Contact

dronkers@ucdavis.edu

Education

  • Ph.D., Neuropsychology 1985
    University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
  • M.A., Educational Psychology 1978
    University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
  • A.B., Linguistics 1976
    University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

Appointments

  • Adjunct Professor, Departments of Neurology and Linguistics, University of California, Davis

People

Nina Dronkers

Nina F. Dronkers, PhD.

Director, Center for Aphasia & Related Disorders

Publications

  • Dronkers, N.F. & Baldo, J.V. Broca's area. In P. Hogan (Ed.), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Language Sciences, in press.

  • Dronkers, N.F. & Baldo, J.V. Language: Aphasia, In L.R. Squire (Ed.) The New Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Oxford: Elsevier, in press.

  • Amici, S., Wilkins, D., Ogar, J., Dronkers, N.F., Miller, B.L., Brambati, S.M., & Gorno-Tempini, M.L. Neural correlates of sentence comprehension and working memory in neurodegenerative disease, Journal of Neuroscience, in press.

  • Dronkers, N.F. & Ogar, J. Aphasia. In P. Hogan (Ed.), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Language Sciences, in press.

  • Amici, S., Ogar, J., Brambati, S.M., Miller, B.L., Dronkers, N., Gorno-Tempini, M.L. Performance in specific language tasks correlates with regional volume changes in progressive aphasia. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, in press.

  • Dronkers, N.F., Plaisant, O., Iba-Zizen, M.T. & Cabanis, E.A. Paul Broca's historic cases: High resolution MR imaging of the brains of Leborgne and Lelong. Brain, 2007, 130, 1432-1441.

  • Baldo, J., & Dronkers, N. Neural correlates of arithmetic and language comprehension: a common substrate? Neuropsychologia, 2007, 45, 229-235.

  • Borovsky, A., Saygin, A.P., Bates E. & Dronkers, N.F. Lesion correlations of conversational speech production deficits, Neuropsychologia, 2007, 45(11), 2525-2533.

  • Arevalo, A. L., Perani, D., Cappa, S.F., Butler, A., Bates, E., Dronkers, N.F. Action and object processing in aphasia: from nouns and verbs to the effect of manipulability. Brain and Language, 2007, 100(1), 79-94.

  • Amici, S., Gorno-Tempini, M.L., Ogar, J.M., Dronkers, N.F., Miller, B.L. An overview on primary progressive aphasia and its variants. Behavioral Neurology, 2006; 17, 77-87.

  • Amici, S., Gorno-Tempini, M.L., Ogar, J.M., Dronkers, N., Miller, B.L. Language and dementia: the "case" of Primary Progressive Aphasia. Behavioural Neurology, 2006; 17(2): 77-87.

  • Rosen, H.J., Allison, S.C., Ogar, J.M., Amici, S., Rose, K., Dronkers, N.F., Miller, B.L., & Gorno-Tempini, M.L. Behavioral features in semantic dementia vs other forms of progressive aphasias. Neurology, 2006, 67, 1752-1756.

  • Brambati, S.M., Meyers, D.M., Ogar, J.M., Dronkers, N., Miller, B.L., Gorno-Tempini, M.L. The anatomy of category-specific object naming in neurodegenerative diseases. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2006 Oct;18(10):1644-53.

  • Baldo, J., Schwartz, S., Wilkins, D., & Dronkers, N. Role of frontal versus temporal cortex in verbal fluency as revealed by voxel-based lesion symptom mapping. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 2006, 12, 896-900.

  • Gorno-Tempini, M. L., Ogar, J., Brambati, S. M., Wang, P., Jeong, J. H., Rankin, K. P., Dronkers, N.F., and Miller, B.L. Anatomical correlates of early mutism in progressive nonfluent aphasia. Neurology, 2006; 67:1849-1851.

  • Ogar, J., Willock, S., Baldo, J., Wilkins, D., Ludy, C., & Dronkers, N. Clinical and anatomical correlates of apraxia of speech and language. Brain and Language, 2006 97(3), pp 343-350.

  • Baldo, J., & Dronkers, N. The role of inferior parietal and inferior frontal cortex in working memory. Neuropsychology, 2006, 20, 529-538.

  • Ogar, J., Slama, H., Dronkers, N., Amici, S., Gorno-Tempini, M. Apraxia of speech: An overview. Neurocase, 2005, 11(6), 427-431.

  • Moineau, S., Dronkers, N.F. & Bates., E.A. Exploring the processing continuum of single word comprehension in aphasia. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 2005, 48(4), 884-896.

  • Dick, F., Dronkers, N., Pizzamiglio, L., Saygin, A.P., Small, S.L., & Wilson, S. Language and the Brain. In M. Tomasello & D.I. Slobin, (Eds.) Beyond Nature-Nurture: Essays in honor of Elizabeth Bates. New Jersey: Erlbaum, 2005, pgs. 237-260.

  • Baldo, J.V., Dronkers, N.F., Wilkins, D.P., Ludy, C., Raskin, P., & Kim, J. Is problem solving dependent on language? Brain and Language, 2005, 92, 240-250.

  • Dronkers, N.F., Wilkins, D., Van Valin, Redfern, B., & Jaeger, J. (2004). Lesion Analysis of the Brain Areas Involved in Language Comprehension. Cognition, 92, 145-177.

  • Gorno-Tempini, M.L., Dronkers, N.F., Rankin, K.P., Ogar, J.M., Phenegrasamy, L., Rosen, H.J., Johnson, J.K., Weiner, M.W., Miller, B.L. (2004). Cognition and Anatomy in Three Variants of Primary Progressive Aphasia. Annals of Neurology, 55(3), 335-346.

  • Bates, E., Wilson, S., Saygin, A., Dick, F., Sereno, M., Knight, R. T., & Dronkers, N. F. (2003). Voxel-based Lesion Symptom Mapping. Neuroscience, 6, 448-450.

  • Saygin, A.P., Dick, F., Wilson, S., Dronkers, N.F. & Bates, E. (2003). Neural Resources for Processing Language and Environmental Sounds: Evidence from Aphasia. Brain, 126(4), 928-945.

  • Watkins, K.E., Dronkers, N.F., Vargha-Khadem, F. (2002). Behavioral analysis of an inherited speech and language disorder: comparison with acquired aphasia. Brain, 125(3), 452-464.

  • Walker-Batson, D., Curtis, S., Natarajan, R., Ford, J., Dronkers, N.F., Salmeron, E., Lai, J. & Unwin, D.H. (2001). A double-blind placebo-controlled study of the use of amphetamine in the treatment of aphasia. Stroke, 32(9), 2093-2098.

  • Dronkers, N.F. & Larsen, J.L. (2001). Neuroanatomy of the classical syndromes of aphasia. In Boller, F. & Grafman, J. (Eds.) Handbook of Neuropsychology, 2nd edition, New York: Elsevier Science, 19-30.

  • Dick, F., Bates, E., Wulfeck, B., Utman, J., Dronkers, N.F., & Gernsbacher, M. (2001). Language deficits, localization and grammar: Evidence for a distributive model of language breakdown in aphasics and normals. Psychological Review, 108(4), 759-788.

  • Bates, E., Reilly, J., Wulfeck, B., Dronkers, N.F., Opie, M., Fenson, J., Kriz, S., Jeffries, R., Miller, L., & Herbst, K. (2001). Differential effects of unilateral lesions on language production in children and adults. Brain and Language, 79, 223-265.

  • Dronkers, N.F. (2000). The gratuitous relationship between Broca's aphasia and Broca's area. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 30-31.

  • Dronkers, N.F., Pinker, S. & Damasio, A. (2000). Language and the aphasias. In Kandel, E.R., Schwartz, J. & Jessell, T. (Eds.), Principles in Neural Science, 4th edition, New York: McGraw-Hill, pgs.1169-1187.

  • Dronkers, N.F., Redfern, B.B. & Knight, R.T. (2000). The neural architecture of language disorders. In M.S. Gazzaniga (Ed.), The New Cognitive Neurosciences, Cambridge: The MIT Press, pgs. 949-958.

  • Dronkers, N.F. (2000). The pursuit of brain-language relationships. Brain and Language, 71(1):59-61.

  • Dronkers, N.F., Husted, D.A., Deutsch, G., Taylor, M.K., Saunders, G. & Merzenich, M.M. (1999). Lesion site as a predictor of improvement after Fast ForWord treatment in adult aphasic patients. Brain and Language, 69(3):450-452.

  • Baldo, J. & Dronkers, N.F. (1999). Verbal and non-verbal short-term memory in patients with conduction aphasia and prefrontal cortex lesions. Brain and Language, 69(3), 475-478.

  • Dronkers, N.F., Ludy, C.A. & Redfern, B.B. (1998). Pragmatics in the absence of verbal language: Descriptions of a severe aphasic and a linguistically feral adult. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 11:179-190.

  • Dronkers, N.F., Redfern, B.B. & Ludy, C.A. (1998). Brain regions associated with conduction aphasia and echoic rehearsal. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 4:23-24.

  • Dronkers, N.F. (1996). A new brain region for speech: The insula and articulatory planning. Nature, 384:159-161.

  • Dronkers, N.F., Redfern B.B. & Ludy, C.A. (1995). Lesion localization in chronic Wernicke's aphasia. Brain and Language, 51(1):62-65.

  • Dronkers, N.F. & Redfern, B.B. (1995). Cerebral localization of naming deficits in aphasia. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 1(4):361.

  • Dronkers, N.F., Wilkins, D.P., Van Valin, R.D. Jr., Redfern, B.B. & Jaeger, J.J. (1994). A reconsideration of the brain areas involved in the disruption of morphosyntactic comprehension. Brain and Language, 47(3), 461-463.

  • Dronkers, N.F., Redfern, B. & Shapiro, J.K. (1993). Neuroanatomic correlates of production deficits in severe Broca's aphasia. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 15(1), 59-60.

  • Henik, A., Dronkers, N.F., Knight, R.T. & Osimani, A. (1993). Differential effects of semantic and identity priming in patients with left and right hemisphere lesions. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 5(1), 45-55.

  • Wertz, R.T., Dronkers, N.F., Bernstein-Ellis, E.G., Sterling, L.R., Shubitowski, Y., Elman, R.J., Shenaut, G.K., Knight, R.T. & Deal, J.L. (1992). The potential of telephonic and television technology for appraising and diagnosing neurogenic communication disorders in remote settings. Aphasiology, 6:195-202.

  • Dronkers, N.F., Shapiro, J.K., Redfern, B. & Knight, R.T. (1992). The role of Broca's area in Broca's aphasia. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 14(1):52-53.

  • Dronkers, N.F., Elman, R.J., Shapiro, J.K. & Wertz, R.T. (1991). Phonologic priming in aphasic patients. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 13(1):47.

  • Dronkers, N.F., Elman, R.J. & Wertz, R.T. (1990). Semantic picture-priming in aphasic patients. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 12(1):80.

  • Wertz, R.T., Dronkers, N.F., Shenaut, G.K. & Knight R.T. (1990). Neurogenic communication disorders in remote settings. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 28(1):364-365.

  • Dronkers, N.F. & Knight, R.F. (1989). Right-sided neglect in a left-hander: Evidence for reversed hemispheric specialization for attention capacity. Neuropsychologia, 27(5):729-736.

  • Dronkers, N.F., Wertz, R.T. & McAleese, P.M. (1988). A comparison of aphasia and crossed aphasia. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 10(1):27.

  • Dronkers, N.F., Shubitowski, Y. & Ober, B.A. (1987). Retrieval from semantic memory in aphasia. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 9:43.

  • Hardyck, C., Dronkers, N.F., Chiarello, C. & Simpson, G. (1987). On preaching the commandments of proper research: A rejoinder. Brain and Cognition, 6:238-242.

  • Friedland, R.P., Jagust, W.J., Ober, B.A., Dronkers, N.F., Koss, E., Simpson, G.V., Ellis, W.G. & Budinger, T.F. (1986). The pathophysiology of Pick's disease: A comprehensive case study. Neurology, 36 (Suppl. 1), 268-269.

  • Ober, B.A., Dronkers, N.F., Friedland, R.F., Koss, B. & Delis, D. (1986). Access of semantic knowledge in Alzheimer-type dementia. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 8(1):75-92.

  • Hardyck, C., Dronkers, N.F., Chiarello, C. & Simpson, G. (1985). The 'eyes' have it: Exposure times and saccadic movements in visual half-field experiments. Brain and Cognition, 4(4):430-439.

  • Hardyck, C., Chiarello, C., Dronkers, N.F. & Simpson, G.V. (1985). Orienting attention within visual fields: The limits of interhemispheric transfer. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 11(5):650-666.

  • Chiarello, C., Dronkers, N.F. & Hardyck, C. (1984). Choosing sides: Some questions concerning the apparent instability of language lateralization in normal populations. Neuropsychologia, 22(3):363-373.