Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory

People

The People of the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Lab
Current Position Openings
Lab Yearbook
- 2003
- 2004
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2008
- 2009

The People of the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory The Directors
	James R. Lackner James R. Lackner received his undergraduate and graduate training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research interests concern human spatial orientation and movement control in unusual force conditions including weightless, high force, and artificial gravity environments. One feature of his work includes the recognition that exposure to non-terrestrial force environments helps reveal the nature of sensory-motor adaptation to the normal force background of earth. He is a member of the Center for Complex Systems and the Psychology Department at Brandeis, and is the Riklis Professor of Physiology. He has been Director of the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory since its founding in 1982.
	Paul DiZio Paul DiZio has worked in the Graybiel Laboratory since its founding in 1982. He received his graduate training there in experiment psychology and has been the Associate Director since 1986. In 1995, he became a faculty member in the Psychology Department and the Volen Center for Complex Systems. His major research interests are control of human posture and movement, multisensory influences on spatial orientation, sensory localization, and sensory-motor adaptation. Experimental approaches to these problems involve unusual force environments, such as space flight and virtual environments as well as clinical conditions, such as labyrinthine loss, congenital blindness, peripheral neuropathy, and cerebellar dysfunction. These approaches are important both for illuminating basic neural mechanisms and for achieving solutions to practical problems.
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The Lab Members
	Tim Aarset Tim Aarset, BioMechanical Engineer, designs and codes experiments for a range of instrumentation and project areas. Tim has worked in experimental apparatus design for ages, in areas such as avionics, cryogenics, spectroscopy, electronics, complex control systems, and biomedical engineering. Tim received his doctorate in Music from Stanford University and has taught at MIT and conducted independent research at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, developing computer models and simulation of musical cognition, auditory physiology, and auditory display of complex multivariate data streams. Currently, Tim is working on the software architecture for multi-modal experiments that integrate biophysical signals, haptics, robotics, graphics, and other modalities for the lab's ongoing research initiatives.
	Avijit Bakshi Avijit performs non-invasive measurements of kinematic and dynamical variables of human body. He then analyzes and models the control of human posture. Currently he is experimenting, analyzing and trying to model the phenomenon of step initiation and falling, and their relations to the observed lateral postural asymmetries. Avijit's interests in biological application of physics attracted him to the Graybiel Lab. He received his Bachelors and Master of Science (Physics) from the University of Calcutta, India and his Ph.D. from the Department of Physics at Brandeis University.
	Stephanie Finneran Stephanie joined the lab as a Research Assistant. She grew up in Boston and received her B.A. in Psychology and Public Health from Simmons College. Prior to working at the lab, she was a research assistant at Children' s Hospital Boston, studying the psychological impact of food allergy on young children and adolescents. She has also served as an editorial assistant for Dr. Gray's lab in the Simmons Biology Department doing research on Alzheimer's disease. Her current projects include administering a study of the torso's ability to adapt to rotation, when it is isolated from spatial reference frames on a rotating platform. She is also conducting research on balance using the Hold and Release paradigm. Stephanie is also a world traveler, notably including her months spent in Thailand teaching English to children. She usually spends her spare time trying to save the planet, or with her family and friends.
	Janna Kaplan Janna Kaplan, M.S. is a Senior Research Associate and Lecturer in Psychology at the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory at Brandeis University. A former refusenik from Leningrad, Russia, she came to the United States as a Jewish refugee in 1982 and became an American citizen in 1988. Janna grew up in Russia. She graduated from the University of Leningrad (now Saint-Petersburg) in 1975 with a joint B.S. and M.S. in Neurophysiology, Summa cum Laude. She worked as a research scientist at the University of Leningrad as well as with the Soviet Space program. Due to emigration-related hardship, she was not able to defend her doctoral dissertation in Russia. After immigration into the US, Janna continued her work in spatial orientation and, specifically, in Space research. She studies human adaptation to various conditions of space flight, such as weightlessness, macrogravity, artificial gravity, and virtual environments. In her "free" time, Janna frequently speaks in schools about her research, and about the science of space exploration. She also organizes science enrichment programs for children of various ages. Of special interest to her is the use of science, math, engineering and technology as means of empowerment for girls. Janna lives in Newton, MA with her husband and two children.
	Nicholas Kleene Nic Kleene is a research assistant in the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Lab. Prior to joining the lab he received his Bachelor's degree in psychology with a concentration in cognitive neuroscience from the George Washington University in 2010. As an undergraduate, Nic worked in Dr. Philbeck's lab at GW, where he conducted experiments on spatial orientation in Alzheimer's disease patients, epilepsy patients, and normally developed college students. Nic's primary responsibilities as a research assistant include recruiting and testing human subjects as well as performing analyses of collected data. Currently, he is conducting experiments on motor adaptation to Coriolis forces produced by a manipulandum device in children with high functioning autism (HFA) and typically developing children. Nic also plans to pursue a Doctorate in cognitive neuroscience. In his spare time he enjoys spending time with friends, watching basketball and football, and rooting for Boston area sports teams.
	Arthur Larsen Art Larsen is the electrical / mechanical tech for the lab. He began work at the lab in 1983 as a summer job while a junior in high school. After he graduated from high school he returned to the lab to continue where he left off. He has since taken a course at Wentworth Technical School where he graduated in electronics. His father Arthur Larsen Jr., who ran the machine shop here at Brandeis University, was a great influence in his life. He taught him the fundamentals of machining, carpentry, and all the technical things that went along with his job. Art lives in Marlboro MA, where he was born and brought up, with his lovely wife Joanne and his two precious boys Ben and Todd.
	Amy Lavallee Amy Lavallee, a Seattle native, works as a Research Associate in the Graybiel Lab. She has a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where she studied abroad in Namibia and interned at the Johnson Space Center. Amy has an M.S. in biomechanical engineering from the University of Washington, where she worked in the Applied Biomechanics Lab and studied the developing mechanics of the pediatric neck. As a member of the Graybiel Lab, Amy participates in many aspects of research including: equipment set-up, running experiments, data analysis, operating the Slow Rotation Room, and being the primary volunteer for all new experiments. Amy is currently conducting experiments focusing on the effects of sleep deprivation and motion sickness. She also enjoys joining the lab on their parabolic flight excursions to Houston, TX. Amy lives in Hudson with her husband and son.
	Lee Picard Lee Picard is the Administrator of the Graybiel Laboratory. She is an active member of The National Council of University Administrators. At the regional level, she has served on three program committees for regional meetings and is currently on the regional advisory committee.
	Pascale Pigeon Pascale Pigeon is a research scientist at the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory. She holds a Ph.D. and Masters degree in biomedical engineering and an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal, in Montréal, Canada. During her education, she received numerous awards from Canadian research funding agencies. Her most recent award, a fellowship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, led to a position as a postdoctoral researcher in the Graybiel laboratory and in 2001, to her present position of research scientist. Dr. Pigeon has published 7 papers in refereed journals as well as numerous abstracts in the fields of biomechanics and motor control and has given several presentations at international conferences. She has served as a reviewer for the Journal of Biomechanics and the Journal of Vestibular Research. Her recent work focused on the planning and control of reaching movements involving trunk rotation (the “turn-and-reach” paradigm), specifically the compensation for self-generated Coriolis and interaction torques. Her current project examines turn-and-reach movements after motor adaptation to the rearrangement of the relationship between voluntary trunk rotation and inertial rotation. Dr. Pigeon also provides biomechanical expertise to other ongoing research projects at the Graybiel lab focusing on problems in motor control, posture and balance, and spatial orientation. Pascale is married to Dr. Michael McPartland and has a son, Tristan, and daughter, Brigitte.
	Alberto Pierobon Alberto Pierobon received his Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering summa cum laude from the University of Padova (Italy). Graduating in April 2003, his thesis was on the elasto-plastic behaviour of the human spinal servo, developed at the Graybiel Spatial Orientation Lab under the supervision of professor Simone Bortolami. Currently, he is working on mechanical and control system models for analysis of control strategies during voluntary movements in perturbed force fields. Some of his additional interests include mountaineering, reading and enjoying life.
	Arun Ravindran Arun Ravindran got his PhD in cognitive and neural systems from Boston University, where his dissertation was on models of human learning and cognition. An engineer in training, he got his Bachelors in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (Honors), from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India and Masters in Electrical Engineering (specializing in signal processing) from Northeastern University, Boston, MA, where his thesis was on machine learning and pattern classification. Prior to joining the Graybiel lab as a machine learning engineer, he was a research associate at BBN Technologies, Cambridge, MA and a research programmer at the Media Labs at MIT. At the Graybiel lab, he works on analyzing EEG signals to build classifiers to predict "intent" to move, before the onset of movement. Outside the Graybiel lab, he is a stage actor.
	Ian Keville Schleifer Ian Schleifer is a Computer Programmer and Research Assistant at the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory. His responsibilities include programming computers to control automated components of experiments with human subjects, writing software to perform analyses of collected data, and assisting with human subject testing. Prior to being hired by the Graybiel Lab, Ian worked for the Computational Memory Laboratory, also at Brandeis, with principle investigator Michael Kahana. When the Computational Memory Lab moved to the University of Pennsylvania in June of 2004, Ian chose to remain in the Boston area. Ian graduated from Ithaca College in 2002 with a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and a minor in Mathematics. As an employee of Brandeis University he has enjoyed taking science courses offered by the school and intends to pursue a graduate degree in the future.
	Howard Simpson Howard Simpson is a Research Engineer at the Graybiel Lab since the fall of 2009, and the lab's resident Emergency Medical Technician. He is thrilled to continue residing in Boston after completing his Bachelors in Biomedical Engineering at Boston University, which included a year and a half of co-ops and internships in the research and development of innovative medical devices. Howard has studied and interned abroad in Germany and Israel, backpacked through Europe, and worked full-time for a local Boston medical device start-up before joining the lab. He has also served on his home town's ambulance corps back in New Jersey where he grew up. The best part of working in the Graybiel Lab for Howard was being subject #1 for a recent sleep-deprivation experiment. Outside the lab, you might find Howard swing dancing, biking, hiking, or scouring Craigslist for treasure. Howard looks forward to pursuing medicine or a graduate degree in engineering in the not-too-distant future.
	Joel Ventura Joel Ventura is a research scientist in the Graybiel Lab. He received his undergraduate degree in Physics from Carnegie Mellon University and his graduate degree in Experimental Psychology from Brandeis University. He helps design and set up equipment to run experiments, especially for the lab's 22 foot diameter Slow Rotation Room. His research interests include spatial orientation and he has a special interest in, and fondness for, motion sickness (in others).
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The Graduate Students
	Xiaolan Li Xiaolan is a graduate student in the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory. Before joining the lab, she earned her BS degree in Psychology from Beijing Normal University, China (2007). Her current research interest mainly focuses on visual-haptic interactions. Aside from academic adventures, she enjoys playing the piano and other musical instruments, cooking, travelling and learning foreign languages. While searching for her thesis topic, she also hopes to pursue her growing interest in photography. personal homepage: http://people.brandeis.edu/~lan/
	Eugenia Hu Eugenia is a graduate student working on her master's degree in psychology, focusing mainly on motor learning. She received her BS in Psychology from Virginia Tech in 2003, and prior to attending Brandeis she worked as a paralegal and as a multimedia production coordinator. She will obtain her master's degree in August 2010. Aside from her academic pursuits, Eugenia teaches and performs bellydance all over the country. /
	Bernie Gabin Bernie is a PhD graduate student in the Department of Physics at Brandeis University. He received his Bachelors of Science in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Maryland College Park, and earned his Masters in Physics with the astrophysics group at Brandeis. He is currently pursuing his thesis work with the Graybiel Lab. He is working with several of the of the other lab members on developing a brain-computer interface system to control a robotic arm using EEG signals. In his free time, Bernie enjoys computer and board gaming, and working tech for the Brandeis' Shakespeare Theater group, Hold Thy Peace.
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The Undergraduate Students
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Current Position Openings

	Apply online at http://www.brandeis.edu/humanresources/jobs/
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Last updated August 2,2010

Contact: avincent@brandeis.edu