Shalom Henderson
Postdoctoral Associate
About
In my current role as postdoctoral associate, my goal is to build upon a conjoint PPA-PSA model to not only assess the differences between etiologies but also improve the understanding of the neurocognitive basis of language functions. One of my main projects is focused on utilizing computational simulations of bilingual language processing to (i) characterize how an adult bilingual language system can vary by any language combination and proficiency, and (ii) measure individual trajectory of change (recovery in PSA and decline in PPA) over time.
Research Interests
My research focuses on (i) understanding how word meaning is represented and accessed in the brain, particularly in the context of neurodegenerative conditions such as primary progressive aphasia, and (ii) developing novel, scalable, and neurobiologically informed assessment tools for aphasia research.
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Henderson, S. K., Murley, A., Cope, T. E., Bowns, L., Malpetti, M., Patterson, K. E., Rowe, J. B.† & Lambon Ralph, M. A.† (2025). Multidimensional cognitive deficits in the typical and atypical variants of Alzheimer’s disease. Alz Res Therapy, 17(1), 1-18.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-025-01873-w
Henderson, S. K., Halai, A., Tsvetanov, K. A., Cope, T. E., Patterson, K. E., Rowe, J. B.†, & Lambon Ralph, M. A.†(2025). Disentangling phonology from phonological short-term memory in Alzheimer’s disease phenotypes. Alz Res Therapy, 17(1), 206. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-025-01856-x
Ramanan, S., Akarca, D., Henderson, S. K., Rouse, M., Allinson, K., Patterson, K., Rowe, J., & Lambon Ralph M. A. (2025). Mapping the multidimensional geometric landscape of graded phenotypic variation and progression in neurodegenerative syndromes. Brain, 148(2), awae233. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awae233
Henderson, S. K., Ramanan, S., Rouse, M. A., Cope, T. E., Halai, A. D., Patterson, K. E., Rowe, J. B.†, & Lambon Ralph, M. A.† (2024). Impaired semantic control in the logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia. Brain Communications, 7(1), fcae463. https://doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcae463
Henderson, S. K., Ramanan, S., Patterson, K. E., Garrard, P., Patel, N., Peterson, K., Halai, A., Cappa, S.., Rowe, J. B.†, & Lambon Ralph, M. A.† (2024). Lexical markers of differentially disordered speech in progressive aphasias. Brain Communications, 6(6), fcae433. https://doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcae433
Henderson, S. K., Lambon Ralph, M. A., Jones, P. S., Naessens, M., Cope, T. E., Whiteside, D. J., Bouzigues, A., Russell, L. L., Foster, P. H., Ferry-Bolder, E., van Swieten, J., Jiskoot, L., Seelaar, H., Sanchez-Valle, R., Galimberti, D., Synofzik, M., Borroni, B., Rohrer, J. D., GENetic Frontotemporal dementia Initiative (GENFI), Rowe, J. B.† & Patterson, K. E†. (2024). Genetic semantic dementia? Twins’ data and review of autosomal dominant cases. [Under review]. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.10.18.24313757v1
Volkmer, A., […], Henderson, S. K., […], et al. (2024). An international core outcome set for primary progressive aphasia (COS-PPA): Consensus-based recommendations for communication interventions across research and clinical settings. Alzheimer’s Dement, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.14362
Touroutoglou, A.*, Katsumi, Y.*, Rezaii, N., Paranhos, T., Jones, A., Hochberg, D., Quimby, M., Henderson, S. K., Wong, B., Brickhouse, M., Camprodon, J. A., Dickerson, B. C.† & Eldaief, M. C.† (2024). Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation improves language and language network functional connectivity in a patient with logopenic primary progressive aphasia. Brain Stimulation: Basic, Translational, and Clinical Research in Neuromodulation, 17(6), 1213-1215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2024.10.022
Henderson, S. K.*, Peterson, K. A.*, Patterson, K., Lambon Ralph, M. A. †, & Rowe, J. B.† (2023). Verbal fluency tests assess global cognitive status but have limited diagnostic differentiation: Evidence from a large-scale examination of six neurodegenerative diseases. Brain Communications, 5(2), fcad042. https://doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcad042
Henderson, S. K., Dev, S. I., Ezzo, R., Quimby, M., Wong, B., Brickhouse, M., Hochberg, D., Touroutoglou, A., Dickerson, B. C., Cordella, C.†, & Collins, J.† (2021). A Category-Selective Semantic Memory Deficit for Animate Objects in Semantic Variant Primary Progressive Aphasia. Brain Communications, 3(4), fcab210. https://doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcab210
Kim, S. & Arbel, Y. (2019). Immediate and delayed auditory feedback in declarative learning: An examination of the feedback related event related potentials. Neuropsychologia, 129, 255-262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.04.001
* denotes co-first and † denotes co-last authorship
Conference Presentations
Henderson, S. K., Kelley, S., Tellioglu, B., Shivers, E., Blans, H., Lee, H., Jiang, X., Hu, N., Palombizio, A., Hagan, B., Berenbaum, J., Xie, K., Budson, A., Yucel, M., Boas, D., & Kiran, S. (2025, October). Characterizing neural signatures of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders using functional near infrared spectroscopy. Platform talk at the Academy of Aphasia Conference, San Diego, California.
Shivers, E., Russell-Meill, M., Henderson, S. K., Fernández-Romero, L., Sivakumar, D., Valiente, M., Matias-Guiu, J. & Kiran, S. (2025, October). Comparison of naming errors produced by individuals with post-stroke aphasia (PSA) and individuals with variants of primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Poster at the Academy of Aphasia Conference, San Diego, California.
Henderson, S. K., Kelley, S., Tellioglu, B., Shivers, E., Yucel, M., Boas, D., & Kiran, S. (2025, July). Characterizing neural signatures of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders using functional near infrared spectroscopy. Poster at the Neuroscience of the Everyday World Conference, Boston, Massachusetts.
Henderson, S. K., Halai, A., Tsvetanov, K. A., Cope, T. E., Patterson, K. E., Rowe, J. B.†, & Lambon Ralph, M.A.† (2025, July). Disentangling phonology from phonological short-term memory in the logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia and typical, amnestic Alzheimer’s disease. Poster at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, Toronto, Canada.
Henderson, S. K., Murley, A. G., Cope, T. E., Bowns, L., Malpetti, M., Patterson, K. E., Rowe, J. B.†, & Lambon Ralph, M.A.† (2025, July). Multidimensional cognitive deficits in the typical and atypical variants of Alzheimer’s disease. Poster at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, Toronto, Canada.
Henderson, S. K., Rowe, J. B.†, & Lambon Ralph, M.A.† (2025, May). Multidimensional cognitive deficits in the aphasic and amnestic variants of Alzheimer’s disease. Poster at the Clinical Aphasiology Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Henderson, S. K., […], Rowe, J. B.†, & Patterson, K. E.† (2024, September). Genetics of Semantic Dementia: New data from twins and a review of genetics cases. Poster at the 2024 International Society for Frontotemporal Dementias, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Henderson, S. K., Lambon Ralph, M. A. & Rowe, J. B. (2024, April). Multidimensional cognitive profiles of the logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia and Alzheimer’s disease. Talk presented at the 2024 British Neuropsychological Society Spring Meeting, Queen Square, London, UK.
Henderson, S. K. (2024, April). Cognition in typical and atypical Alzheimer’s disease. Data-blitz talk presented at Clinical Academic Trainees Annual Symposium, Selwyn College, Cambridge, UK.
Henderson, S. K., Ramanan, S., Patterson, K. E., Garrard, P., Patel, N., Peterson, K. A., Halai, A., Cappa, S. F., Rowe, J. B. & Lambon Ralph, M. A. (2024, March). Lexical markers of disordered connected speech in primary progressive aphasia and ‘Parkinson-plus’ disorders. Poster at the 2024 Brain Conference, Royal Geographical Society, London, UK.
Henderson, S. K. (2024, March). A case-series comparison of semantic control in the logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia and Alzheimer’s disease. Talk presented at the 2024 Clareity Symposium, Clare College, Cambridge, UK.
Henderson, S. K., Ramanan, S., Patterson, K., Peterson, K., Rowe, J. B. & Lambon Ralph, M. A. (2023, October). Can a 15-word picture description checklist differentiate various subtypes of Primary Progressive Aphasia and Parkinson-plus disorders? Poster presented at the Society for Neurobiology of Language 2023, Marseille, France.
Henderson, S. K. (2023, September). Can a 15-word checklist for a picture description task differentiate Primary Progressive Aphasia and Parkinson-plus disorders? Oral poster (short talk platform) presented at the British Aphasiology Conference 2023, London, UK.
Henderson, S. K., Rowe, J. B. & Lambon Ralph, M. A. (2023, July). A case-series comparison of semantic control in the logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia and Alzheimer’s disease. Poster presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2023, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Henderson, S. K., Rowe, J. B. & Lambon Ralph, M. A. (2022, November). A case-series comparison of semantic control in the logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia and Alzheimer’s disease. Talk and poster presented at the British Neuropsychological Society Autumn meeting as a Humphreys and Riddoch Prize winner, London, UK.
Henderson, S. K., Peterson, K. A., Patterson, K., Lambon Ralph, M. A. & Rowe, J. B. (2022, November). Verbal fluency as a “cognitive ESR”: deficits in frontotemporal dementia and related disorders. Poster presented at the International Society for Frontotemporal Dementias, Lille, Paris. Henderson, S. K., Rowe, J. B. & Lambon Ralph, M. A. (2021, November). Structured speech in primary progressive aphasia, progressive supranuclear palsy, and corticobasal syndrome. One-hour oral seminar presented at the American Speech and Hearing Association 2021 Convention, Washington, DC.
Henderson, S. K., Dev, S. I., Ezzo, R., Quimby, M., Wong, B., Dickerson, B. C., Cordella, C., & Collins, J. (2021, May). Category-selective semantic deficit for animate objects in semantic variant primary progressive aphasia. Poster accepted at the Clinical Aphasiology Conference 2020 but presented at Clinical Aphasiology Conference 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Virtual.
Henderson, S. K., Dev, S. I., Ezzo, R., Quimby, M., Wong, B., Dickerson, B. C., Cordella, C., & Collins, J. (2020, November). Category-selective semantic deficit for animate objects in semantic variant primary progressive aphasia. Poster presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2020, Virtual.
Gallée, J., Collison, J., Cordella, C., Ezzo, R., Henderson, S. K., Dickerson, B., & Quimby, M. (2019, July). Quantifying the Differentiated Trajectory of the Wernicke’s-like Presentation of Logopenic Variant Primary Progressive Aphasia (lvPPA). Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Aphasia, Hong Kong.
Brickhouse, M., Flaherty, R., Getchell, K., Krahn, E., Delp, T., O’Chander, R., Krivensky, S., Zaitsv, A., Brand, K., Kim, S., Cordella, C., Dev, S., Touroutoglou, A., Putcha, D., Wong, B., Quimby, M., Hochberg, D., Eldaief, M. C., McGinnis, S. M., Frosch, M. P., Collins, J. A., & Dickerson, B. C. (2019, July). MRI-derived cortical atrophy patterns as probabilistic predictors of specific neurodegenerative pathologist. Poster presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2019, Los Angeles, CA.
Kim, S. & Arbel, Y. (2018, November). An electrophysiological examination of feedback-based declarative learning with immediate and delayed auditory feedback. ePoster session presented at the American Speech and Hearing Association 2018 Convention, Boston, MA.
Kim, S. & Arbel, Y. (2018, November). An electrophysiological examination of feedback-based learning in monolinguals and bilinguals. Technical session presented at the American Speech and Hearing Association 2018 Convention, Boston, MA.
Invited Talks / Lectures / Podcasts
Invited talk at ON-FIRE Conversation Series/Webinar (2026, January). Talk title: “An introduction to primary progressive aphasia (PPA).” (virtual)
Invited ‘Year in Review’ talk at Alzheimer’s Association ISTAART: Frontotemporal Dementia PIA (2026, January). Talk title: “Highlights in FTD Research (2025) A Year in Review.” (virtual)
Invited lecture at the Cambridge Neuroscience Seminar MPhil in Basic and Translational Neuroscience (2025, November). Talk title: “Understanding Alzheimer’s disease through language and cognition: A transdiagnostic and neuroimaging perspective.” Theme: The Social Brain. (virtual)
Dementia researcher podcast (2025, February). Topic: “Primary Progressive Aphasia: Keeping Connections Alive”. Link to podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/primary-progressive-aphasia-keeping-connections-alive/id1350258595?i=1000692466404
Invited talk at the Early-Career BIPOC Scholar Seminar Series at the Ohio State University (2024, December). Topic: “Transdiagnostic approach to language and cognition in dementia”. (virtual) Dementia researcher podcast (2024, December). Topic: “Viva La Success: Acing Your Thesis Defence”. Link to podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/viva-la-success-acing-your-phd-thesis-defence/id1350258595?i=1000684476551
Invited talk at the Cambridge Neuroscience Seminar MPhil in Basic and Translational Neuroscience (2024, November). Talk title: “Language and cognition in primary progressive aphasia and ‘Parkinson-plus’ disorders”. Theme: The Social Brain. (Physiology Building, Downing College, University of Cambridge, UK; in-person)
Invited symposium presenter at Global Neuropsychology Congress (2024, July). Talk tile: “Multidimensional cognitive profiles of the logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia and Alzheimer’s disease”. (The Super Bock Arena, Porto, Portugal)
Invited lab meeting talk at the Center for Brain Recovery (2024, January). Talk title: “Language in primary progressive aphasia”. (Boston University, Boston, MA, USA; virtual) Invited talk at the Cambridge Neuroscience Seminar MPhil in Basic and Translational Neuroscience (2023, October). Talk title: “Language in dementias”. Theme: The Social Brain. (Physiology Building, Downing College, University of Cambridge, UK; in-person)
Invited talk at the MLSE Workshop (2023, October). Talk title: “Language change in Corticobasal syndrome”. (St George’s Hospital, London, UK; in-person)
Invited talk at the 33rd Cambridge Neuroscience Seminar (2023, September). Talk title: “Language, brain and disorder – a search for simplicity”. (Robinson College, University of Cambridge, UK; in-person)
Guest lecture at Indiana University (2023, February). Lecture title: “Therapeutic Approaches to Primary Progressive Aphasia”. S537 – Aphasia, Spring 2023. (Undergraduate course; online)
Guest lecture at Indiana University (2022, February). Lecture title: “Therapeutic Approaches to Primary Progressive Aphasia”. S537 – Aphasia, Spring 2022. (Undergraduate course; online)
Guest lecture at Indiana University (2021, December). Lecture title: “Connecting the nervous system to neurodegenerative diseases”. S501 – Neurological and Physiological Foundations of Speech-Language Pathology, Fall 2021. (Undergraduate course; online)
Dementia researcher podcast (2021, March). Topic: “Logopenic Progressive Aphasia and its characterization”. Link to podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/logopenic-progressive-aphasia-and-its-characterisation/id1350258595?i=1000513029962
Guest lecture at the MGH Institute of Health Professions (2019, June). Lecture title: “Therapeutic approaches to PPA”. CD857 – Adult Neurodegenerative Syndromes Affecting Language and Cognition, Summer 2021. (Graduate course; in-person)
Outreach and Community Engagement
Outreach and Community Engagement: Rare Dementia Support primary progressive aphasia (PPA) regional support group (2024, April). Support group discussion topic: Heterogeneity in PPA.
Clare college subject discovery workshops: medicine and society (2024, March). Workshop title: The role of speech language therapists in dementia care and research. https://www.clare.cam.ac.uk/subject-discovery-workshops-medicine-society
Gates Cambridge Teachathon (2022, March – April). Co-organiser. https://www.gatescambridge.org/about/news/gates-cambridge-scholars-stage-second-teach-a-thon/
Gates Cambridge Teachathon (2021, February). Co-organiser and session on semantic cognition. https://www.gatescambridge.org/about/news/scholars-launch-first-teach-a-thon/
Professional Activities
2019 – PRESENT Reviewer of various scientific journals
2020 – 2021 External Community Officer for the Gates Scholars Council
2019 – 2020 Vice President of Administration, Massachusetts Speech-Language Hearing Association (MSHA)
Academic Honors
SCHOLARSHIPS
Gates Cambridge Scholarship (full funding and stipend for PhD) 2020 – 2024
Christopher Norman Educational Fund (funding for Master’s thesis project) 2016 – 2018
SELECTED AWARDS
2025 Nov Research Mentoring-Pair Travel Award: Awarded by the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) supporting the Research Symposium at ASHA Convention (Mentor: Dr. Maya Henry)
2025 Oct NIDCD-Sponsored Mentoring Award: Awarded by the NIDCD supporting the Academy of Aphasia conference in San Diego, California
2025 May NIDCD Research Symposium Clinical Aphasiology Fellowship: Awarded by the NIDCD supporting the Research Symposium in Clinical Aphasiology (Mentor: Dr. Rene Utianski)
2024 April Clinical PhD Prize: Awarded by the Clinical Academic Trainees’ Annual Symposium at Selwyn College, Cambridge University
2023 Sept Rising Research Star Prize: Awarded by the British Aphasiology Society International Conference in Queens Square, London
2023 July Best Student Poster: Awarded by the atypical Alzheimer’s disease Professional Interest Area committee at Alzheimer’s Association International Conference
2022 Nov Humphreys and Riddoch Prize: Awarded by the British Neuropsychological Society in honor of Professors Glyn Humphreys and Jane Riddoch in Queens Square, London
2018 May Kenneth N. Stevens Student Research Award: Awarded by the MGH Institute of Health Professions in honor of Professor Kenneth N. Stevens at the graduation ceremony
Twitter: @HendersonShalom