Aneta Kielar, PhD

Associate Professor
Headshot of Aneta Kielar looking at camera
520-621-5105
akielar@arizona.edu

Courses:

  • SLHS 362: Neurobiology of Language
  • Cognitive Science 505

Overview

Aneta Kielar, PhD, is the director of the Language and Neuroimaging Research Laboratory. Her research explores neural correlates of language processing. She uses a combination of cognitive measures, structural and functional neuroimaging techniques (fMRI, EEG/ERPs, and MEG) to understand how neural dynamics are impacted by stroke, neurodegenerative disorders and aging. Dr. Kielar is interested in recovery of function, and treatment approaches involving speech-language therapy in combination with noni nvasive brain stimulation techniques, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).

Areas of Study:

  • Effect of stroke on semantic and syntactic aspects of language
  • Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) and the language system
  • Changes in cognitive and language processing associated with aging
  • Electrophysiological and structural indicators of cortical function and relationship to language ability
Peer-Reviewed Research Articles:
KEY: ºstudent mentee - italics: undergraduate student mentee, underlined: graduate student mentee, +equal author contributions; *work done as a graduate student
1.  +ºNickels, K.V., Beeson, & +Kielar A. (2025). Addressing Phonological Deficit in Primary Progressive Aphasia with Behavioral Intervention and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 68(5), 2348-2385, doi: 10.1044/2024_JSLHR-24-00250. Epub 2025 Apr 14, PMID: 40227131
2.  +ºJebahi, F., V. T. Lay., & +Kielar, A. (2024). Psycholinguistic Predictors of Naming Accuracy and Decline in Bilingual Logopenic Primary Progressive Aphasia: A Cross-Linguistic Case Study. Neurocase, 10.1080/13554794.2024.2436165, PMID: 39632498
3.  +ºJebahi, F., Nickels, K.V., & +Kielar, A. (2024). Patterns of Performance on the Animal Fluency Task in Logopenic Variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia: A Reflection of Phonological and Semantic Skills. Journal of Communication Disorders, 108, 106405, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2024.106405,  PMID: 38324949
4.  ºJebahi, F. & Kielar, A. (2024). The relationship between semantics, phonology, and naming performance in aphasia: A structural equation modeling approach. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 41(3-4), 113-128, doi: 10.1080/02643294.2024.2373842, PMID: 38970815
5.  +ºJebahi, F., ºNickels, K.V., & +Kielar, A. (2024). Predicting confrontation naming in the logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia. Aphasiology, 38(4), 635-666, https://doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2023.2221998
6.  +Shah-Basak, P., Boukrina, O., ºJebahi, F., & Li, C. +Kielar, A. (2023). Targeted neurorehabilitation strategies in post-stroke aphasia. Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, 41(3-4), 129-191. doi: 10.3233/RNN-231344, PMID: 37980575
7.  Kielar, A., Shah-Basak, P., Meyer, L., Fujioka, T., eds. (2023). Oscillatory brain activity as a marker of brain function and dysfunction in aging and in neurodegenerative disorders. Lausanne: Frontiers Media SA. doi: 10.3389/978-2-83251-790-1
8.  Kielar A., Shah-Basak, P., Meyer, L., Fujioka, T. (2023). Editorial: Oscillatory Brain Activity as a Marker of Brain Function and Dysfunction in Ageing and in Neurodegenerative Disorders. Front. Aging Neurosci. Sec. Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias, 15, doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2023.1153150, PMID: 36875698
9.  +ºNickels, K.V., Beeson, P.M., Rising, K.L, ºJebahi, F., & +Kielar A. (2023). Positive changes to written language following phonological treatment in logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia: Case report. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, Speech and Language, 16, 1006350, doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.1006350, PMID: 36760227
10.  Kielar, A, Patterson, D. K., & Chou, Y-H.  (2022). Efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in treating stroke aphasia: Systematic review and meta-analysis, Clinical Neurophysiology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2022.04.017, PMID: 35606322
11.  Kielar, A., Shah-Basak, P. P., Patterson, D. K., Jokel, R., & Meltzer, J. A. (2022). Electrophysiological abnormalities as indicators of early-stage pathology in Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA): A case study in semantic variant PPA. Neurocase, 1–13. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13554794.2022.203920
12.  Shah-Basak, P., Sivaratnam, G., Teti, S., Deschamps, T., Kielar, A., Jokel, R., & Meltzer, J. A. (2022). Electrophysiological connectivity markers of preserved language functions in post-stroke aphasia. NeuroImage. Clinical, 34, 103036. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103036, PMID: 35561556
13.  Kielar, A., Shah-Basak P., Deschamps, T., Jokel, R., & Meltzer, J. A. (2019). Slowing is slowing: Delayed neural responses to words are linked to abnormally slow resting state activity in Primary Progressive Aphasia. Neuropsychologia, 129:331-347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.04.007, PMID: 31029594
14.  Shah-Basak P., Kielar A., Deschamps T., Verhoeff, P., Jokel, R. J., & Meltzer J.A. (2018). Spontaneous oscillatory markers of cognitive status in two forms of dementia. Human Brain Mapping, 40:1594-1607. DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24470, PMID: 30421472
15.  Kielar, A., Deschamps, T., Jokel R., & Meltzer, J. A. (2018). Abnormal language-related oscillatory abnormalities in primary progressive aphasia. NeuroImage: Clinical, 18:560-574. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2018.02.028, PMID: 29845004