Find a Health Care Professional / Researcher

Jennifer J. Vannest, PhD

Appointment

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

Email

jennifer.vannest@cchmc.org

Phone

513-636-6959

Bio

An Ohio native, Dr. Vannest completed her undergraduate education at the Ohio State University and continued there for her graduate work. Her PhD is in Linguistics, and in addition, her graduate training included a number of courses in Cognitive Psychology, Neuropsychology and Speech and Hearing Sciences. As a postdoctoral fellow at University of Michigan and University of Rochester, Dr. Vannest was trained to use functional MRI to study the brain mechanisms underlying language skill.

Dr. Vannest came to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in 2006, and her current research makes use of functional MRI to examine how epilepsy and neurodevelopmental disorders affect language function, ultimately leading to better treatment and educational strategies for children with these disorders.

Credentials

PhD: Ohio State University, Linguistics.

Postdoctoral Training: University of Michigan (Psychology), University of Rochester (Brain and Cognitive Sciences).

Research

Language is one of the most complex abilities that humans possess: it involves the production and comprehension of a very specific set of sounds, the recognition and memorization of thousands of words and the ability to use and comprehend these words in a particular pattern that conveys meaning. My research interests lie in investigating the brain mechanisms that underlie humans' ability to learn and use language.

Specifically, I am interested in how particular language functions, such as speech perception, understanding words, and comprehending prosody depend on specified brain networks. Neurological disorders may change these brain networks, but how do these changes relate to changes in language skill? What differences are observed in individuals of different ages with varying severity of language impairments and different courses of recovery? Understanding how language function develops and changes in the brain may be able to help our therapies for these individuals.

Research Grants and Contracts

Jerome Lejeune Foundation: The neural basis of language in neurodevelopmental disorders, June 2007, Principal Investigator.

Publications, Most Recent

Holland S.K, Vannest, J., Jacola, L. M., Tillema, J-M., Karunanayaka, P. R., Schmithorst, V. J., Yuan, W., Plante, E., and Byars, A.W. (2007) “Functional MRI of Language Lateralization During Development in Children.”International Journal of Audiology 46, 533-551.

Vannest, J., Szaflarski, J. P., Privitera, M. D., Schefft, B. K., & Holland, S. K. (2008). Medial temporal fMRI activation reflects memory lateralization and memory performance in patients with epilepsy.Epilepsy Behav, 12(3), 410-418.

Liu, Y., Xiang, J., Wang, Y., Vannest, J. J., Byars, A. W., & Rose, D. F. (2008). Spatial and frequency differences of neuromagnetic activities in processing concrete and abstract words.Brain Topogr, 20(3), 123-129.

Wang, Y., Xiang, J., Kotecha, R., Vannest, J., Liu, Y., Rose, D., et al. (2008). Spatial and Frequency Differences of Neuromagnetic Activities Between the Perception of Open- and Closed-class Words.Brain Topogr. 21 (2) 75-85.

Vannest, J., Karunanayaka, P., Altaye, M., Schmithorst VJ., Plante, EM., Eaton , K., Rasmussen, J., and Holland, SK. (in press). Comparison of fMRI data from passive listening and active-response story processing tasks in children.J. Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Vannest, J., Karunanayaka, P. R., Schmithorst, V. J., Szaflarski, J. P., Holland S.K. (in press). Language networks in children: Evidence from functional MRI studies. American Journal of Roentgenology.

Presentations, Most Recent

Vannest J., Rasmussen, J., Szaflarski, JP., Szalewski, K., Schmithorst V. J., and Holland S.K. (2008). The Neural Basis of Left-Lateralized and Bilateral Language Function in Children and Young Adults. Presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, Chicago, IL.

Chapman L., Rasmussen, J., Szalewski, K., Vannest J., and Szaflarski, J.P., (2008). Memory Encoding Lateralization in Healthy Children and Adolescents. Presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, Chicago, IL.

Szalewski, K., Jacola, L.M., Rasmussen, J., Schapiro.M. B. and Vannest J., (2008). The Neural Basis of Language Processing in Persons with Down Syndrome. Presented at the annual meeting of The Society for Neuroscience, Washington DC.

Rasmussen, J., Vannest J., Schmithorst V. J., Karunanayaka P. R., Byars, A. W. and Holland S.K. (2008). Neural Activity in Language Areas Reflects Verb Generation Performance in Children. Presented at the annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, CA.

Vannest J., Holland S.K., Privitera M.D., Schefft B.K., and Szaflarski J.P. (2007) fMRI activation in medial temporal areas reflects memory lateralization and memory performance in epilepsy patients. Presented at the annual meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Chicago, IL.

Vannest J., Karunanayaka P. R., Altaye M., Schmithorst V. J., Plante E., Eaton, K. and Holland S.K. (2007). Comparison between event-related and block-periodic fMRI data from a story processing task in children. Presented at the annual meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping,Chicago, IL.

Wang Y., Xiang J., Liu Y., Vannest J., Rose D., DeGrauw, T. (2007) Neuromagnetic differences in processing of open- and closed-class words in the brain: A magnetoencephalographic study. Presented at the annual meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Chicago, IL.