Eleanor Saffran facts for kids
Eleanor M. Saffran (born May 16, 1938, died November 23, 2002) was an American brain scientist. She studied how the brain affects thinking and behavior, a field called Cognitive Neuropsychology. She became interested in this field while working at Johns Hopkins University hospitals. There, she studied patients who had brain problems that affected their language or thinking skills. From 1976 to 1982, Dr. Saffran wrote important papers explaining how to study cognitive neuropsychology. She looked at conditions like aphasia (trouble with language), alexia (difficulty reading after a brain injury), auditory verbal agnosia (trouble understanding spoken words), and problems with short-term memory.
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Her Work and Discoveries
In 1980, Dr. Saffran started working at Temple University in the Neurology Department. She created the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience there. She brought together a team of different experts, including brain doctors, psychologists (who study the mind), and speech-language pathologists (who help with speech and language).
Studying Brain Disorders
Under her guidance, this team used the cognitive neuropsychology approach to study brain disorders. They looked at problems with how people see, pay attention, and understand the meaning of words.
Working with Myrna Schwartz
Dr. Saffran also continued her long partnership with Myrna Schwartz from MossRehab. They had started working together in 1975. A cool part of their research was using ideas about language to help diagnose and treat language disorders. This method became very important and is still used today in studying aphasia.
Becoming a Leader in Her Field
As the field of cognitive neuropsychology grew, Dr. Saffran became known as one of its most important researchers. In 1989, she received the Claude Pepper Award of Excellence. This award was for her research on how language problems are linked to how our minds process language.
Teaching and Legacy
In 1991, Dr. Saffran became a professor at Temple University in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. She kept teaching her classes even when a health condition made it hard for her to speak and use her hands. After she passed away, Temple University honored her in 2003 with a Faculty Research Award for her amazing work.
Her Lasting Impact
Nadine Martin, a professor at Temple University, worked with Dr. Saffran starting in 1982. She later earned her Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology at Temple. Today, Professor Martin continues Dr. Saffran's work and helps new students learn. She is the Director of the Eleanor M. Saffran Center for Cognitive Neuroscience.
Dr. Saffran's daughter, Jenny Saffran, also became a researcher in cognitive science. She leads the Infant Learning Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
