Joanna Maria Sierpowska

Joanna Maria Sierpowska

Lecturer Professor

ORCID: 0000-0002-5991-6916
Scopus Author ID: 57193840482
Researcher ID: HTQ-6862-2023
Knowledge area: Psicologia Bàsica

Research group: Brain Dynamics and Structure of Human Cognition (BraCo)

Contact Information
Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology


joanna.sierpowska(a)ub.edu

Academic Training

Psychologia . Uniwersytet Wroclawski . 30/09/2009 . (Diploma / Degree / Activities)
Biomedicina . Universitat de Barcelona . 22/09/2017 . (Ph.D.)
Neurociencias . Universitat de Barcelona . 19/10/2011 . (Official Master)
Psychologie Clinique (Neuropsychologie) . Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2 . 06/07/2010 . (Official Master)

Teaching impartedi (last 5 years)

Language Testing During Awake Brain Surgery (University Master's Degree) - European Master in Clinical Linguistics (EMCL) - University of Groningen.
2021 - Master´s program in Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University | Nijmegen, The Netherlands | 20h (English) Neuroanatomy course (instructor for ex vivo human brain specimen dissections) (University Master's Degree) - Master's programme in Cognitive Neuroscience - Radboud University.
2019 - Master´s program in Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University | Nijmegen, The Netherlands | 12h (English) Neuroanatomy course (White matter ex vivo dissection of the left arcuate fasciculus and preparation of the corresponding didactic materials) (University Master's Degree) - Master's programme in Cognitive Neuroscience - Radboud University.
2019 - Lecture: Language Mapping: Neuropsychological concerns. (invited) Master in Neurological Electrodiagnostics | University of Barcelona, Spain| 0.5h (English) (University Master's Degree) - Master in Neurological Electrodiagnostics | University of Barcelona, Spain - Universidad de Barcelona.
2019 - Lecture: Neuropsychological assessment of language functions during the awake brain surgery: tradition and research (Bachelor's degree) - Medicina - Universidad de Barcelona.
Història i Epistemologia de la Psicologia (Bachelor's degree) - Psychology - Universidad de Barcelona.
Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience: from molecule to behavior - Radboud University Summer School () - Cognitive Neuroscience Summer School - Radboud University.

Research interests

THE UNCHARTED BRAIN TERRITORY - The (pre)Supplementary Motor Area and its role in language cognitive control in health and neurodegeneration

Research Projects

La enfermedad de Huntington como el modelo para estudiar la neurodegeneración del sistema del área (pre)suplementaria motora y su relación con lenguaje y el control cognitivo . 2023 - 2026 . Ref.PID2022-141876OA-I00 . Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) . PI: Joanna Maria Sierpowska
Institut de Neurociències de la Universitat de Barcelona (UBNEURO) . 2023 - 2026 . Ref.CEX2021-001159-M . Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) . PI: Jordi Alberch Vie
Brain Dynamics and Structure of Human Cognition (BraCo) . 2022 - 2025 . Ref.2021 SGR 00352 . Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) . PI: Ruth de Diego Balaguer
Postdoctoral Junior Leader fellowship . 2021 - 2024 . Ref.LCF/BQ/PI21/11830014 . Fundació Caixa de Pensions 'La Caixa' . PI: Joanna Maria Sierpowska
PreSMAcog Project - THE UNCHARTED BRAIN TERRITORY - The (pre)Supplementary Motor Area and its role in language cognitive control in health and neurodegeneration Maria Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (MSCA IF) - turned down after obtaining Junior Leader Fellowship . 2021 - 2023 . Ref.101026724 . European Commission . PI: Joanna Sierpowska

Relevant publications

Anna Gasa- Roqué; Adrià Rofes; Marta Simó; Montserrat Juncadella; Imma Rico Pons; Angels Camins; Andreu Gabarrós; Antoni Rodríguez-Fornells; Joanna Sierpowska (2023). Understanding language and cognition after brain surgery – Tumour grade, fine-grained assessment tools and, most of all, individualized approach. Journal of Neuropsychology . https://doi.org/10.1111/jnp.12343 . ISSN: 1748-6645
Sierpowska, J.; Bryant, K. L.; Janssen, N.; Blazquez Freches, G.; Römkens, M.; Mangnus, M.; Mars, R. B.; Piai, V. (2022). Comparing human and chimpanzee temporal lobe neuroanatomy reveals modifications to human language hubs beyond the frontotemporal arcuate fasciculus. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America - PNAS, 119(28), p. e2118295119 . Institutional Repository . ISSN: 0027-8424
Sierpowska, J.; Rofes, A.; Dahlslätt, K.; Mandonnet, E.; Ter Laan, M.; Połczyńska, M.; Hamer, P.W.; Halaj, M.; Spena, G.; Meling, T.R.; Motomura, K.; Reyes, A.F.; Campos, A.R.; Robe, P.A.; Zigiotto, L.; Sarubbo, S.; Freyschlag, C.F.; Broen, M.P.G.; Stranjalis, G.; Papadopoulos, K.; Liouta, E.; Rutten, G.J.; Viegas, C.P.; Silvestre, A.; Perrote, F.; Brochero, N.; Cáceres, C.; Zdun-Ryżewska, A.; Kloc, W.; Satoer, D.; Dragoy, O.; Hendriks, M.P.H.; Alvarez-Carriles, J.C.; Piai, V. (2022). The Aftercare Survey: Assessment and intervention practices after brain tumor surgery in Europe. Neuro-Oncology Practice, 9(4), pp. 328 - 337 . https://doi.org/10.1093/nop/npac029 . ISSN: 2054-2577
Janssen, N.; Roelofs, A.; Mangnus, M.; Sierpowska, J.; Kessels, R. P. C.; Piai, V. (2020). How the speed of word finding depends on ventral tract integrity in primary progressive aphasia. Neuroimage-Clinical, 28, p. 102450 . Institutional Repository . ISSN: 2213-1582
Sierpowska, J.; León-Cabrera, P.; Camins, A.; Juncadella, M.; Gabarrós, A.; Rodríguez-Fornells, A. (2020). The black box of global aphasia: Neuroanatomical underpinnings of remission from acute global aphasia with preserved inner language function. Cortex, 130, pp. 340 - 350 . Institutional Repository . ISSN: 0010-9452
De Paepe, A.E.; Sierpowska, J.; García-Gorro, C.; Martínez-Horta, S.; Pérez-Pérez, J., Kulisevsky, J.; Rodríguez-Dechichá, N.; Vaquer, I.; Subirà, S.; Calopa, M.; Muñoz, E.; Santacruz, P.; Ruiz-Idiago, J.; Mareca, C.; de Diego-Balaguer, R.; Càmara, E. (2019). White matter cortico-striatal tracts predict apathy subtypes in Huntington's disease. Neuroimage-Clinical . Institutional Repository . ISSN: 2213-1582
Sierpowska, J.; Gabarrós, A.; Fernández-Coello, A.; Camins, A.; Castañer, S.; Juncadella, M.; François, C.; Rodríguez-Fornells, A. (2019). White-matter pathways and semantic processing: intrasurgical and lesion-symptom mapping evidence. Neuroimage-Clinical, 22, p. 101704 . Institutional Repository . ISSN: 2213-1582
Sierpowska, Joanna; Fernandez-Coello, Alejandro; Gomez-Andres, Alba; Camins, Angelsg; Castaner, Sara; Juncadella, Montserrat; Gabarros, Andreu; Rodriguez-Fornells, Antoni (2018). Involvement of the middle frontal gyrus in language switching as revealed by electrical stimulation mapping and functional magnetic resonance imaging in bilingual brain tumor patients. Cortex, 99, pp. 78 - 92 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2017.10.017 . ISSN: 0010-9452
Kloc, W; Sierpowska, J; Zdun-Ryzewska, A; Izycka-&#Swieszewska, E; Sebastyanska-Targowska, I; Maksymowicz, S; Libionka, W; (2021). Surgical treatment of tumors in eloquent areas of the brain (In Polish: Leczenie operacyjne guzów w elokwentnych obszarach mózgu) . In Aphasiology handbook [Afazjologia - podrecznik] . Pastwowy Zakad Wydawnictw Lekarskich (PZWL) . ISBN: 9788320062755 . https://hdl.handle.net/2066/231732 (https://hdl.handle.net/2066/231732)
Antoni Rodríguez-Fornells; Patricia León-Cabrera; Andreu Gabarrós; Joanna Sierpowska (2021). Inner speech brain mapping. Is it possible to map what we cannot observe? . In Mandonnet, E., & Herbet, G (Eds.) Intraoperative awake brain mapping. Which tasks for which location?. . Springer . ISBN: 978-3-030-75071-8 . https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75071-8_23

Directed Thesis, minor thesis and research reports

Natalya Antonova . (2024) . The role of temporal and deep white matter connectivity in memory loss in Huntington’s Disease  (Master's Thesis) . (University of Groningen, Ghent University, and University of Eastern Finland).
Daniela Lizarazo . (2023) . Cognitive control and pre(SMA) white matter in Huntington's Disease (Master's Thesis) . La Sapienza Roma.
Jo-Anne van der Sluijs . (2023) . Temporal lobe and commissural white matter involvement in post-stroke aphasia recovery (Master's Thesis) . (University of Groningen, Ghent University, and University of Eastern Finland).
Christian Letter . (2021) . Corpus Callosum Involvement in Language Ability after Left-hemispheric Stroke (Master's Thesis) . Università Degli Studi di Padova & Radboud University.
Anna Dewenter . (2018) . Lexical competition and structural connectivity in healthy elderly as well as patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) (Master's Thesis) . Radboud University.

Activities (stages) and Work experience

1r Tram de recerca (sexenni)
Junior PI position (LA Caixa-MSCA Junior Leader fellow). University of Barcelona. 15/09/2021 - 31/08/2022
Postdoctoral training. Radboud University (Donders Center for Cognition). 01/03/2018 - 31/08/2021
Postdoctoral training. Fundacion Privada Institut d'investigacio Biomedica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL) & University of Barcelona. 01/08/2017 - 30/01/2018
Practicas profesionales en Neuropsicologia. Centre de la Tour de Gassies U.E.R.O.S. 12/11/2009 - 11/02/2010