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Sara B. Pillay PhD

Sara B. Pillay PhD profile photo picture

Associate Professor

Institution: Medical College of Wisconsin
Department: Neurology
Division: Neuropsychology

Member of the Neuroscience Research Center
Member of the Wisconsin Institute of NeuroScience (WINS)


I am willing to collaborate on research projects.
I am willing to mentor a junior faculty member.

View Curriculum Vitae

Research Experience

  • Aphasia
  • Brain Mapping
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Phonetics
  • Semantics
  • Stroke
  • Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

    • Clinical Expertise

  • Aphasia
  • Brain Mapping
  • Electrocorticography
  • Neurodegenerative Diseases
  • Neuropsychological Tests

    • Methodologies and Techniques

  • Aphasia
  • Brain Mapping
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Phonetics
  • Semantics
  • Speech
  • Speech Perception
  • Stroke

    • Leadership Positions

  • Co-Director, Intensive Program for Aphasia Therapy

    • MCW Program / Core Facilities

  • Neurology/Neuropsychology
  • Graduate School
  • Clinical Translational Science

    • Publications (16)

  • Behavioral and neural effects of temporoparietal high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation in logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia: a preliminary study. (Granadillo ED, Fellmeth M, Youssofzadeh V, Heffernan J, Shah-Basak PP, Pillay SB, Ustine C, Kraegel P, Schold S, Mueller KD, Ikonomidou C, Okonkwo O, Raghavan M, Binder JR) Front Psychol 2025;16:1492447 PMID: 40070907 PMCID: PMC11893574 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-105000484352 03/12/2025    
  • Audiovisual Synchrony in Left-hemisphere Brain-lesioned Individuals with Aphasia. (Farahbod H, Rogalsky C, Keator LM, Cai J, Pillay SB, LaCroix AN, Fridriksson J, Binder JR, Venezia JH, Saberi K, Hickok G) J Cogn Neurosci 2025 Feb 23:1-12 PMID: 39998896 02/25/2025    
  • Lesion correlates of impaired acoustic-phonetic perception after unilateral left hemisphere stroke. (Binder JR, Freiberg A, Heffernan J, Giraldo-Chica M, Book DS, Pillay SB) Brain 2025 Apr 03;148(4):1421-1434 PMID: 39789712 PMCID: PMC12168130 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-105003923504 01/10/2025       1 Citation
  • Epilepsy and Neuropsychology (Janecek JK, Swanson SJ, Pillay S) Neurologic Clinics November 2024;42(4):849-861 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85196037957 11/01/2024       1 Citation
  • Lesion and lesion network localization of dysnomia after epilepsy surgery. (Mhanna A, Bruss J, Griffis JC, Sullivan AW, Kawasaki H, Binder JR, Pillay SB, Howard MA 3rd, Tranel D, Boes AD) Brain 2025 Mar 06;148(3):776-787 PMID: 39423309 PMCID: PMC11884675 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-86000714877 10/18/2024    
  • Cognitive decline and quality of life after resective epilepsy surgery. (Janecek JK, Brett BL, Pillay S, Murphy H, Binder JR, Swanson SJ) Epilepsy Behav 2023 Jan;138:109005 PMID: 36516616 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85143982821 12/15/2022       8 Citations
  • Reliable change on the selective reminding test in a series of left-hemisphere language dominant patients with right temporal lobe epilepsy. (Pillay SB, Gross WL, Janecek JK, Binder JR, Oleksy AJ, Swanson SJ) Epilepsy Behav 2023 Jan;138:109004 PMID: 36473300 PMCID: PMC9885384 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85143541324 12/07/2022       2 Citations
  • Informational Masking in Aging and Brain-lesioned Individuals. (Farahbod H, Rogalsky C, Keator LM, Cai J, Pillay SB, Turner K, LaCroix A, Fridriksson J, Binder JR, Middlebrooks JC, Hickok G, Saberi K) J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 2023 Feb;24(1):67-79 PMID: 36471207 PMCID: PMC9971540 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85143305212 12/06/2022       3 Citations
  • Semantic network activation facilitates oral word reading in chronic aphasia. (Pillay SB, Gross WL, Heffernan J, Book DS, Binder JR) Brain Lang 2022 Oct;233:105164 PMID: 35933744 PMCID: PMC9948519 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85135407900 08/08/2022    
  • The Neuroanatomy of Speech Processing: A Large-scale Lesion Study. (Rogalsky C, Basilakos A, Rorden C, Pillay S, LaCroix AN, Keator L, Mickelsen S, Anderson SW, Love T, Fridriksson J, Binder J, Hickok G) J Cogn Neurosci 2022 Jul 01;34(8):1355-1375 PMID: 35640102 PMCID: PMC9274306 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85133445404 06/01/2022       22 Citations
  • Temporal lobe regions essential for preserved picture naming after left temporal epilepsy surgery. (Binder JR, Tong JQ, Pillay SB, Conant LL, Humphries CJ, Raghavan M, Mueller WM, Busch RM, Allen L, Gross WL, Anderson CT, Carlson CE, Lowe MJ, Langfitt JT, Tivarus ME, Drane DL, Loring DW, Jacobs M, Morgan VL, Allendorfer JB, Szaflarski JP, Bonilha L, Bookheimer S, Grabowski T, Vannest J, Swanson SJ, fMRI in Anterior Temporal Epilepsy Surgery (FATES) study) Epilepsia 2020 Sep;61(9):1939-1948 PMID: 32780878 PMCID: PMC7722029 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85089258019 08/12/2020       49 Citations
  • Neural networks supporting audiovisual integration for speech: A large-scale lesion study. (Hickok G, Rogalsky C, Matchin W, Basilakos A, Cai J, Pillay S, Ferrill M, Mickelsen S, Anderson SW, Love T, Binder J, Fridriksson J) Cortex 2018 Jun;103:360-371 PMID: 29705718 PMCID: PMC6223621 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85046169918 05/01/2018       30 Citations
  • The Neural Basis of Successful Word Reading in Aphasia. (Pillay SB, Gross WL, Graves WW, Humphries C, Book DS, Binder JR) J Cogn Neurosci 2018 Apr;30(4):514-525 PMID: 29211656 PMCID: PMC9926535 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85042764522 12/07/2017       10 Citations
  • Lesion localization of speech comprehension deficits in chronic aphasia. (Pillay SB, Binder JR, Humphries C, Gross WL, Book DS) Neurology 2017 Mar 07;88(10):970-975 PMID: 28179469 PMCID: PMC5333516 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85014816931 02/10/2017       78 Citations
  • Surface errors without semantic impairment in acquired dyslexia: a voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping study. (Binder JR, Pillay SB, Humphries CJ, Gross WL, Graves WW, Book DS) Brain 2016 May;139(Pt 5):1517-26 PMID: 26966139 PMCID: PMC5006249 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-84966648862 03/12/2016       45 Citations
  • Cerebral localization of impaired phonological retrieval during rhyme judgment. (Pillay SB, Stengel BC, Humphries C, Book DS, Binder JR) Ann Neurol 2014 Nov;76(5):738-46 PMID: 25164766 PMCID: PMC4214892 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-84912085803 08/29/2014       74 Citations
    • Last update: 06/27/2025