.jpg)
Brain Friends
Brain Friends: The Podcast is a survivor-led show about stroke, brain health, aphasia, recovery, and health equity.
Hosted by Angie Cauthorn, a two-time stroke survivor and aphasia advocate, Brain Friends takes complicated medical and research topics and turns them into everyday clarity. The show is for survivors, care partners, families, clinicians, researchers, and anyone trying to understand what life after stroke can really look like.
Brain Friends began with me and my friend and co-host, Dr. D. Seles Gadson, a neuroscientist, speech-language pathologist, and champion for equity in aphasia care. Dr. Seles’s work focused on health disparities, representation, and making science useful for real communities. Her voice still opens and closes every episode, and her legacy remains part of the show’s foundation.
Since launching in June 2022, Brain Friends has reached listeners in more than 100 countries, with conversations that center stroke recovery, aphasia, cognition, communication, prevention, brain health, and the real-life “now what?” after a neurological event.
Regular segments include:
The Breakdown: Clear explanations of stroke, aphasia, brain health, research, and recovery topics.
Smart Cookie: The thoughtful question Angie asks guests about brain health, recovery, equity, or what they wish more people understood.
OTC with the Commish: “On The Clock” style recovery talk, where Angie uses football draft energy to break down the moves, tools, and first-round picks that matter.
The Check-In: Short, honest reflections on life after stroke, recovery, advocacy, and what comes next.
Brain Friends is not here to give medical advice or empty inspiration. It is here to make the science clearer, the recovery road less lonely, and the next step easier to see.
Welcome to Brain Friends.
Brain Friends
When Language Declines Slowly: Understanding Primary Progressive Aphasia
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Primary progressive aphasia is not the same as stroke-related aphasia, and the difference matters for diagnosis, treatment, and family planning. In this episode, Dr. Davetrina Seles Gadson breaks down the complexities of PPA, how it differs from other aphasia types, and why frontotemporal dementia is often part of the conversation. Angie Cauthorn adds plain language analogies that make the distinctions clear for anyone navigating this diagnosis. PPA is progressive, which means its impact on individuals, families, and communities does not stop at diagnosis. For stroke survivors, care partners, students, and health professionals who need to understand where PPA fits in the larger aphasia picture.
Dr. Seles unravels the complexities of PPA versus other aphasia types and describes the difference between a stroke and frontal temporal dementia.
Angie shares analogies highlighting the key differences from other forms of aphasia.
The impact of PPA on individuals, their families, and communities is ongoing.
This episode of Brain Friends is a must-listen for survivors, students, and health professionals.
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 forgotten. ...
Podcasts we love
Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.
