platform talk at the British Aphasiology Society, (September 2012 meeting).
  2. Object naming during overt picture naming in healthy and anomic stroke patients. Annapolis, MD (2011).
    Description: Poster at the Neurobiology of Language meeting.
  3. Auditory phonemic priming of naming preferentially engages left inferior frontal cortex. Washington (2011).
    Description: Poster at Society for Neuroscience meeting.
  4. Left frontal anodal tDCS during spoken picture naming elicits neural and behavioral priming in Broca's area. (2011).
    Description: Platform talk at the British Neuropsychology Society, (March 2011 meeting).
  5. Localising facilitation during naming: Auditory priming of naming preferentially engages left inferior frontal cortex. Bressanone (2011).
    Description: Poster at the EWCN meeting.