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Brain Friends
Brain Friends: The Podcast is a global space for stroke, science, and equity. Hosted by Angie Cauthorn — two-time stroke survivor and unapologetic aphasia advocate — this show unpacks the cognitive, behavioral and communication disorders that follow stroke, and the systems that shape recovery.
This podcast began with my friend and co-host, Dr. D. Seles Gadson — a brilliant neuroscientist, speech-language pathologist, and fearless champion for equity in healthcare. Her work focused on health disparities in aphasia care, particularly within the Black community, and she believed deeply in making science accessible for all. I carry her legacy forward in every conversation.
There are no survivor interviews here. Instead, we focus on the research, the roadblocks, and the real work of making neurorehabilitation more equitable, inclusive, and understood — especially for people with aphasia.
Our listeners span over 80 countries and include speech-language pathology professionals, researchers, and people with aphasia who want more than inspiration — they want information that matters.
If you're here to rethink recovery, reimagine access, and stay grounded in the science — you're in the right place.
Welcome to Brain Friends.
Brain Friends
Aphasia Recovery Tips from Professional Athletes: Performance, Mindset, and Rehab
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
What do stroke survivors with aphasia and elite professional athletes have in common? More than you think. Angie Cauthorn and Dr. Seles apply five performance principles from professional sports ,training consistency, mental resilience, rest and recovery, nutrition, and coaching directly to aphasia rehabilitation after stroke. The result is a practical, evidence-informed framework for survivors who want to approach recovery with the same intention a professional athlete brings to their training. For PWA, care partners, and SLPs looking for new ways to motivate long-term rehabilitation engagement , this episode reframes what recovery can look like.
https://aphasiaadvocates.com/ for Brain Friends Merch
https://aphasia.org/event/ask-the-expert-february-2026/
https://www.cognitiverecoverylab.com/seles
https://aphasia.org/stories/announcing-the-davetrina-seles-gadson-health-equity-grant-program/
Our beloved colleague, Dr. Davetrina Seles Gadson, passed away January 11, 2025. Dr. Gadson was an extraordinary speech-language pathologist and neuroscience researcher who devoted her energy to studying health disparities in aphasia recovery. She was a fierce advocate for improving services for individuals with aphasia, particularly Black Americans. Her research transformed our understanding of these health disparities and shed light on how we can address them. We were privileged to have Dr. Gadson as a cherished member of our lab community for four years, first as a postdoctoral fellow and then as an Instructor of Rehabilitation Medicine. She was still a close collaborator and friend to many of us at the time of her passing. Dr. Gadson was an incredible person—compassionate, inspiring, and full of life. Her dedication to advancing equity in aphasia recovery and her profound impact on our community will never be forgott...
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