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People Yearbook 2005
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The People of the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory The Directors |
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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. |
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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 |
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Cindy Faulkner Cindy Faulkner is the Administrative Assistant at the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory at Brandeis University. She received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of New Hampshire in 1978. Cindy assists those requesting reprints of published articles by Drs. Lackner, DiZio and others in the laboratory; people who are visiting the laboratory for scientific talks or subject participation; and general information. Mrs. Faulkner resides in Lincoln, Massachusetts with her husband and two children. |
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Janna Kaplan Janna Kaplan, M.S. is Senior Research Associate 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. |
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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. |
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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. She is currently is co-chair of the Region I NCURA meeting for 2004. |
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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. |
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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. |
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Leslie Valentine Leslie Valentine is a Research Assistant at the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory at Brandeis University. She is a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA. Certified by the US Department of Health and Human Services (NIH), she participates in research on human subjects in accordance with the standards outlined in the Human Participant Protections Education for Research Teams. Leslie accompanies the lab to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX and is certified by the FAA to perform research on human subjects during parabolic flights. At the Graybiel Lab, Leslie participates in many aspects of research including conducting experiments, project organization, equipment setup and maintenance, software integration and data analysis. She works with all members of the lab including undergraduates as well as PIs. |
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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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Albert S. Wang Albert Wang is the Technical Coordinator and Research Assistant at the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory. There he manages the Windows, Linux, and Macintosh desktops and data collection machines, and coordinates software and hardware IT purchases as well as software licensing with Brandeis ITS. He also develops and maintains the new Graybiel Lab website and helps with experiments, including operating the Slow Rotation Room. Before arriving at Brandeis, Albert worked as a Freelance Photographer, Technical Consultant and Web Specialist at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Print and Web Specialist at the Harvard Health Publications at Harvard Medical School, and Web Designer for both the Marketing and Design Teams (for the Morgan OnLine wealth management product) at Arrakis, a subsidiary of J.P. Morgan-Chase. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1992 with a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering and took neuropsychology graduate courses at Harvard University from 1994-2000. Albert lives in Cambridge, MA with his wife Brandy Baker. |
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The Graduate Students |
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Ayanna S. Bryan Ayanna Bryan studies the effects of angular acceleration on spatial localization light and sound targets, and the perception self-orientation in space. She also studies the symptoms of motion sickness in response to linear and angular acceleration. These topics are of interest as their study may lead to the identification of a neural integration area of vestibular stimulation and multi-sensory output. Furthermore, these studies may show that there is a bias for one modality over others in terms of one final judgment of spatial orientation and target localization. During her undergraduate career Ayanna worked for a cell culture lab on issues concerning the development of sea urchin embryos. In 1999 she acquired her Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience at Brock University in St. Catharines Ontario, Canada. Her thesis project concentrated on electrophysiological responses of crayfish deep abdominal extensor muscles. Following graduation she studied human sensory perception at the University of Western Ontario. |
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Avijit Bakshi Avijit Bakshi received his Bachelors of Science in Physics from University of Calcutta, India in 2001, and his Masters in Science from same university in 2003. Presently Avijit is a Ph.D candidate at Dept. of Physics at Brandeis University. Due his rising interests in Biological application of Physics, he got attracted to Graybiel Lab. Avijit is presently working on analysing and modelling human swaying(rocking) subjected to external forces (eg. Coriolis force). It is interesting to see how the body adapts to achieve its desired movement goals when subjected to foreign force environments. It would be interesting to dissect out that how much of the response is simple mechanics and what component is being controlled by CNS and in what pattern. One would also like to know about the interplay of various sensory modalities in this whole paradigm. |
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The Post-Docs |
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There are no Post-Docs in the Graybiel Lab at the present time. |
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The Visiting Scholars |
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Enrico Chiovetto Enrico Chiovetto received his MSEE from the University of Padova (Italy) in April, 2004. For his Master’s thesis he designed an Extended Kalman Filter for the reconstruction of trajectory and attitude of a Ducati ST4 racing motorcycle by using GPS and MEMS accelerometer data. Enrico is currently a visiting research associate at the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Lab, at Brandeis University under the direction of Prof. Simone Bortolami. He joined the Lab in August 2004 . His research is currently focusing on human spatial orientation mechanisms in high and low g-environments and human posture. |
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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. |
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Davide Piovesan Davide Piovesan received his Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Padova (Italy). Graduating in July 2003, his thesis was on the study and validation of a 3D musculo-skeletal model of the upper limb. Davide is a Ph. D. candidate in Biomedical Measure at the University of Padova. He is a visiting scholar at the Graybiel Spatial Orientation Lab under the supervision of Professor Simone Bortolami. Currently, he is working on recruitment strategies of muscular synergies for the upper limb and on their control during voluntary movements in perturbed force fields. His other interests include the mechanics of biological tissue. |
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The Undergraduate Students |
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Greg Berlinrut Greg Berlinrut was born in Siberia, Russia in 1985 and came to the states in 1992, when he was 7. He now resides in New York when school's not in session. Greg is majoring in Computer Science and Economics at Brandeis, and has been interested in both since high school. His goals in these fields are not entirely certain, since he enjoys various aspects of both, but some professional work is definitely in the works. On the side, Greg is a drum enthusiast and enjoys music of the heavier flavors. |
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Vladimir Isakov Vladimir Isakov is an undergraduate student at Brandeis University. His majors include Mathematics, Computer Science, and Economics. Graphics and Game Programming are his main areas of concentration within the Computer Science field. With an Economics background, he hopes to one day receive an MBA and utilize his Technical skills to develop a software company. Vladimir's interest in Mathematics, on the other hand, has nothing to do with the business world, and has grown due to his curiosity for the workings of the world and the physical environment. |
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Rebecca Kinsler Rebecca is a senior in the accelerated BS/MS program in Neuroscience. She has worked in the Ashton Graybiel Laboratory since fall of 2004, and will be completing her senior honors and masters thesis in the lab. Her interests include the perception of movement in the absence of visual cues, the neurological basis of mental disorders, and human development. She is the vice president of the Brandeis Crew Team and has been a member of the team since fall of 2002. Rebecca is from New Hampshire and loves to travel home to her parent's house on the Connecticut river. She enjoys spending quality time with her nephew Ethan, who will be two in October 2005. |
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Arielle Torres Arielle Torres has worked in the Graybiel Lab since spring of 2005, investigating adaptation of reaching movements to Coriolis force perturbations. Now in her junior year, she is working towards a Neuroscience B.S. as well as minors in Art History and Mathematics. She is still uncertain about her future plans, but hopes to find a way to integrate her interests in both the arts and sciences. Arielle is from Connecticut. Outside of the lab she enjoys reading, drawing, cross-country skiing, and music — particularly clarinet. |
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There are no new open positions at this time. |
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