{"632029":{"#nid":"632029","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Flickering Light Mobilizes Brain Chemistry That May Fight Alzheimer\u2019s","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor over a century, Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s disease has confounded all attempts to treat it. But in recent years, perplexing experiments using flickering light have shown promise.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENow, researchers have tapped into how the flicker may work. They discovered in the lab that the exposure to light pulsing at 40 hertz \u0026ndash; 40 beats per second \u0026ndash; causes brains to release a surge of signaling chemicals that may help fight the disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThough conducted on healthy mice,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.jneurosci.org\/content\/early\/2019\/12\/18\/JNEUROSCI.1511-19.2019\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ethis new study\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;is directly connected to human trials, in which Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s patients are exposed to 40 Hz light and sound. Insights gained in mice at the Georgia Institute of Technology are informing the human trials in collaboration with Emory University.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;ll be running samples from mice in the lab, and around the same time, a colleague will be doing a strikingly similar analysis on patient fluid samples,\u0026rdquo; said Kristie Garza, the study\u0026rsquo;s first author. Garza is a graduate research assistant in the lab of Annabelle Singer at Georgia Tech and also a member of Emory\u0026rsquo;s neuroscience program.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of the surging signaling molecules in the new study on mice\u0026nbsp;is strongly associated with the activation of brain immune cells called microglia, which purge an Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s hallmark \u0026ndash; amyloid beta plaque, junk protein that accumulates between brain cells.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EImmune signaling\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 2016, researchers discovered that light flickering at 40 Hz mobilized microglia in mice afflicted with Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s to clean up that junk.\u0026nbsp; The new study looked for brain chemistry that connects the flicker with microglial and other immune activation in mice and exposed a surge of 20 cytokines \u0026ndash; small proteins secreted externally by cells and which signal to other cells. Accompanying the cytokine release, internal cell chemistry \u0026ndash; the activation of proteins by phosphate groups \u0026ndash; left behind a strong calling card.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The phosphoproteins showed up first. It looked as though they were leading, and our hypothesis is that they triggered the release of the cytokines,\u0026rdquo; said Singer, who co-led the new study and is an\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Annabelle-Singer\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eassistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Beyond cytokines that may be signaling to microglia, a number of factors that we identified have the potential to support neural health,\u0026rdquo; said Levi Wood, who co-led the study with Singer and is an\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/wood\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eassistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team published\u0026nbsp;its findings\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.jneurosci.org\/content\/early\/2019\/12\/18\/JNEUROSCI.1511-19.2019\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ein the\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EJournal of Neuroscience\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;on February 5, 2020\u003C\/a\u003E. The research was funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health, and by the Packard Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESinger was co-first author on\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/news.mit.edu\/2016\/visual-stimulation-treatment-alzheimer-1207\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ethe original 2016 study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology\u003C\/a\u003E, in which the therapeutic effects of 40 Hz were first discovered in mice.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESci-fi surrealness\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlzheimer\u0026rsquo;s strikes, with few exceptions, late in life. It\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nia.nih.gov\/health\/alzheimers-disease-fact-sheet#changes\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Edestroys up to 30% of a brain\u0026rsquo;s mass\u003C\/a\u003E, carving out ravines and depositing piles of amyloid plaque, which builds up outside of neurons. Inside neurons, phosphorylated\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tau_protein\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Etau protein\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;forms similar junk known as\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Neurofibrillary_tangle\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eneurofibrillary tangles\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;suspected of destroying mental functions and neurons.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter many decades of failed Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s drug trials costing billions, flickering light as a potentially successful Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s therapy seems surreal even to the researchers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Sometimes it does feel like science fiction,\u0026rdquo; Singer said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 40 Hz frequency stems from the observation that brains of Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s patients suffer early on from a lack of what is called gamma, moments of gentle, constant brain waves acting like a dance beat for neuron activity. Its most common frequency is right around 40 Hz, and exposing mice to light flickering at that frequency restored gamma and also appears to have prevented heavy Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s brain damage.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAdding to the surrealness, gamma has also been associated with esoteric mind expansion practices, in which practitioners perform light and sound meditation. Then, in 2016, research connected gamma to working memory, a function key to train of thought.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECytokine bonanza\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the current study, the surging cytokines hinted at a connection with microglial activity, and in particular, the cytokine\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/topics\/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology\/macrophage-colony-stimulating-factor\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EMacrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(M-CSF).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;M-CSF was the thing that yelled, \u0026lsquo;Microglia activation!\u0026rsquo;\u0026rdquo; Singer said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers will look for a causal connection to microglia activation in an upcoming study, but the overall surge of cytokines was a good sign in general, they said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The vast majority of cytokines went up, some anti-inflammatory and some inflammatory, and it was a transient response,\u0026rdquo; Wood said. \u0026ldquo;Often, a transient inflammatory response can promote pathogen clearance; it can promote repair.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Generally, you think of an inflammatory response as being bad if it\u0026rsquo;s chronic, and this was rapid and then dropped off, so we think that was probably beneficial,\u0026rdquo; Singer added.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EChemical timing\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 40 Hz stimulation did not need long to trigger the cytokine surge.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We found an increase in cytokines after an hour of stimulation,\u0026rdquo; Garza said. \u0026ldquo;We saw phosphoprotein signals after about 15 minutes of flickering.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPerhaps about 15 minutes was enough to start processes inside of cells and about 45 more minutes were needed for the cells to secrete cytokines. It is too early to know.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E20 Hz bombshell\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs controls, the researchers applied three additional light stimuli, and to their astonishment, all three had some effect on cytokines. But stimulating with 20 Hz stole the show.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;At 20 Hz, cytokine levels were way down. That could be useful, too. There may be circumstances where you want to suppress cytokines,\u0026rdquo; Singer said. \u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;re thinking different kinds of stimulation could potentially become a platform of tools in a variety of contexts like Parkinson\u0026rsquo;s or schizophrenia. Many neurological disorders are associated with immune response.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research team warns against people improvising light therapies on their own, since more data is needed to thoroughly establish effects on humans, and getting frequencies wrong could possibly even do damage.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAlso read: \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/features\/alzheimers-killing-mind-first\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;A family coping with Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s leads you through our fight against it\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAlso read: \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/news\/602586\/data-detectives-shift-suspicions-alzheimers-usual-suspect-inside-villain\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s research probably needs to shift focus\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ELu Zhang and Ben Borron\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003Efrom the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University co-authored the study. The research was funded by the\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003ENational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health (grants NIH R01-NS109226 and R01-NS109226-01S1), by the Packard Foundation, the Friends and Alumni of Georgia Tech, and by the Lane family. Any findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the authors and not necessarily of the sponsors.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter \u0026amp;\u0026nbsp;Media Representative\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-272-2780), email:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe hope\u0026nbsp;of flickering light and sound to treat Alzheimer\u0026#39;s takes another step forward in this new study, which reveals stark biochemical mechanisms: 40 Hertz stimulation triggers a marked release of signaling chemicals - cytokines.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The hope of flickering light to treat Alzheimer\u0027s takes another step forward in this new study, which reveals stark biochemical mechanisms."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2020-02-03 16:08:02","changed_gmt":"2020-02-06 20:36:12","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-02-03T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2020-02-03T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"632025":{"id":"632025","type":"image","title":"Experimental Alzheimer\u0027s treatment visor and sound","body":null,"created":"1580745156","gmt_created":"2020-02-03 15:52:36","changed":"1580745156","gmt_changed":"2020-02-03 15:52:36","alt":"","file":{"fid":"240471","name":"Annabelle.visor_.CU_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Annabelle.visor_.CU_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Annabelle.visor_.CU_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4487860,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Annabelle.visor_.CU_.jpg?itok=ZUrtJUob"}},"632027":{"id":"632027","type":"image","title":"Flickering light strip for Alzheimer\u0027s studies on mice","body":null,"created":"1580745499","gmt_created":"2020-02-03 15:58:19","changed":"1580745499","gmt_changed":"2020-02-03 15:58:19","alt":"","file":{"fid":"240473","name":"Alzheimers.flicker.strip_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Alzheimers.flicker.strip_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Alzheimers.flicker.strip_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2901877,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Alzheimers.flicker.strip_.jpg?itok=N32GNOLN"}},"632028":{"id":"632028","type":"image","title":"Alzheimer\u0027s 40 Hertz flicker researchers","body":null,"created":"1580745655","gmt_created":"2020-02-03 16:00:55","changed":"1580746597","gmt_changed":"2020-02-03 16:16:37","alt":"","file":{"fid":"240475","name":"Alz.visor_.researchers.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Alz.visor_.researchers.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Alz.visor_.researchers.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3970033,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Alz.visor_.researchers.jpg?itok=RQaNZwUs"}},"632026":{"id":"632026","type":"image","title":"Annabelle Singer with experimental Alzheimer\u0027s treatment visor","body":null,"created":"1580745355","gmt_created":"2020-02-03 15:55:55","changed":"1580745355","gmt_changed":"2020-02-03 15:55:55","alt":"","file":{"fid":"240472","name":"A.Singer.visor_.lab_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/A.Singer.visor_.lab_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/A.Singer.visor_.lab_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3918230,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/A.Singer.visor_.lab_.jpg?itok=ucYfy6M4"}}},"media_ids":["632025","632027","632028","632026"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"44881","name":"Alzheimer\u0027s Disease"},{"id":"183798","name":"Alzheimer\u0027s disease research"},{"id":"183799","name":"Gamma"},{"id":"183800","name":"gamma band activity"},{"id":"183801","name":"40 Hertz"},{"id":"183802","name":"Flicker"},{"id":"176724","name":"signaling chemicals"},{"id":"183803","name":"signaling molecule"},{"id":"176725","name":"signaling mechanism"},{"id":"183804","name":"Signaling Pathways"},{"id":"183805","name":"Microglia"},{"id":"183806","name":"Amyloid Beta"},{"id":"183807","name":"amyloid aggragates"},{"id":"177151","name":"amyloid beta plaque"},{"id":"183808","name":"amyloid beta protein"},{"id":"177154","name":"p-tau"},{"id":"10963","name":"cytokines"},{"id":"183809","name":"cytokine regulation"},{"id":"183810","name":"cytokine research"},{"id":"183811","name":"Cytokinesis"},{"id":"183812","name":"immune activation"},{"id":"183813","name":"immune signaling"},{"id":"183814","name":"Immune biology"},{"id":"1304","name":"neuroscience"},{"id":"183815","name":"phosphoproteins"},{"id":"183816","name":"Phosphate"},{"id":"183817","name":"phosphate activation"},{"id":"183818","name":"Tau Proteins"},{"id":"177161","name":"neurofibrillary tangles"},{"id":"183819","name":"microphage"},{"id":"183820","name":"M-CSF"},{"id":"183821","name":"microphage colony-stimulating factor"},{"id":"170569","name":"schizophrenia"},{"id":"183822","name":"Schizophrenia research"},{"id":"183823","name":"Schizophrenia Treatment"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"632282":{"#nid":"632282","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Four Georgia Tech Faculty Elected to National Academy of Engineering","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFour Georgia Institute of Technology faculty members have been elected as new members of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nae.edu\/\u0022\u003ENational Academy of Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E (NAE). \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/spp.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/marilyn-a-brown\u0022\u003EMarilyn Brown\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/kurfess\u0022\u003EThomas Kurfess\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Susan-Margulies\u0022\u003ESusan Margulies\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www2.isye.gatech.edu\/~ashapiro\/\u0022\u003EAlexander Shapiro\u003C\/a\u003E join 83 other new NAE members for 2020 when they are formally inducted during a ceremony at the academy\u0026rsquo;s annual meeting on Oct. 4 in Washington, D.C.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EElection of new NAE members, the culmination of a yearlong process, recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to \u0026quot;engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature\u0026quot; and to \u0026quot;the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing\/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.\u0026quot;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s the honor of a lifetime to be recognized by the National Academy of Engineering for the impact we\u0026rsquo;ve have on understanding lung injuries in the critical care unit and traumatic brain injuries in children,\u0026rdquo; said Margulies, chair of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech and Emory University and, with Brown, one of just three\u0026nbsp;women on the Georgia Tech faculty accorded NAE membership \u0026ndash; one of the highest professional distinctions an engineer can receive.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our work is deeply collaborative, and I am grateful to the engineers, scientists, physicians, and patients who are partners in our journey,\u0026rdquo; Margulies added.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMargulies, a researcher in the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at Tech and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Injury Biomechanics at Emory, was elected, \u0026ldquo;for elaborating the traumatic injury thresholds of brain and lung in terms of structure-function mechanisms,\u0026rdquo; according to the NAE announcement.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing an integrated biomechanics approach, Margulies\u0026rsquo; research program spans the micro-to-macro scales in two distinct areas, traumatic brain injury and ventilator-induced lung injury. Her work has generated new knowledge about the structural and functional responses of the brain and lungs to their mechanical environment. Margulies came to Georgia Tech in 2017 from the University of Pennsylvania, where she\u0026rsquo;d been a professor of bioengineering, and had earned her Master of Science in Engineering and Ph.D. in Bioengineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBrown, a Regents and Brook Byers Professor of Sustainable Systems in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/spp.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Public Policy\u003C\/a\u003E, was co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 (for co-authorship of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group III Assessment Report on Mitigation of Climate Change, Chapter 6).\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe joined Georgia Tech in 2006 after a career at the U.S. Department of Energy\u0026#39;s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where she led several national climate change mitigation studies and became a leader in the analysis and interpretation of energy futures in the United States. Her research at Tech focuses on the design and impact of policies aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of sustainable energy technologies, emphasizing the electric utility industry. She was \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/news-events\/stories\/2020\/2\/marilyn-brown-elected-national-academy-engineering\/632301\u0022\u003Eelected to NAE\u003C\/a\u003E \u0026ldquo;for bridging engineering, social and behavioral sciences, and policy studies to achieve cleaner electric energy.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nBrown, who earned her Ph.D. at the Ohio State University, co-founded and chaired the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance, served two terms as a presidential appointee on the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority \u0026ndash; the nation\u0026rsquo;s largest public power provider \u0026ndash; and also served two terms on the U.S. Department of Energy\u0026rsquo;s Electricity Advisory Committee, where she led the Smart Grid Subcommittee.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The most rewarding feature of my career has been working toward solutions with colleagues across disciplines,\u0026rdquo; Brown said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShapiro is the Russell Chandler III Chair and professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.isye.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EH. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, where his research is focused on stochastic programming, risk analysis, simulation-based optimization, and multivariate statistical analysis.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 2013, he was awarded the INFORMS Khachiyan Prize for lifetime achievements in optimization. He received the 2018 Dantzig Prize from the Mathematical Optimization Society and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESince earning his Ph.D. in applied mathematics-statistics from Israel\u0026rsquo;s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 1981, Shapiro has made substantial contributions to the fields of optimization and large-scale, stochastic programming, and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.isye.gatech.edu\/news\/isyes-alexander-shapiro-elected-national-academy-engineering\u0022\u003Ehe was elected to NAE\u003C\/a\u003E \u0026ldquo;for contributions to the theory, computation, and application of stochastic programming.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EKurfess is professor and HUSCO\/Ramirez Distinguished Chair in Fluid Power and Motion Control in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, where he has helped guide the evolution of technology as a pioneer in the digital transformation of manufacturing.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EImproving manufacturing technology is a pursuit that has roots in his childhood. \u0026ldquo;I grew up in my father\u0026rsquo;s machine shop,\u0026rdquo; said Kurfess, who has a special fondness for mom-and-pop operations. He was elected by the NAE \u0026ldquo;for development and implementation of innovative digital manufacturing technologies and system architectures.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;m proud that the work we do has a positive impact on small and medium-sized enterprises, which are about 99% of the manufacturing operations, as well as large operations,\u0026rdquo; said Kurfess, who earned all of his degrees at MIT. \u0026ldquo;Our work targets people who are implementing the digital thread in manufacturing, and what the digital thread will do is make sure those smaller enterprises, those mom and pops, can have access to the latest and greatest technologies.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Jerry Grillo\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFour Georgia Institute of Technology faculty members have been elected as new members of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Marilyn Brown, Thomas Kurfess, Susan Margulies, and Alexander Shapiro join 83 other new NAE members for 2020 when they are formally inducted during a ceremony at the academy\u0026rsquo;s annual meeting on Oct. 4 in Washington, D.C.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Marilyn Brown, Thomas Kurfess, Susan Margulies, and Alexander Shapiro join 83 other new National Academy of Engineering members for 2020."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2020-02-11 02:02:46","changed_gmt":"2020-05-26 17:39:13","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-02-10T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2020-02-10T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"635587":{"id":"635587","type":"image","title":"2020 National Academy of Engineering Inductees","body":null,"created":"1590163303","gmt_created":"2020-05-22 16:01:43","changed":"1590163303","gmt_changed":"2020-05-22 16:01:43","alt":"The four Georgia Tech faculty members elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2020: Marilyn Brown, Thomas Kurfess, Susan Margulies, and Alexander Shapiro.","file":{"fid":"241865","name":"2020-natl-acad-engineering.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2020-natl-acad-engineering.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2020-natl-acad-engineering.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":104366,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2020-natl-acad-engineering.jpg?itok=xNVEuULJ"}}},"media_ids":["635587"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1972","name":"NAE"},{"id":"1141","name":"national academy of engineering"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39461","name":"Manufacturing, Trade, and Logistics"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"625697":{"#nid":"625697","#data":{"type":"news","title":"An Improved Understanding of Spasticity Using the Pendulum Test","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESpasticity is a condition in which muscles are contract strongly, resulting\u0026nbsp;stiffness or tightness, and quite often, pain. Usually caused by damage to the brain or spinal cord, it\u0026rsquo;s particularly common in people with neurological maladies like cerebral palsy or stroke.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECerebral palsy (CP) is the most common cause of physical disability in children in most developed countries, and spastic CP is the most common form of the disorder. For these patients (and others), spasticity can be severely debilitating, negatively impacting their movement, speech, gait, and overall quality of life.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe lab of \u003Cstrong\u003ELena Ting\u003C\/strong\u003E, professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory, and in the Division of Physical Therapy in Emory\u0026rsquo;s Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, is tackling the problem, shedding new light on issues underlying spasticity.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETing\u0026rsquo;s lab is part of an international collaborative effort with a recently published research article in the open access scientific journal, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/journals.plos.org\/plosone\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.pone.0205763\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPLOS One\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E. \u003C\/em\u003EShe is corresponding author of, \u0026ldquo;Interaction between muscle tone, short-range stiffness and increased sensory feedback\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003Egains explains key kinematic features of the pendulum test in spastic cerebral palsy: A\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003Esimulation study.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe pendulum test is a sensitive clinical assessment of spasticity in which the lower leg is\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003Edropped from the horizontal position and the features of leg motion are recorded. \u0026ldquo;This problem actually arose out of a homework problem for my Computational Neuromechanics class, where we simulate the leg as a pendulum,\u0026rdquo; said Ting.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn typically-developed people, the swinging leg behaves like a damped pendulum, with the angle of leg swing decreasing as it oscillates several times before coming to rest. In children with spastic CP, three key differences in the leg motion are observed: Reduced angle of leg swing in the first oscillation, \u0026nbsp;fewer oscillations, and the coming to rest at a less vertical angle.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOverall, the decrease in the first swing has been found to be the best predictor of spasticity severity, but why this is the case is has not been clear. Ting\u0026rsquo;s team hypothesized that increased muscle tone\u0026ndash; the continual contraction of muscles while at rest\u0026shy;\u0026ndash;accounts for both the reduced leg swing and the non-vertical resting leg angle. This idea contrasts with the clinical explanation of spasticity as an abnormal increase in the activation of reflexes as the leg is stretched with higher velocities.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;We were stumped because the clinical explanation of increased velocity-dependent reflexes didn\u0026rsquo;t generate realistic motion,\u0026rdquo; Ting said. \u0026ldquo;But we happened to be working on a different research project studying an interesting property of muscles called short-range stiffness, which increases when muscles are activated. We wanted to know if this very rapid rise and drop of resistive force in muscles when they are stretched could explain the parts of the pendulum test that were giving us a hard time in the simulation.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESo the researchers developed and tested a physiologically-plausible computer simulation of how muscle tone and reflexes would interact to reproduce key features of the pendulum test for spasticity across a range of severity levels. Their new model helps to explain a whole range of pendulum test kinematics in people with and without CP.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Increased muscle tone plays a primary role in generating a key feature of the leg motion that is most closely related to the level of spasticity,\u0026rdquo; Ting explained. \u0026ldquo;Even when reflexes are increased,\u0026nbsp; can only account for pendulum test results across the spectrum of spasticity severity if we also increase muscle tone and short-range stiffness. This is exciting because the pendulum test is more objective than a clinician\u0026rsquo;s subjective assessment of leg stiffness. And with our model we can now begin to understand how multiple mechanisms of spasticity might interact to cause abnormal body motion, not just in the pendulum test, but in everyday movements.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ELead author of the paper was Friedl De Groote, assistant professor in the Department of Movement Sciences at KU Leuven in Belgium. Other authors were both researchers from Ting\u0026rsquo;s lab, Kyle Blum and Brian Horslen.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"New model lends additional insight into physiological mechanisms of spasticity in cerebral palsy  "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENew model lends additional insight into physiological mechanisms of spasticity in cerebral palsy\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New model lends additional insight into physiological mechanisms of spasticity in cerebral palsy  "}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2019-09-05 17:46:17","changed_gmt":"2019-09-05 17:49:04","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-09-05T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-09-05T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"625694":{"id":"625694","type":"image","title":"Lena Ting","body":null,"created":"1567705364","gmt_created":"2019-09-05 17:42:44","changed":"1567705364","gmt_changed":"2019-09-05 17:42:44","alt":"","file":{"fid":"238206","name":"Lena Ting-cropped (1).jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Lena%20Ting-cropped%20%281%29.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Lena%20Ting-cropped%20%281%29.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":467333,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Lena%20Ting-cropped%20%281%29.jpg?itok=mCq-yb8f"}},"625695":{"id":"625695","type":"image","title":"Pendulum","body":null,"created":"1567705416","gmt_created":"2019-09-05 17:43:36","changed":"1567705416","gmt_changed":"2019-09-05 17:43:36","alt":"","file":{"fid":"238207","name":"PendulumTest-Lena-Lab-IMG_4895-export.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/PendulumTest-Lena-Lab-IMG_4895-export.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/PendulumTest-Lena-Lab-IMG_4895-export.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1814418,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/PendulumTest-Lena-Lab-IMG_4895-export.jpg?itok=azhO27-i"}}},"media_ids":["625694","625695"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"},{"id":"171587","name":"cerebral palsy"},{"id":"182233","name":"pendulum test"},{"id":"1612","name":"BME"},{"id":"2266","name":"Lena Ting"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"624928":{"#nid":"624928","#data":{"type":"news","title":"NIH Award Supports Groundbreaking Brain Research at Tech","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe inner-workings of the neural circuitry that underlies brain function is better understood today thanks to recent technological advances developing new tools that increasingly peel back the mysteries of the three pounds of gray tissue between our ears. Still, the neural circuits whose dysfunction lead to disorders like epilepsy, Parkinson\u0026rsquo;s disease, and depression (among others) remain shrouded and difficult to study and model, because of their complex network of interconnections and loops.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut a team of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology wants develop intelligent closed-loop algorithms for turning measurements into precise actions in real time \u0026ndash; kind of like those used in technologies such as self-driving cars and robotics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Intelligent algorithms for interacting with the brain holds promise to help us alleviate diseases with no current treatments, as well as better understanding the basis of human intelligence,\u0026rdquo; says \u003Cstrong\u003EChris Rozell\u003C\/strong\u003E, professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, who is leading the study with \u003Cstrong\u003EGarrett Stanley\u003C\/strong\u003E, professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. Both are researchers in the the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at Georgia Tech, where Rozell also is a member of the Center for Machine Learning and Stanley is co-director of the Neural Engineering Center.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETheir project just received a $1.6 million, five-year award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)\/National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and stroke (NINDS) through a long-standing and innovative NSF\/NIH partnership in the Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience (CRCNS) program. The project leverages neurotechnology and engineering advances to pioneer a nascent field, closed-loop computational neuroscience.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;There has been an explosion of remarkable advances in both neuroengineering and machine learning, making the intersection of these fields one of the most exciting frontiers I can imagine,\u0026rdquo; adds Rozell. \u0026ldquo;I am excited that this collaborative project will allow us to pioneer these interactive neurotechnology advances.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERather than just analyzing data after an experiment, the team\u0026rsquo;s integrative approach will develop real-time algorithms that operate as a type of autopilot for a neural circuit, \u0026ldquo;where we can lock in a precise response, regardless of surrounding activity,\u0026rdquo; Rozell says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe five-year project, called \u0026ldquo;Closed-Loop Computational Neuroscience for Causally Dissecting Circuits,\u0026rdquo; will build on the theory, methods, and findings of engineering, \u0026nbsp;computer science, neuroscience, and other disciplines (machine learning and genetics, for example). Through the CRCNS program, the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health (along with several international partners) support collaborative activities designed to advance understanding of nervous system structure and function, the mechanisms underlying nervous system disorders, and the computational strategies used by the nervous system.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The advances in tools that we and others have made in precisely measuring and manipulating neurons and neural circuits now make it possible to read \u003Cem\u003Eand\u003C\/em\u003E write brain activity at the same time, and communicate with the brain in the fast timescale on which it operates,\u0026rdquo; says Stanley, professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering. \u0026ldquo;We think this is a game-changer, experimentally and computationally.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Rozell and Stanley leading five-year, $1.6 million study to develop new algorithms to interact with neural circuitry"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERozell and Stanley leading five-year, $1.6 million study to develop new algorithms to interact with neural circuitry\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Rozell and Stanley leading five-year, $1.6 million study to develop new algorithms to interact with neural circuitry"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2019-08-21 18:24:48","changed_gmt":"2019-09-04 15:49:47","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-08-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-08-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"624927":{"id":"624927","type":"image","title":"Stanley and Rozell","body":null,"created":"1566411708","gmt_created":"2019-08-21 18:21:48","changed":"1566411708","gmt_changed":"2019-08-21 18:21:48","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237935","name":"rozell and stanley.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rozell%20and%20stanley.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rozell%20and%20stanley.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":526891,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rozell%20and%20stanley.jpg?itok=sOVtEXh3"}}},"media_ids":["624927"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"111361","name":"BRAIN initiative"},{"id":"5443","name":"Neuroengineering"},{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["Jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"625023":{"#nid":"625023","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Cassie Mitchell Receives 2019 Award from the American Neurological Association ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe American Neurological Association (ANA), the professional organization representing the nation\u0026rsquo;s top academic neurologists and neuroscientists, has announced the winners of its \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/myana.org\/publications\/news\/american-neurological-association-announces-recipients-2019-awards-outstanding\u0022\u003E2019 scientific awards\u003C\/a\u003E, to be presented at the 144th ANA Annual Meeting, to be held at the Marriott St. Louis Grand, October 13-15, 2019. The awards recognize leaders in academic neurology and neuroscience who have exemplified excellence in research, teaching, and clinical practice across the gamut of clinical neurology and neuroscience disciplines.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This year\u0026rsquo;s awardees reflect the cutting\u0026ndash;edge research being done at every career stage across neurology and neuroscience,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Cstrong\u003EDavid M. Holtzman\u003C\/strong\u003E, MD, president of the ANA and Andrew B. and Gretchen P. Jones Professor and Chairman, Dept. of Neurology at the Washington University School of Medicine. \u0026ldquo;The pace of advances we\u0026rsquo;re seeing in translational neuroscience and the neurobiology of disease are extraordinary. We hope the gains will inspire the new generation of physician scientists to pursue careers that combine research and teaching with clinical practice. There has never been a more exciting time to work in academic neurology.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEach year, the ANA Annual Meeting convenes more than 900 of the nation\u0026#39;s top academic neurologists and neuroscientists to share updates and late-breaking research on the diseases that affect more than 100 million Americans each year including stroke, Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s disease, Parkinson\u0026rsquo;s disease, neuromuscular disorders, headache, traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and more.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDerek Denny-Brown Young Neurological Scholars \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Derek Denny-Brown Young Neurological Awards are clinical awards given each year during the Annual Meeting to new members of the association who have achieved significant stature in neurological research, and who show promise and will continue making major contributions to the field of neurology.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Derek Denny-Brown Young Neurological Scholar Award in Neuroscience went to \u003Cstrong\u003ECassie S. Mitchell\u003C\/strong\u003E, Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology. Her presentation title: Literature-based discovery facilitates predictive medicine for neurological disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFull list of ANA 2019 \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/myana.org\/publications\/news\/american-neurological-association-announces-recipients-2019-awards-outstanding\u0022\u003Ewinners\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Awards recognize work in the genetics of Alzheimer\u2019s disease, the microbiome and stroke, clinical trial design, and more"}],"uid":"27513","created_gmt":"2019-08-22 18:01:52","changed_gmt":"2019-08-27 18:09:52","author":"Walter Rich","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-08-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-08-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"611792":{"id":"611792","type":"image","title":"Cassie Mitchell, Ph.D.","body":null,"created":"1537544798","gmt_created":"2018-09-21 15:46:38","changed":"1566497036","gmt_changed":"2019-08-22 18:03:56","alt":"Cassie Mitchell, assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.","file":{"fid":"232913","name":"17C10203-P2-002.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/17C10203-P2-002.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/17C10203-P2-002.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":380671,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/17C10203-P2-002.jpg?itok=79kyVS5Y"}}},"media_ids":["611792"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1612","name":"BME"},{"id":"23101","name":"cassie mitchell"},{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWalter Rich\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["wrich@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"620250":{"#nid":"620250","#data":{"type":"news","title":"How to Influence Perception","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMice have a bad and undeserved reputation as an animal that can\u0026rsquo;t see very well, a characterization upheld most notably (and somewhat tragically) by the song \u003Cem\u003EThree Blind Mice\u003C\/em\u003E. And also by the fact that mice really can\u0026rsquo;t see very well (they resolve less detail in a visual scene than humans).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut, they see well enough to quickly detect visual stimuli throughout their visual fields.\u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/haider.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EBilal Haider\u003C\/a\u003E says this makes mice an excellent model system, \u0026ldquo;for studying how neural circuits mediate rapid visual behaviors \u0026ndash; mice are a very good model for studying what can happen in humans making fast decisions about visual information.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHaider, assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, and his colleagues prove the value of mice while demonstrating how the brain visually detects and perceives visual stimuli in their latest research, entitled \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cell.com\/cell-reports\/pdf\/S2211-1247(19)30216-5.pdf\u0022\u003E\u0026ldquo;Cortical State Fluctuations across Layers of V1 during Visual Spatial Perception,\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/a\u003E published recently in the journal \u003Cem\u003ECell Reports\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This paper shows that mice can detect a small, faint object appearing very briefly and unpredictably in the visual field, and they can respond to this stimuli in less than half a second, and make a precise motor response,\u0026rdquo; explains Haider, corresponding author of the paper, whose co-researchers on the project were lead authors Anderson Speed and co-author Joseph Del Rosario, grad students in his lab, and Christopher P. Burgess, a researcher at Google DeepMind in the UK.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Actually, mice have a very fast visual system to produce actions, not that much slower than ours,\u0026rdquo; Haider adds.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the paper, the authors explain that behavioral factors like sleep, wakefulness, and movement have strong effects on the state of cortical activity. And while Haider and others have previous established that cortical states have profound effects on sensory responses, there remain unresolved questions about cortical states and their effects on the speed and accuracy of sensory perception.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESo, to address the questions they trained mice to detect visual stimuli appearing in discrete portions of the visual field. And they simultaneously measured local field potentials (an electrophysiological signal generated by the electric current flowing from large populations of neurons) and excitatory and inhibitory neuron populations across layers of the primary visual cortex that receives visual information.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThrough their experiments, Haider\u0026rsquo;s team showed that changes in cortical activity states exert strong, widespread effects in a mouse\u0026rsquo;s primary visual cortex, and can play a prominent role for visual spatial behavior.\u0026nbsp; Haider\u0026rsquo;s team could use this neural activity to \u0026ldquo;mind read\u0026rdquo; and accurately predict perceptual outcomes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBasically, the team figured out, Haider says, \u0026ldquo;that the properties of the visual system in mice, especially the way they use vision for behavior, and the neural activity that we see in their visual system, is remarkably similar to what\u0026rsquo;s seen in primates and humans.\u0026nbsp; This will allow us to use the mouse as a platform for studying neural circuits underlying visual dysfunctions in models of neurological diseases.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Research from Haider lab demonstrates that visual behavior is impacted by the moment-to-moment state of activity in the primary visual cortex"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearch from Haider lab demonstrates that visual behavior is impacted by the moment-to-moment state of activity in the primary visual cortex\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Research from Haider lab demonstrates that visual behavior is impacted by the moment-to-moment state of activity in the primary visual cortex"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2019-04-09 19:34:39","changed_gmt":"2019-04-09 19:34:39","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-04-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-04-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"620249":{"id":"620249","type":"image","title":"Haider lab","body":null,"created":"1554837939","gmt_created":"2019-04-09 19:25:39","changed":"1554837939","gmt_changed":"2019-04-09 19:25:39","alt":"","file":{"fid":"236157","name":"Haider lab.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Haider%20lab.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Haider%20lab.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":518503,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Haider%20lab.jpg?itok=hd23dqm5"}}},"media_ids":["620249"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"},{"id":"172970","name":"go-neuro"},{"id":"180997","name":"cortical vision"},{"id":"180998","name":"visual cortex"},{"id":"1612","name":"BME"},{"id":"180999","name":"mice"},{"id":"181000","name":"visual field"},{"id":"181001","name":"cortical activity"},{"id":"181002","name":"motor response"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["Jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"618058":{"#nid":"618058","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Sloan Foundation Awards Fellowships to Two BME Faculty","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETwo faculty members from the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University have been awarded research fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The fellowships, awarded yearly since 1955, honor early-career scholars whose achievements mark them as among the most promising researchers in their fields.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn receiving their fellowships, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dyerlab.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEva Dyer\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/snel.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EChethan Pandarinath\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, assistant professors in the Coulter Department, are ranked among \u0026ldquo;the best young scientists working today,\u0026rdquo; according to Adam F. Falk, president of the Sloan Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Sloan Fellows stand out for their creativity, for their hard work, for the importance of the issues they tackle and the energy and innovation with which they tackle them,\u0026rdquo; Falk said. \u0026ldquo;To be a Sloan Fellow is to be in the vanguard of 21\u003Csup\u003Est\u003C\/sup\u003E-century science.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPast Sloan Research Fellows include many towering figures in the history of science, including physicists Richard Feynman and Murray Gell-Mann, and game theorist John Nash. Forty-seven fellows have received a Nobel Prize in their respective field, 17 have won the Fields Medal in mathematics, 69 have received the National Medal of Science and 18 have won the John Bates Clark Medal in economics, including every winner since 2007.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It is truly remarkable for one department to have two Sloan Research Fellowship winners in the same year,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Susan-Margulies\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESusan Margulies\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, Coulter Department Chair. \u0026ldquo;Last year, Bilal Haider from BME won a Sloan Fellowship, and Annabelle Singer was awarded a Packard Fellowship. Three Sloan awards and a Packard Fellowship in just two years are evidence of the brilliance and thought leadership of our early-stage neuro-engineering faculty.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDyer\u0026rsquo;s research interests lie at the intersection of machine learning, optimization and neuroscience. Her lab develops computational methods for discovering principles that govern the organization and structure of the brain, as well as methods for integrating multi-modal datasets to reveal the link between neural structure and function.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPandarinath, who is also an assistant professor in Emory\u0026rsquo;s Department of Neurosurgery as well as the Emory Neuromodulation Technology Innovation Center, leads the Emory and Georgia Tech Systems Neural Engineering Lab. He\u0026rsquo;s part of an interdisciplinary team at Emory and Georgia Tech working to better understand how large networks of neurons in the brain encode information and control behavior. Pandarinath\u0026rsquo;s team hopes to design new brain-machine interface technologies to help restore movement to people who are paralyzed, including those affected by spinal cord injury and stroke, and by Parkinson\u0026rsquo;s disease and ALS.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EValued not only for their prestige, Sloan Research Fellowships are a highly flexible source of research support. Funds may be spent in any way a fellow deems will best advance his or her work. Drawn this year from 57 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, the 2019 Sloan Research Fellows represent a diverse array of research interests.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOpen to scholars in eight scientific and technical fields \u0026mdash; chemistry, computer science, economics, mathematics, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, neuroscience, ocean sciences and physics \u0026mdash; the Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded in close coordination with the scientific community. Candidates must be nominated by their fellow scientists, and winning fellows are selected by independent panels of senior scholars on the basis of a candidate\u0026rsquo;s research accomplishments, creativity and potential to become a leader in his or her field. Winners receive a two-year, $70,000 fellowship to further their research.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a philanthropic, not-for-profit grant making institution based in New York City. Established in 1934 by Alfred Pritchard Sloan Jr., then-president and CEO of the General Motors Corporation, the Foundation makes grants in support of original research and education in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and economics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Eva Dyer and Chethan Pandarinath ranked among top young scientists in the country"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EEva Dyer and Cheneth Pandarinath ranked among top young scientists in the country\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Eva Dyer and Chethan Pandarinath ranked among top young scientists in the country"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2019-02-19 15:07:49","changed_gmt":"2019-03-05 17:15:06","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-02-19T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2019-02-19T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"618057":{"id":"618057","type":"image","title":"Sloan Fellowship","body":null,"created":"1550588657","gmt_created":"2019-02-19 15:04:17","changed":"1550588657","gmt_changed":"2019-02-19 15:04:17","alt":"","file":{"fid":"235271","name":"Sloan.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Sloan.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Sloan.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":602749,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Sloan.jpg?itok=SKiZIoD-"}}},"media_ids":["618057"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"1612","name":"BME"},{"id":"180564","name":"Sloan Fellowship"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["Jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"617329":{"#nid":"617329","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Support for New Strategies to Restore Movement","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EChethan Pandarinath\u003C\/strong\u003E, assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory, has been awarded an Interdisciplinary Rehabilitation Engineering Research Career Development Grant (IREK12) through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Pandarinath is also an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Emory University and a member of the Emory Neuromodulation Technology Innovation Center (ENTICe).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe grant, entitled \u0026ldquo;A novel brain-machine interface for rehabilitation,\u0026rdquo; aims to develop new strategies to help restore movement to people who are paralyzed, including those affected by spinal cord injury and stroke. Brain-machine interface systems interface directly with the brain to allow people with paralysis to control external assistive devices, such as robotic arms or exoskeletons, or to control the movement of their own limbs through direct electrical stimulation of muscles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn previous work at Stanford, Pandarinath and colleagues developed brain-machine interfaces that focused on a particular portion of the brain known as the motor cortex. In the current study, Pandarinath, in collaboration with colleagues in the departments of Neurosurgery and Neurology at Emory, hopes to test whether multiple areas of the brain, which each control different aspects of movement, might provide complementary signals for controlling brain-machine interfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe mission of the Interdisciplinary Rehabilitation Engineering Career Development program is to recruit and train scholars with engineering and other quantitative backgrounds to become successful rehabilitation scientists in basic, translational, and\/or clinical research. These rehabilitation scientists will have the ability to integrate knowledge from the various disciplines involved in Movement and Rehabilitation Science (MRS) research, including engineering, quantitative neuroscience and physiology, and affiliated clinical sciences.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe program is supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under award number K12HD073945.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"BME\/Petit Institute researcher Chethan Pandarinath awarded NIH Grant to develop brain-machine interfaces for rehabilitation"}],"uid":"27513","created_gmt":"2019-02-05 14:46:26","changed_gmt":"2019-02-05 19:30:26","author":"Walter Rich","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-02-05T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2019-02-05T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"617327":{"id":"617327","type":"image","title":"Chethan Pandarinath, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University","body":null,"created":"1549377889","gmt_created":"2019-02-05 14:44:49","changed":"1549377904","gmt_changed":"2019-02-05 14:45:04","alt":"Chethan Pandarinath, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University","file":{"fid":"234954","name":"pandarinath_520.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/pandarinath_520_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/pandarinath_520_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":127851,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/pandarinath_520_0.jpg?itok=TUK_5qia"}}},"media_ids":["617327"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1612","name":"BME"},{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"},{"id":"172970","name":"go-neuro"},{"id":"126201","name":"go-neural"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWalter Rich\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["wrich@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"607134":{"#nid":"607134","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Team Receives DARPA Grant to Apply Neuroscience to Machine Learning","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESiri knows where you live, but she couldn\u0026rsquo;t drive you there. Despite their name, artificial neural networks are very different from the brain. Yet machine learning performance could be improved if informed by state-of-the-art neuroscience.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA team of researchers from Georgia Tech and other local universities would study this problem with a grant up to $2 million, dependent on successful completion of milestones, from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency\u0026rsquo;s (DARPA) Lifelong Learning Machines (L2M) program managed by Dr. \u003Cstrong\u003EHava Siegelmann\u003C\/strong\u003E. DARPA\u0026rsquo;s goal would be to develop new machine learning approaches that enable systems to learn continually while they operate and apply prior knowledge to new situations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Computer Science Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/~dovrolis\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EConstantine Dovrolis\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E Senior Research Scientist \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/~zk15\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EZsolt Kira\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, Georgia State University neuroscience Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/shared.cas.gsu.edu\/profile\/sarah-pallas\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESarah Pallas\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, and Emory biology Associate Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.biology.emory.edu\/index.cfm?faculty=39\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAstrid Prinz\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E are collaborating on the two-year project.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBringing neural networks to the 21\u003Csup\u003Est\u003C\/sup\u003E century\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe concept of modeling a computational neural network based on the brain first arose in the 1950s, but it hasn\u0026rsquo;t evolved much since.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Obviously, since the \u0026lsquo;50s there\u0026rsquo;s been a lot of progress in neuroscience, but not a lot of it has translated to machine learning,\u0026rdquo; Kira said. \u0026ldquo;Supervised machine learning through neural networks is fundamentally a computer scientist\u0026rsquo;s translation of a high-level understanding of the brain from the past. But I think there\u0026rsquo;s a lot we can learn from contemporary neuroscience.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of the fundamental problems of machine learning that neuroscience could alleviate is what Dovrolis calls \u0026ldquo;catastrophic forgetting.\u0026rdquo; When the artificial neural network learns a new task, it often forgets the previous one.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Deep learning networks are very different from the brain, both in terms of structure (architecture) and function (dynamics),\u0026rdquo; Dovrolis said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETake the brain of a baby. Within the first few years of life, it not only has the ability to learn but also to generalize with very little supervision. Dovrolis believes that machine learning can achieve the same goal but only through a major departure from the currently established machine learning paradigms.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The brain is really the only example of general intelligence we have,\u0026rdquo; Dovrolis said. \u0026ldquo;It makes sense to take that example, identify its fundamental principles, and transfer them to the computational domain.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBridging the gap between neuro and computer science\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt may make sense, but it\u0026rsquo;s also controversial. Many computer scientists see the brain as mere hardware, and they prefer to focus instead on more statistical machine learning approaches. This is why this project is so unique: It brings together different ideas from network science, machine learning, evolutionary computing, computational neuroscience, and systems neuroscience \u0026mdash; fields that should\u0026rsquo;ve been working together from the start.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s easier for each field to work by themselves because it\u0026rsquo;s very comfortable,\u0026rdquo; Kira said. \u0026ldquo;But there\u0026rsquo;s a lot of potential if you actually make the effort to bring people together.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYet working with neuroscientists doesn\u0026rsquo;t just benefit computer scientists. Many neuroscientists believe computing could help with better modeling of biological networks, and ultimately, a deeper understanding of how the brain works.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Neuroscience can in turn be guided by results from machine learning research that can inform new experiments to deepen our understanding of the brain,\u0026rdquo; Prinz said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of these examples is the flexibility of the brain.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Neural circuits in the developing brain are highly flexible and adaptable to environmental changes, which endows them with an ability to learn rapidly and to self-repair after damage,\u0026rdquo; Pallas said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAdult brains are much less plastic, so one of the neuroscientists\u0026rsquo; goals is to uncover the neuronal mechanism that regulates the level of plasticity versus stability in brain circuits. With this, they can harness the mechanism for medical purposes and design machines that can continue learning without forgetting.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EApproaching the research\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe project should attempt to address five goals of the L2M program:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026bull; \u003Cstrong\u003EContinual learning:\u003C\/strong\u003E The building block of the cortex is a largely invariant structure referred to as a \u0026ldquo;cortical column.\u0026rdquo; The function of cortical columns is not known yet, but it seems that they act as associative memories and predictors. The structure of cortical columns suggests that recurrent neural networks could learn incrementally and in an unsupervised manner simply by interacting with the environment.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026bull; \u003Cstrong\u003EAdaptation to new tasks\/environments:\u003C\/strong\u003E These cortical columns could interconnect through deep brain-wide hierarchies and nested feedback loops that interact and inform each other, enabling the brain to adapt to different environments with minimal need for re-training.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026bull; \u003Cstrong\u003EGoal-driven perception: \u003C\/strong\u003EAt any time, the brain is receiving data from many sensory sources. Hierarchical neural networks could use task-driven inputs to adjust low-level sensory processing and integration dynamically, depending on top-down goal-related signals.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026bull; \u003Cstrong\u003ESelective plasticity:\u003C\/strong\u003E The project should be investigating how the connections and weights between (artificial) neurons could be adjusted when a new task is encountered, without catastrophically forgetting previous tasks. Neuromodulator-driven plasticity and homeostatic plasticity are two biological mechanisms that could be transferred in machine learning to address this problem.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026bull; \u003Cstrong\u003EMonitoring and safety:\u003C\/strong\u003E Researchers would also investigate how to ensure stability and safety, based on the organization of the brain\u0026rsquo;s autonomic nervous system. Additionally, the safety concern could be further addressed through an \u0026ldquo;artificial impulse control\u0026rdquo; system, operating on the same prediction principles as the corresponding cortical system.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis research could allow machine learning to become increasingly adaptive and continually learn, which could have vast applications. A self-driving car could be programmed in the summer, but with these principles, it could learn how to drive in previously untested winter conditions. Siri could be next.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EApproved for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New research for DARPA combines neuroscience and computer science to work on machine learning problems."}],"uid":"34541","created_gmt":"2018-06-18 16:14:55","changed_gmt":"2018-06-19 13:34:06","author":"Tess Malone","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-06-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-06-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"607135":{"id":"607135","type":"image","title":"Neuroscience DARPA","body":null,"created":"1529339338","gmt_created":"2018-06-18 16:28:58","changed":"1529339338","gmt_changed":"2018-06-18 16:28:58","alt":"brain","file":{"fid":"231585","name":"Processing-Artificial-Brain-Intelligence-Circuit-1845944.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Processing-Artificial-Brain-Intelligence-Circuit-1845944.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Processing-Artificial-Brain-Intelligence-Circuit-1845944.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":108502,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Processing-Artificial-Brain-Intelligence-Circuit-1845944.jpg?itok=4plsYn63"}}},"media_ids":["607135"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"50875","name":"School of Computer Science"},{"id":"545781","name":"Institute for Data Engineering and Science"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETess Malone, Communications Officer\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:tess.malone@cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Etess.malone@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["tess.malone@cc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"609369":{"#nid":"609369","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Neuroscientists Team with Engineers to Explore how the Brain Controls Movement","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EScientists have made remarkable advances into recording the electrical activity that the nervous system uses to control complex skills, leading to insights into how the nervous system directs an animal\u0026rsquo;s behavior.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We can record the electrical activity of a single neuron, and large groups of neurons, as animals learn and perform skilled behaviors,\u0026rdquo; says\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/soberlab\/dr-sober\/\u0022\u003ESamuel Sober\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor of biology at Emory University who studies the brain and nervous system. \u0026ldquo;What\u0026rsquo;s missing,\u0026rdquo; he adds, \u0026ldquo;is the technology to precisely record the electrical signals of the muscles that ultimately control that movement.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Sober lab is now developing that technology through a collaboration with the lab of\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/muhannad-s-bakir\u0022\u003EMuhannad Bakir\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The researchers recently received a $200,000 Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Award from the McKnight Foundation to create a device that can record electrical action potentials, or \u0026ldquo;spikes\u0026rdquo; within muscles of songbirds and rodents. The technology will be used to help understand the neural control of many different skilled behaviors to potentially gain insights into neurological disorders that affect motor control.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our device will be the first that lets you record populations of spikes from all of the muscles involved in controlling a complex behavior,\u0026rdquo; Sober says. \u0026ldquo;This technique will offer unprecedented access to the neural signals that control muscles, allowing previously impossible investigations into how the brain controls the body.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;By combining expertise in the life sciences at Emory with the engineering expertise of Georgia Tech, we are able to enter new scientific territory,\u0026rdquo; Bakir says. \u0026ldquo;The ultimate goal is to make discoveries that improve the quality of life of people.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Sober lab previously developed a prototype device \u0026mdash; electrodes attached to flexible wires \u0026mdash; to measure electrical activity in a breathing muscle used by Bengalese finches to sing. The way birds control their song has a lot in common with human speech, both in how it is learned early in life and how it is produced in adulthood. The neural pathways for birdsong are also well known, and restricted to that one activity, making birds a good model system for studying nervous system function.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In experiments using our prototype, we discovered that, just like in brain cells, precise spike timing patterns in muscle cells are critical for controlling behavior \u0026mdash; in this case breathing,\u0026rdquo; Sober says.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe prototype device, however, is basic. Its 16 electrodes can only record activity from a single muscle \u0026mdash; not the entire ensemble of muscles involved in birdsong. In order to gain a fuller picture of how neural signals control movement, neuroscientists need a much more sophisticated device.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe McKnight funding allowed Sober to team up with Bakir. Their goal is to create a micro-scale electromyography (EMG) sensor array, containing more than 1,000 electrodes, to record single-cellular data across many muscles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe engineering challenges are formidable. The arrays need to be flexible enough to fit the shape of small muscles used in fine motor skills, and to change shape as the muscles contract. The entire device must also be tiny enough not to impede the movement of a small animal.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our first step is to build a flexible substrate on the micro-scale that can support high-density electrodes,\u0026rdquo; Bakir says. \u0026ldquo;And we will need to use microchips that work in parallel with 1,000 electrodes, and then attach them to that substrate.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo meet that challenge, the Bakir lab will create a 3D integrated circuit. \u0026ldquo;Essentially, it\u0026rsquo;s building a miniature skyscraper of electrical circuits stacked vertically atop one another,\u0026rdquo; Bakir says. This vertical design will allow the researchers to minimize the size of the flexible substrate.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;To our knowledge, no one has done what we are trying to do in this project,\u0026rdquo; Bakir says. \u0026ldquo;That makes it more difficult, but also exciting because we are entering new space.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Sober lab will use the new device to expand its songbird vocalization studies. And it will explore how the nervous system controls the muscles involved when a mouse performs skilled movements with its forelimbs.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAn early version of the technology will also be shared with collaborators of the Sober lab at three different universities. These collaborators will further test the arrays, while also gathering data across more species.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We know so little about how the brain organizes skilled behaviors,\u0026rdquo; Sober says. \u0026ldquo;Once we perfect this technology, we will make it available to researchers in this field around the world, to advance knowledge as rapidly as possible.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe mission of the McKnight Foundation\u0026rsquo;s Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Award, as described on its website, is \u0026ldquo;to bring science closer to the day when diseases of the brain and behavior can be accurately diagnosed, prevented and treated.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EEmory and Georgia Tech researchers recently received a $200,000 Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Award from the McKnight Foundation\u0026nbsp;to create a device that can record electrical action potentials, or \u0026ldquo;spikes\u0026rdquo; within muscles of songbirds and rodents.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Emory and Georgia Tech researchers recently received a $200,000 Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Award from the McKnight Foundation"}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2018-08-07 13:42:31","changed_gmt":"2018-08-07 13:49:17","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-08-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-08-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"609372":{"id":"609372","type":"image","title":"McKnight neuroscience award Emory and Georgia Tech","body":null,"created":"1533649717","gmt_created":"2018-08-07 13:48:37","changed":"1533649717","gmt_changed":"2018-08-07 13:48:37","alt":"","file":{"fid":"232089","name":"0080103-18AW-F0026.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/0080103-18AW-F0026_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/0080103-18AW-F0026_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":42229,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/0080103-18AW-F0026_0.jpg?itok=CACQ4yEr"}},"609370":{"id":"609370","type":"image","title":"McKnight neuro award Emory and Georgia Tech","body":null,"created":"1533649587","gmt_created":"2018-08-07 13:46:27","changed":"1533649587","gmt_changed":"2018-08-07 13:46:27","alt":"","file":{"fid":"232088","name":"0080103-18AW-F0041.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/0080103-18AW-F0041_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/0080103-18AW-F0041_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":769558,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/0080103-18AW-F0041_0.jpg?itok=k_OnwHeg"}}},"media_ids":["609372","609370"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"178672","name":"McKnight Foundation"},{"id":"1304","name":"neuroscience"},{"id":"176956","name":"action potential"},{"id":"178680","name":"spike"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWriter and media contact: Carol Clark\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003Ecarol.clark@emory.edu\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESenior Science Communicator\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEmory University\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEditor, eScienceCommons\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["carol.clark@emory.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"606336":{"#nid":"606336","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Engineering Training Helps Emory-Georgia Tech Researcher Treat Movement Disorders","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ETing works across multiple disciplines to advance mobility.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nLena Ting explores the unanswered questions in her quest to use engineering principles to understand how people move. Her approach integrates research and education in the fields of neuroscience, biomechanics, engineering, rehabilitation, robotics, neurology and physiology, to ultimately benefit those suffering from movement disorders.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026ldquo;I love that I get to probe interesting and unanswered questions and work at the intersection of a lot of fields,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nTing says she is not building the better device or machine to advance mobility; she is finding the answers to help others build new technologies to impact people and how they move.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nShe is changing the way engineers develop technologies for rehabilitation and health care and helping develop autonomous cooperative robots to enhance, assist and improve impairments in gait and balance.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nTing, a professor and educator at the the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Emory and Georgia Tech, is the 2018 Health Care Hero Award winner in the Allied Health Professional category [by the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bizjournals.com\/atlanta\/news\/2018\/05\/18\/engineering-training-helps-georgia-tech-researcher.html\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAtlanta Business Chronicle\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E].\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nTing brings a unique blend of science, engineering and robotics to improve rehabilitation for individuals with movement disorders and those who have experienced stroke, spinal cord injury or lower limb loss. Her research focuses on the brain and body interactions that impact walking, standing and balance.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026ldquo;The way I think about how people move is how I learned about how machines work,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;When a machine breaks down, you find the root cause. You can describe what is happening but you can\u0026rsquo;t identify the key part that is loose and if I could just tweak it, the symptoms would go away and be resolved. With movement disorders, we have to figure out what causes it.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026ldquo;Lena\u0026rsquo;s research is a perfect example of how biomedical engineering links medicine and engineering to benefit patients,\u0026rdquo; said Susan Margulies, chair of the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. \u0026ldquo;She has made critical discoveries about the connections between signals in the brain and the way our bodies coordinate movement and balance. When injury or disease interrupts these signals, peoples\u0026rsquo; lives are impacted very negatively. Technology and engineering can influence these circuits in a positive way.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nTing has won multiple teaching awards.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026ldquo;If my research is not fun, I can\u0026rsquo;t do it well,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;I like to look at problems that are intellectually challenging and come up with new, out-of-the-box ideas \u0026mdash; that is exciting to me.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nIn one such study, Ting and a Georgia Tech colleague discovered an energy-saving mechanism that helps flamingos balance on one leg while asleep, and that could one day be used to develop novel prosthetic devices. In another, she and her colleagues found that a program called \u0026ldquo;adapted tango\u0026rdquo; improved balance-correcting muscle activity that is impaired in people with Parkinson\u0026rsquo;s disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cstrong\u003ETonya Layman\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nContributing Writer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta Business Chronicle\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Lena Ting named a 2018 Health Care Hero Award winner"}],"uid":"27513","created_gmt":"2018-05-21 16:51:56","changed_gmt":"2018-05-22 16:39:28","author":"Walter Rich","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-05-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-05-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"606335":{"id":"606335","type":"image","title":"Lena Ting, professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Emory and Georgia Tech","body":null,"created":"1526921236","gmt_created":"2018-05-21 16:47:16","changed":"1526921700","gmt_changed":"2018-05-21 16:55:00","alt":"Lena Ting, professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Emory and Georgia Tech","file":{"fid":"231256","name":"LenaTing.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/LenaTing.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/LenaTing.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":649554,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/LenaTing.jpg?itok=5uQr3ntv"}}},"media_ids":["606335"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1612","name":"BME"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWalter Rich\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["wrich@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"609777":{"#nid":"609777","#data":{"type":"news","title":"National Neurotrauma Society Names Michelle LaPlaca  as President-Elect","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe National Neurotrauma Society (NNS) has selected \u003Cstrong\u003EMichelle LaPlaca\u003C\/strong\u003E, associate professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, as its president-elect for the term 2019-2020. The announcement came during the Society\u0026rsquo;s most recent international conference held in Toronto, Canada, August 11-16.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe National Neurotrauma Society seeks to accelerate research that will provide answers for clinicians and ultimately improve the treatments available to patients. The society promotes excellence in the field by providing opportunities for scientists, establishing standards in both basic and clinical research, encouraging and supporting research, and promoting liaisons with other organizations that influence the care and cure of neurotrauma victims.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELaPlaca earned a Ph.D. in bioengineering (1996) and completed her postdoctoral training in neurosurgery while at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests surround translational research in traumatic brain injury (TBI) and concussion. Her research goals are to better understand acute injury mechanisms and mechanotransduction, identify novel TBI biomarkers, and develop multimodal concussion assessment tools. She has won numerous awards for her research and currently serves as vice chair of the Brain Injury Association of Georgia.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"LaPlaca begins her term as president starting in 2019 through 2020 "}],"uid":"27513","created_gmt":"2018-08-15 15:22:07","changed_gmt":"2018-08-15 15:22:07","author":"Walter Rich","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-08-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-08-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"609776":{"id":"609776","type":"image","title":"Michelle LaPlaca, associate professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering","body":null,"created":"1534346428","gmt_created":"2018-08-15 15:20:28","changed":"1534346437","gmt_changed":"2018-08-15 15:20:37","alt":"Michelle LaPlaca, associate professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering","file":{"fid":"232219","name":"MichelleLaPlace_preferred-16C10402-P43-025-edited-HiRes.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/MichelleLaPlace_preferred-16C10402-P43-025-edited-HiRes.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/MichelleLaPlace_preferred-16C10402-P43-025-edited-HiRes.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":338085,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/MichelleLaPlace_preferred-16C10402-P43-025-edited-HiRes.jpg?itok=T4esIz63"}}},"media_ids":["609776"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1612","name":"BME"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWalter Rich\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["wrich@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"610727":{"#nid":"610727","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Arvanitis and Team Receive NSF Award","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECostas Arvanitis, researcher in the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at the Georgia Institute of Technology and assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, is part of an interdisciplinary team of researchers that was awarded an NSF grant to study the coupling of skull-brain vibroacoustics and ultrasound for enhanced therapy and diagnosis.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EArvanitis (also an assistant professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering) and his fellow researchers received a grant designed to support research that addresses demanding, urgent, and consequential challenges for advancing America\u0026rsquo;s prosperity, health and infrastructure.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor more information on the team\u0026rsquo;s work and the grant, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/me.gatech.edu\/news\/LEAP-HIAward\u0022\u003Eread the story here\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Interdisciplinary researchers studycoupling of skull-brain vibroacoustics and ultrasound for enhanced therapy and diagnosis"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EInterdisciplinary researchers studycoupling of skull-brain vibroacoustics and ultrasound for enhanced therapy and diagnosis\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Interdisciplinary researchers studycoupling of skull-brain vibroacoustics and ultrasound for enhanced therapy and diagnosis"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2018-08-31 13:55:51","changed_gmt":"2018-08-31 13:58:17","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-08-31T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-08-31T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"610726":{"id":"610726","type":"image","title":"NSF LEAP-HI","body":null,"created":"1535723516","gmt_created":"2018-08-31 13:51:56","changed":"1535723516","gmt_changed":"2018-08-31 13:51:56","alt":"","file":{"fid":"232531","name":"IMG_0779(web)_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_0779%28web%29_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_0779%28web%29_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":953141,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/IMG_0779%28web%29_0.jpg?itok=U7hxn_mU"}}},"media_ids":["610726"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"611058":{"#nid":"611058","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Buzzing Cancer Drugs into Malignancies in the Brain","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGetting cancer drugs to permeate tumors can be tough, especially in the brain, but researchers have been using ultrasound to massage the drugs into malignancies that have taken root there. A \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/early\/2018\/08\/22\/1807105115\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Enew study\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E details how the experimental method has\u0026nbsp;overcome various barriers to treating cancers in the brain.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The blood-brain barrier is a challenge in the treatment of brain malignancies,\u0026rdquo; said Costas Arvanitis, an \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/pwp.gatech.edu\/arvanitis\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eassistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering.\u003C\/a\u003E \u0026ldquo;Even when a drug reaches the brain\u0026rsquo;s circulation, abnormal blood vessels in and around tumors lead to non-uniform drug delivery with low concentrations in some areas of the tumor.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIf a drug does make it through the distorted blood vessels, then dense tumorous tissue often blocks the drug\u0026rsquo;s path to the malignant cells. Arvanitis co-led the new study with Dr. Vasileios Askoxylakis at Massachusetts General Hospital to explore the effectiveness of ultrasound that is focused on affected brain areas to buzz the drugs through these barriers and into the cancer.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlready, the method had proven effective enough in fighting tumors to make it to phase I clinical trials, but until now, it was not well observed how it actually worked.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBeaming tumors\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EArvanitis, also an assistant professor in the Wallace E. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, and his collaborators sought to determine tissue-level mechanisms behind the new ultrasound treatment\u0026rsquo;s improved drug delivery throughout brain tumors. The findings will help researchers and clinicians fine-tune this potential treatment against cancers in the brain.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team, which included researchers from the University of Edinburgh, and Brigham and Women\u0026rsquo;s Hospital, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/early\/2018\/08\/22\/1807105115\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Epublished its findings in the journal \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E on August 27, 2018\u003C\/a\u003E. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the German Research Foundation, the Solidar-Immun Foundation, the Harvard Ludwig Cancer Center, and the National Foundation for Cancer Research.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe therapy is minimally invasive, focusing multiple beams of ultrasound energy onto a cancerous spot, where microbubbles, tiny lipid bubbles in the bloodstream that vibrate in response to ultrasound signals, can temporarily breach the blood-brain barrier at the target site. That creates an opening for drugs to get through. The microbubbles are injected intravenously before ultrasound is applied.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EObserving success\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team studied the new method on mice with metastasized breast cancer cells in the brain. In lab experiments, the researchers observed improved delivery of two cancer therapies, the common chemotherapy drug doxorubicin, and the targeted drug \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cancer.gov\/publications\/dictionaries\/cancer-terms\/def\/t-dm1\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ET-DM1\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We established that we were able to get more of both drugs across blood vessel walls,\u0026rdquo; said Yutong Guo, a graduate student in Arvanitis\u0026rsquo;s lab and coauthor of the study. \u0026ldquo;The doxorubicin molecule is small, and it got the bigger boost, but altogether, the therapy distributed more of both drugs to more tumor tissue.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlso, the fluid that surrounds cells, interstitial fluid, which can serve as a conduit for drugs, was seen flowing more freely between cells of a tumor in high-resolution images taken following ultrasound treatment. The drugs appeared to make it through significant barriers to reach tumors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Evidence of increased cellular transmembrane transport and uptake of doxorubicin by focused ultrasound was largely unknown until now,\u0026rdquo; Askoxylakis said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe improved delivery dissipated five days after treatment, suggesting that the higher T-DM1 accumulation indeed had resulted from the ultrasound method better permeating blood vessels and tumor tissue.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EOptimizing treatment\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers quantified the changes in tissues and in cellular drug transport properties using mathematical modeling and used this to devise parameters for optimal drug delivery, which may prove useful in the design of new rounds of clinical trials.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;By explaining and underscoring the potential of combining focused ultrasound with different drugs for the treatment of brain metastases, our findings provide important scientific principles for the optimal clinical use of the technology,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/steele.mgh.harvard.edu\/data\/research_statements\/1\/Jain_Full_CV_5_2018_.pdf\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ERakesh Jain, who collaborated on the study and is a professor of radiation oncology at Harvard Medical School\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe study may also stimulate a broader discussion on how some cancer drugs should be administered, perhaps in some cases as a slow infusion rather than a quicker injection. The researchers would like to explore tuning the new method to optimize delivery of varying drugs or engineered immune cells to fight an array of tumors occurring in the brain.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELike this article?\u003Cem\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/subscribe\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESubscribe to our email newsletter\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAlso READ: \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/news\/583569\/punching-cancer-rna-knuckles\u0022\u003EPunching Cancer with RNA Knuckles\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThese researchers co-authored the study: Meenal Datta, Jonas Kloepper, Gino Ferraro, and Dai Fukumura of Steele Labs, Mass Gen Radiation Oncology; Miguel Bernabeu of the University of Edinburgh; and Nathan McDannold of Brigham and Women\u0026rsquo;s Hospital.\u0026nbsp;The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health\u0026rsquo;s National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (grant R00 EB016971) and the National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute (F31 HL126449), the German Research Foundation (grant AS 422-2\/1) and grants from the Solidar-Immun Foundation, the Harvard Ludwig Cancer Center, and the National Foundation for Cancer Research. Findings, opinions, and conclusions are those of the authors and not necessarily of the funding agencies.\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia relations assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404) 660-1408, ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Ben Brumfield\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Focused ultrasound overcomes tissue bulwarks in the brain that cancer erects to hinder drugs from killing it"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFocused ultrasound has thus far successfully improved anti-cancer drug delivery into malignancies in the brain in animal models. As it moves from the research bench to phase I clinical trials, engineers examine the deep mechanisms that have made it work. Here\u0026#39;s what they found.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"As a new anti-cancer drug delivery method heads into phase I clinical trials, researchers explore the tissue-level mechanisms that make it work."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2018-09-06 22:36:32","changed_gmt":"2018-09-12 21:00:11","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-09-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-09-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"611051":{"id":"611051","type":"image","title":"Focused ultrasound cancer drug delivery diagram","body":null,"created":"1536269399","gmt_created":"2018-09-06 21:29:59","changed":"1536331254","gmt_changed":"2018-09-07 14:40:54","alt":"","file":{"fid":"232632","name":"Fig 4A.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Fig%204A.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Fig%204A.png","mime":"image\/png","size":197197,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Fig%204A.png?itok=ZqJpO9FZ"}},"611075":{"id":"611075","type":"image","title":"Focused ultrasound in test set-up 2","body":null,"created":"1536326850","gmt_created":"2018-09-07 13:27:30","changed":"1536331268","gmt_changed":"2018-09-07 14:41:08","alt":"","file":{"fid":"232640","name":"Ultrasound.lab_.sm_.crp_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Ultrasound.lab_.sm_.crp_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Ultrasound.lab_.sm_.crp_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1192589,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Ultrasound.lab_.sm_.crp_.jpg?itok=TOEIhvXq"}},"611052":{"id":"611052","type":"image","title":"Focused ultrasound mathematical modeling ","body":null,"created":"1536269727","gmt_created":"2018-09-06 21:35:27","changed":"1536331285","gmt_changed":"2018-09-07 14:41:25","alt":"","file":{"fid":"232633","name":"Fig 5A2.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Fig%205A2.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Fig%205A2.png","mime":"image\/png","size":608368,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Fig%205A2.png?itok=txdVLrt1"}},"611056":{"id":"611056","type":"image","title":"Costas Arvanitis headshot","body":null,"created":"1536272167","gmt_created":"2018-09-06 22:16:07","changed":"1536331303","gmt_changed":"2018-09-07 14:41:43","alt":"","file":{"fid":"232635","name":"Costas.Arvanitis.small_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Costas.Arvanitis.small_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Costas.Arvanitis.small_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2368544,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Costas.Arvanitis.small_.jpg?itok=guedZZOD"}},"611206":{"id":"611206","type":"image","title":"Yutong Guo in Costas Arvanitis lab","body":null,"created":"1536593265","gmt_created":"2018-09-10 15:27:45","changed":"1536593265","gmt_changed":"2018-09-10 15:27:45","alt":"","file":{"fid":"232698","name":"Yutong.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Yutong.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Yutong.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":280695,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Yutong.JPG?itok=A0BFk8Bp"}},"611057":{"id":"611057","type":"image","title":"Focused ultrasound in test set-up","body":null,"created":"1536272544","gmt_created":"2018-09-06 22:22:24","changed":"1536331236","gmt_changed":"2018-09-07 14:40:36","alt":"","file":{"fid":"232636","name":"Ultrasound.lab_.small_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Ultrasound.lab_.small_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Ultrasound.lab_.small_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2458118,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Ultrasound.lab_.small_.jpg?itok=aKYUjRkE"}}},"media_ids":["611051","611075","611052","611056","611206","611057"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"140","name":"Cancer Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"28521","name":"Brain Cancer"},{"id":"14455","name":"Breast Cancer"},{"id":"10364","name":"Metastasis"},{"id":"178945","name":"malignancy"},{"id":"7677","name":"ultrasound"},{"id":"178946","name":"blood-brain barrier"},{"id":"178947","name":"interstitial fluid"},{"id":"13603","name":"Drug Delivery Systems"},{"id":"178948","name":"tumor vasculature"},{"id":"178949","name":"transmembrane transport"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"611318":{"#nid":"611318","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Pandarinath Part of $1 Million Brain Research Team","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWith support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), scientists at Emory and Georgia Tech, Northwestern and the University of Chicago will use advanced \u0026ldquo;machine learning\u0026rdquo; techniques to decode the complex languages of the nervous system.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe NSF has awarded a team of researchers $1 million over three years to understand how networks of neurons work together to perceive the world and to generate the control signals needed to produce coordinated movement. Their project is titled \u0026ldquo;Discovering dynamics in massive-scale neural datasets using machine learning.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team includes Chethan Pandarinath, PhD, a researcher in the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience and assistant professor in\u0026nbsp;the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University; Lee Miller, PhD at Northwestern; and Matthew Kaufman, PhD at the University of Chicago.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EConventional neuroscientific experiments monitor the activity of just a small fraction of the neurons in any given brain area, and for just a few hours. Here the scientists anticipate being able to create massive datasets using new brain-interfacing technologies. In one set of studies, they aim to monitor much larger numbers of neurons -- up to 10,000 neurons at a time -- using two-photon imaging techniques. In another, the team will monitor for much longer time periods -- over the course of many weeks to months -- as animals go about normal, natural behaviors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHowever, collecting the data is just half the challenge. Being able to analyze and interpret such massive datasets requires innovative new algorithms, which build on \u0026quot;deep learning\u0026quot;-based techniques recently developed in Pandarinath\u0026#39;s lab.\u0026nbsp;Analyzing the data will guide engineers in developing technologies that could help paralyzed people move their limbs, or improve the treatment of people with Parkinson\u0026rsquo;s and other diseases via deep brain stimulation, Pandarinath says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We anticipate that this project will provide windows into the brain\u0026#39;s control of motor behavior that have never before been possible,\u0026rdquo; says Pandarinath, principal investigator of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/snel.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESystems Neural Engineering Lab\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;The framework developed here can be extended from motor behaviors to higher level problems of error processing, decision making, and learning.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe award is one of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/nsf.gov\/news\/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=296505\u0026amp;org=NSF\u0026amp;from=news\u0022\u003E18 NSF-supported grants\u003C\/a\u003E announced this week, which are part of the federal government\u0026rsquo;s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"NSF\u00a0award\u00a0supporting researchers at Georgia Tech, Emory, Northwestern, and the University of Chicago"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENSF\u0026nbsp;award\u0026nbsp;supporting researchers at Georgia Tech, Emory, Northwestern, and the University of Chicago\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"NSF\u00a0award\u00a0supporting researchers at Georgia Tech, Emory, Northwestern, and the University of Chicago"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2018-09-11 17:50:12","changed_gmt":"2018-09-12 11:06:46","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-09-11T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-09-11T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"611316":{"id":"611316","type":"image","title":"Chethan Pandarinath","body":null,"created":"1536687482","gmt_created":"2018-09-11 17:38:02","changed":"1536687482","gmt_changed":"2018-09-11 17:38:02","alt":"","file":{"fid":"232734","name":"Pandarinath Lab members.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Pandarinath%20Lab%20members.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Pandarinath%20Lab%20members.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2725297,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Pandarinath%20Lab%20members.jpg?itok=fY9hcbS3"}}},"media_ids":["611316"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"},{"id":"111361","name":"BRAIN initiative"},{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"12243","name":"brain research"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHolly Korschun, Emory University\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["hkorsch@emory.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"611793":{"#nid":"611793","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Mitchell Gets Alzheimer\u2019s Association Award","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELike a diligent team of detectives, the researchers in Cassie Mitchell\u0026rsquo;s lab are busily gathering evidence to implicate what they believe is the chief suspect in Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s disease, and now they have support from the Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s Association to build their case, in the form of a three-year, $150,000 grant.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt\u0026rsquo;s the latest breakthrough in a saga that began several years ago in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.pathology-dynamics.org\/\u0022\u003EPathology Dynamics Lab\u003C\/a\u003E that Mitchell runs as an assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We work in the realm of predictive medicine, in which we use data to try and predict what we call the three big C\u0026rsquo;s \u0026ndash; causes, cures, and care,\u0026rdquo; says Mitchell, a researcher in the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at Georgia Tech. \u0026ldquo;We wanted to research Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s disease, so I asked my students to go into the published literature and examine the most prevalent data that was out there.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe was shocked by what they ultimately came back with. Their findings showed a minor correlation between amyloid-beta and Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s disease. Mitchell says she nearly panicked. \u0026ldquo;I thought we were going to have so many eggs thrown at us for going against the dogma in the field.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESo they followed that up with further \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/2018\/02\/19\/data-detectives-shift-suspicions-alzheimers-usual-suspect-inside-villain\u0022\u003Edata analysis of the cumulative evidence\u003C\/a\u003E, which showed that plaque from amyloid-beta protein may be an accomplice, but the chief offender is another bad protein, phosphorylated tau (p-tau). Mitchell\u0026rsquo;s team published their study, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), last November in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/content.iospress.com\/articles\/journal-of-alzheimers-disease\/jad170490?resultNumber=0\u0026amp;totalResults=315\u0026amp;start=0\u0026amp;q=mitchell%2C+cassie+s.\u0026amp;dc_issued_year=2017\u0026amp;resultsPageSize=10\u0026amp;rows=10\u0022\u003EJournal of Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s\u003C\/a\u003E Disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In that study we found out, with a more advanced mouse model this time, that amyloid-beta plaque has only a minimal impact in cognitive decline \u0026ndash; it\u0026rsquo;s more like a side effect of the disease,\u0026rdquo; Mitchell says. \u0026ldquo;By the time the plaque forms, cognitive decline is already happening, so targeting the plaque happens too late in the disease process. In that same paper, we were able to show that p-tau, on the other hand, was more strongly tied to cognitive decline. So, long story short, you\u0026rsquo;re probably not going to have a solo target in Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd that\u0026rsquo;s what led Mitchell to submitting an application with the Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s Association International Research Grant Program for her research, entitled, \u0026ldquo;Quilting Disparate Data Patches to Elucidate Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s Disease.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I figured, we\u0026rsquo;re data scientists, why don\u0026rsquo;t we just take in \u003Cem\u003Eall\u003C\/em\u003E of the data? Instead of just going after one target, we should rank all of the potential contributing factors and their different interactions,\u0026rdquo; Mitchell says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe challenge is, rather than trying to mine data from mere hundreds or a few thousand Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s research papers, this time the Mitchell team is sifting through a much bigger data set \u0026ndash; the more than 130,000 Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s papers in the National Library of Medicine\u0026rsquo;s PubMed database. Her lab is creating algorithms to sift through and aggregate the data, \u0026ldquo;like putting together a puzzle,\u0026rdquo; Mitchell says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This award is testament to the innovation and creativity in the project \u0026ndash; the best of the best Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s researchers apply for these grants, so we\u0026rsquo;re honored,\u0026rdquo; she adds. \u0026ldquo;The hope is that there will be spinoff projects and NIH R01 grants to follow. But there is a lot of work to be done. We can\u0026rsquo;t just throw standard data mining techniques at this. It\u0026rsquo;s going to take some ingenuity.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Coulter Department\/Petit Institute researcher building a case against chief suspect in devastating disease"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECoulter Department\/Petit Institute researcher building a case against chief suspect in devastating disease\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Coulter Department\/Petit Institute researcher building a case against chief suspect in devastating disease"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2018-09-21 15:49:22","changed_gmt":"2018-09-21 15:49:22","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-09-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-09-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"611792":{"id":"611792","type":"image","title":"Cassie Mitchell, Ph.D.","body":null,"created":"1537544798","gmt_created":"2018-09-21 15:46:38","changed":"1566497036","gmt_changed":"2019-08-22 18:03:56","alt":"Cassie Mitchell, assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.","file":{"fid":"232913","name":"17C10203-P2-002.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/17C10203-P2-002.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/17C10203-P2-002.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":380671,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/17C10203-P2-002.jpg?itok=79kyVS5Y"}}},"media_ids":["611792"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["Jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"612094":{"#nid":"612094","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Approach to Alzheimer\u2019s","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAnnabelle Singer plans to develop, for the first time, a non-invasive way to drive neural activity with millisecond precision deep within the brain, while at the same time drafting the brain\u0026rsquo;s immune system to treat neurodegenerative diseases. And the National Institutes of Health (NIH) want to help her.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESinger, an assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, received a R01 grant from the NIH for her a grant proposal entitled, \u0026ldquo;Non-Invasive Methods to Drive Neural Activity with Millisecond Precision and to Recruit the Brain\u0026rsquo;s Immune Cells,\u0026rdquo; which will draw almost $2 million over five years from the NIH.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This is really gratifying and it validates the work we\u0026rsquo;re doing,\u0026rdquo; says Singer, a researcher in the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at Tech. \u0026ldquo;The NIH doesn\u0026rsquo;t take big risks, so it shows that they believe we can execute on this project, and the grant lasts long enough for us to really make some headway.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/singer.gatech.edu\/lab\/\u0022\u003ESinger\u0026rsquo;s lab\u003C\/a\u003E recently discovered that flickering sound or a combination of lights and sound at gamma frequency drives neural activity in the deep brain structures, while also rallying microglia (the main form of immune defense in the central nervous system) to engulf pathogenic proteins in mouse models of Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe goal of the group\u0026rsquo;s R01 project is to develop sensory flicker as a non-invasive sensory tool that will translate to humans and spur new research with wide-ranging impact and therapies for multiple neurological diseases.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This is important because current stimulation methods are invasive and usually don\u0026rsquo;t reach deep brain structures,\u0026rdquo; Singer says. \u0026ldquo;There\u0026rsquo;s been some work in this area, but there aren\u0026rsquo;t a lot of options \u0026ndash; they\u0026rsquo;re not very fast, they don\u0026rsquo;t have millisecond precision. This novel approach would spur new possible therapeutic approaches to Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s and other neurological diseases and galvanize new basic science research with wide-ranging impact.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"BME\/Petit Institute researcher using first R01 grant to support non-invasive brain stimulation"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBME\/Petit Institute researcher using first R01 grant to support non-invasive brain stimulation\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"BME\/Petit Institute researcher using first R01 grant to support non-invasive brain stimulation"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2018-09-29 11:58:40","changed_gmt":"2018-09-29 15:48:56","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-09-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-09-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"612095":{"id":"612095","type":"image","title":"Annabelle Singer","body":null,"created":"1538236102","gmt_created":"2018-09-29 15:48:22","changed":"1538236102","gmt_changed":"2018-09-29 15:48:22","alt":"","file":{"fid":"233014","name":"Cropped_ASinger_BrainPicture.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Cropped_ASinger_BrainPicture.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Cropped_ASinger_BrainPicture.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1838451,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Cropped_ASinger_BrainPicture.png?itok=mycpntvx"}}},"media_ids":["612095"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["Jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"612246":{"#nid":"612246","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Dyer Developing New Maps of Global Brain Connectivity","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EEva Dyer, a researcher in the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at the Georgia Institute of Technology, is the recipient of a $175,000 award from the National Science Foundation (NSF).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDyer, who is an assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, was awarded through NSF\u0026rsquo;s CRII program \u0026ndash; the Computer and Information Science and Engineering Research Initiative. Sometimes referred to as the \u0026ldquo;Mini CAREER Award,\u0026rdquo; the program encourages research independence early in a faculty member\u0026rsquo;s career.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe aim of her project, entitled \u0026ldquo;Using Large-Scale Neuroanatomy Datasets to Quantify the Mesoscale Architecture of the Brain,\u0026rdquo; is to develop new computational approaches for modeling the connectivity of the mouse brain, in order to reveal principles of wiring and information routing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs Dyer explains, \u0026ldquo;Methods for revealing the global connections of the brain typically start by tracing a small number of neurons at a time. It is through performing many experiments, in different brain areas and across many brains, that information can be aggregated and consolidated to produce detailed maps of the brain\u0026rsquo;s global networks and architecture.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHer project will leverage whole-brain imaging datasets from the Allen Institute for Brain Science. Each dataset provides a small piece of the puzzle. But, when combined, they can yield a picture of whole-brain connectivity.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The outcomes of this research will be new maps of the global connectivity of the mouse brain, and a framework for studying the impact of disease and aging on whole-brain networks,\u0026rdquo; Dyer says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"BME\/Petit Institute researcher gets NSF award"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2018-10-02 18:00:41","changed_gmt":"2018-10-02 18:00:41","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-10-02T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-10-02T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"611905":{"id":"611905","type":"image","title":"Eva Dyer","body":null,"created":"1537815761","gmt_created":"2018-09-24 19:02:41","changed":"1537815761","gmt_changed":"2018-09-24 19:02:41","alt":"","file":{"fid":"232948","name":"EvaDyer.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/EvaDyer.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/EvaDyer.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2204243,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/EvaDyer.jpg?itok=M3CEhM3i"}}},"media_ids":["611905"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"602586":{"#nid":"602586","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Data Detectives Shift Suspicions in Alzheimer\u0027s from Usual Suspect to Inside Villain","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe mass pursuit of a conspicuous suspect in Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s disease may have held back research success for decades. Now, a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/content.iospress.com\/articles\/journal-of-alzheimers-disease\/jad170490?resultNumber=0\u0026amp;totalResults=315\u0026amp;start=0\u0026amp;q=mitchell%2C+cassie+s.\u0026amp;dc_issued_year=2017\u0026amp;resultsPageSize=10\u0026amp;rows=10\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Enew data analysis\u003C\/a\u003E that has untangled evidence amassed in years of Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s studies encourages researchers to refocus their investigations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHeaps of plaque formed from amyloid-beta that accumulate in afflicted brains are what stick out under the microscope in tissue samples from \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nia.nih.gov\/health\/alzheimers-disease-fact-sheet\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EAlzheimer\u0026rsquo;s\u003C\/a\u003E sufferers, and that eye-catching junk has long seemed an obvious culprit in the disease. But\u0026nbsp;data analysis of the cumulative evidence doesn\u0026rsquo;t support giving so much attention to that usual suspect, according to a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/content.iospress.com\/articles\/journal-of-alzheimers-disease\/jad170490?resultNumber=0\u0026amp;totalResults=315\u0026amp;start=0\u0026amp;q=mitchell%2C+cassie+s.\u0026amp;dc_issued_year=2017\u0026amp;resultsPageSize=10\u0026amp;rows=10\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Enew study from the Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThough the bad amyloid-beta protein does appear to be an accomplice in the disease, the study has pointed to a seemingly more likely red-handed offender, another protein-gone-bad called phosphorylated \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tau_protein\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Etau\u003C\/a\u003E (p-tau). What\u0026rsquo;s more, the Georgia Tech data analysis of multiple studies done on mice also turned up signs that multiple biochemical actors work together in Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s to tear down neurons, the cells that the brain uses to do its work.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESuspect line-up: P-tau implicated, plaque not so much\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd the corrupted amyloid-beta that appeared more directly in cahoots with p-tau in the sabotage of brain function was not tied up in that plaque. In the line-up of the biochemical suspects examined, principal investigator \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Cassie-S.-Mitchell\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ECassie Mitchell, an assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech and Emory University, said the data pointed to a pecking order of culpability.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The most important one would be the level of phosphorylated tau present. It had the strongest connection with cognitive decline,\u0026rdquo; Mitchell said. \u0026ldquo;The correlation with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.alz.org\/braintour\/plaques.asp\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eamyloid\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.alz.org\/braintour\/plaques.asp\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E plaque\u003C\/a\u003E was there but very weak; not nearly as strong as the correlation between p-tau and cognitive decline.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMitchell, a biomedical informaticist, and first author Colin Huber statistically analyzed data gleaned from 51 existing lab studies in mice genetically augmented with a human form of Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s. They published their analysis \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/content.iospress.com\/articles\/journal-of-alzheimers-disease\/jad170490?resultNumber=0\u0026amp;totalResults=315\u0026amp;start=0\u0026amp;q=mitchell%2C+cassie+s.\u0026amp;dc_issued_year=2017\u0026amp;resultsPageSize=10\u0026amp;rows=10\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ein the current edition of the \u003Cem\u003EJournal of Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s Disease\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe crime: Eviscerating the brain\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne look at an image of an Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s afflicted brain is unflinching testimony to the disease\u0026rsquo;s cruelty: It \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nia.nih.gov\/health\/alzheimers-disease-fact-sheet#changes\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Edestroys of up to 30 percent of a brain\u0026rsquo;s mass\u003C\/a\u003E, carving out ravines and depositing piles of molecular junk, most visibly amyloid plaque.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe plaque builds up outside of neurons, while inside neurons, p-tau forms similar junk known as \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Neurofibrillary_tangle\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eneurofibrillary tangles\u003C\/a\u003E that many researchers believe push the cells to their demise. But many biochemical machinations behind Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s are still unknown, and the fight to uncover them has vexed researchers for decades.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESince the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/av\/magazine-35279750\/the-world-s-forgotten-first-alzheimer-s-patient\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Efirst patient was diagnosed by Dr. Aloysius Alzheimer between 1901 and 1906\u003C\/a\u003E, little medical progress has been made. Though some available medications may mitigate symptoms somewhat, none significantly slow disease progression, let alone stop it.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlzheimer\u0026rsquo;s mostly strikes late in life. Longer lifespans in industrialized countries have ballooned the caseload, advancing the disease to a major cause of death.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMeet the syndicate: Assassin, accomplices, stooges\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEven though p-tau showed the strongest correlation with cognitive decline, and amyloid-beta only a slight correlation, that doesn\u0026rsquo;t mean that p-tau is committing the crime inside cells all by itself while amyloid loiters in spaces outside of cells in large gangs, creating a distraction. Mitchell\u0026rsquo;s data analysis has pointed to dynamics more enmeshed than that.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Though the study had clear trends, it also had a good bit of variance that would indicate multiple factors influencing outcomes,\u0026rdquo; Mitchell said. And a particular manifestation of amyloid-beta has piqued the researchers\u0026rsquo; ire.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELittle pieces are water soluble, that is, not tied up in clumps of plaque. The data has shown that these tiny amyloids may be up to no good. After p-tau levels, the study revealed that those of soluble amyloid-beta had the second-strongest correlation with cognitive decline.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Lumpy amyloid-beta, the stuff we see, ironically doesn\u0026rsquo;t correlate as well\u0026nbsp;with cognitive decline as the soluble amyloid,\u0026rdquo; Mitchell said. \u0026ldquo;The amyloid you don\u0026rsquo;t see is like the sugar in your tea that dissolves and hits your taste buds versus the insoluble amyloid, which is more like the sugar that doesn\u0026rsquo;t dissolve and stays at the bottom of the cup.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESome Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s researchers have cited evidence indicating that free-floating amyloid helps produce the corrupted p-tau via a chain of reactions that centers around \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC4340754\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGSK3 \u003C\/a\u003E(Glycogen synthase kinase 3), an enzyme that arms tau with phosphorous, turning it into a potential biochemical assassin.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIncidentally, Mitchell\u0026rsquo;s study also looked at un-phosphorylated tau and found its levels do not correlate with cognitive decline. \u0026ldquo;That makes sense,\u0026rdquo; Mitchell said. \u0026ldquo;Regular tau is the backbone of our neurons, so it has to be there.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlso, p-tau is a normal part of healthy cells, but in Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s it is wildly overproduced.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMassive dataset: 528 mice rat out p-tau\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne advantage of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/searchsqlserver.techtarget.com\/definition\/data-mining\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Edata mining\u003C\/a\u003E 51 existing studies versus doing one new lab experiment, is that the cumulative analysis adds the sample sizes of so many studies together for a whopping grand total. Mitchell\u0026rsquo;s analysis encompassed results from past experiments carried out on, all totaled, 528 Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s mice.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA previous study Mitchell led had already indicated that amyloid-beta plaque levels may not be the most productive target for drug development. Separate reports by other researchers on failed human trials of drugs that fought plaque would seem to corroborate this.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMitchell\u0026rsquo;s prior analysis examined lab studies that used an Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s lab mouse model that did not allow for the study of p-tau. Mitchell\u0026rsquo;s current analysis covered studies involving a different mouse model that did allow for the observation of p-tau.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMitchell\u0026rsquo;s latest findings have corroborated the prior study\u0026rsquo;s findings on amyloid, and also added p-tau as a key suspect in cognitive decline.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPrincipal investigator: My take on possible treatments\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo arrive at the 51 studies with data suitable for inclusion in their analysis, Mitchell\u0026rsquo;s research team sifted through hundreds of Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s research papers, and over time, Mitchell has examined a few thousand herself. She has gained some impressions of how biomedical research may need to tackle the disease\u0026rsquo;s slippery biochemical labyrinth.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;When we see multifactorial diseases, we tend to think we\u0026rsquo;ll need multifactorial treatments,\u0026rdquo; Mitchell said. \u0026ldquo;That seems to be working well with cancer, where they combine chemotherapy with things like immunotherapy.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlso, Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s diagnosticians might be wise to their adopt cancer colleagues\u0026rsquo; early detection stance, she said, as Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s disease appears to start long before amyloid-beta plaque appears and cognitive decline sets in.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAbove all, basic research should cast a broader net.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I think p-tau is going to have to be a big part,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;And it may be time to not latch onto amyloid-beta plaque so much like the field has for a few decades.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDid you know? Cassie Mitchell is also an Olympic medalist!\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oMgsyToEghg\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EWatch her video here\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/alzheimers-killing-mind-first\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EAlso READ: Our feature on Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s research\u003C\/a\u003E \u0026ndash; \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/alzheimers-killing-mind-first\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EKilling the Mind First\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELike this article?\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/subscribe\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGet our email newsletter here.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Connor Yee, Taylor May, and Apoorva Dhanala coauthored the study. Funding was provided by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health (grants NS069616, NS098228, and NS081426). Any findings or conclusions are those of the authors and not necessarily of the sponsor.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe pursuit of the usual suspect in Alzheimer\u0026#39;s research may be distracting from a more direct culprit in the disease, according to a study that analyzed data from 51 published experiments. P-tau looked a good bit more culpable than amyloid-beta plaque.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"It may be high time to refocus Alzheimer\u0027s research, as a new study strongly points to a biochemical culprit traditionally less pursued."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2018-02-19 16:34:18","changed_gmt":"2018-03-21 03:30:31","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-02-19T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2018-02-19T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"602578":{"id":"602578","type":"image","title":"Alzheimer\u0027s brain shrinkage illustration NIA NIH","body":null,"created":"1519056525","gmt_created":"2018-02-19 16:08:45","changed":"1519056574","gmt_changed":"2018-02-19 16:09:34","alt":"","file":{"fid":"229667","name":"brain shrink hippocampus.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/brain%20shrink%20hippocampus.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/brain%20shrink%20hippocampus.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2227251,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/brain%20shrink%20hippocampus.jpg?itok=ZGxEel7G"}},"602574":{"id":"602574","type":"image","title":"Amyloid beta and p-tau illustration NIA NIH","body":null,"created":"1519055534","gmt_created":"2018-02-19 15:52:14","changed":"1519055534","gmt_changed":"2018-02-19 15:52:14","alt":"","file":{"fid":"229664","name":"AmyloidB.pTau_.NIH_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/AmyloidB.pTau_.NIH_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/AmyloidB.pTau_.NIH_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3307502,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/AmyloidB.pTau_.NIH_.jpg?itok=cX88zJjw"}},"602571":{"id":"602571","type":"image","title":"Informaticist Cassie Mitchell studies Alzheimer\u0027s","body":null,"created":"1519054976","gmt_created":"2018-02-19 15:42:56","changed":"1519055031","gmt_changed":"2018-02-19 15:43:51","alt":"","file":{"fid":"229663","name":"17C10203-P2-003.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/17C10203-P2-003.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/17C10203-P2-003.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":462205,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/17C10203-P2-003.jpg?itok=48byq6mR"}},"602575":{"id":"602575","type":"image","title":"Alzheimer\u0027s brain NIH","body":null,"created":"1519056121","gmt_created":"2018-02-19 16:02:01","changed":"1519056121","gmt_changed":"2018-02-19 16:02:01","alt":"","file":{"fid":"229665","name":"Alzheimers.pTau_.Data_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Alzheimers.pTau_.Data_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Alzheimers.pTau_.Data_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":63293,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Alzheimers.pTau_.Data_.jpg?itok=9h78Ikl7"}},"602567":{"id":"602567","type":"image","title":"Amyloid-beta plaque under microscope","body":null,"created":"1519054627","gmt_created":"2018-02-19 15:37:07","changed":"1519054627","gmt_changed":"2018-02-19 15:37:07","alt":"","file":{"fid":"229658","name":"1-17-alz-fig-amyloid.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/1-17-alz-fig-amyloid.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/1-17-alz-fig-amyloid.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":224263,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/1-17-alz-fig-amyloid.jpg?itok=U481DAYt"}},"602583":{"id":"602583","type":"image","title":"Alzheimer\u0027s diagram of biochemical processes","body":null,"created":"1519056910","gmt_created":"2018-02-19 16:15:10","changed":"1519056967","gmt_changed":"2018-02-19 16:16:07","alt":"","file":{"fid":"229670","name":"Cell Alz diagram copy.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Cell%20Alz%20diagram%20copy.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Cell%20Alz%20diagram%20copy.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":353851,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Cell%20Alz%20diagram%20copy.jpg?itok=i9btSpV2"}}},"media_ids":["602578","602574","602571","602575","602567","602583"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"14757","name":"Alzheimer\u0027s"},{"id":"44881","name":"Alzheimer\u0027s Disease"},{"id":"177151","name":"amyloid beta plaque"},{"id":"176984","name":"Amyloid Beta 42"},{"id":"177155","name":"free amyloid beta"},{"id":"177153","name":"ptau"},{"id":"177154","name":"p-tau"},{"id":"177152","name":"phosphorylated tau"},{"id":"177161","name":"neurofibrillary tangles"},{"id":"140471","name":"Health Informatics"},{"id":"9168","name":"data mining"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter \u0026amp;\u0026nbsp;Media Representative\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-660-1408)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"602395":{"#nid":"602395","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Haider Named Sloan Fellow","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBilal Haider, assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, is among the 126 outstanding U.S. and Canadian researchers receiving 2018 Sloan Research Fellowships.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe fellowships, awarded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1955, honor early-career scholars who, \u0026ldquo;represent the very best science has to offer,\u0026rdquo; says Sloan President Adam Falk. \u0026ldquo;The brightest minds, tackling the hardest problems, and succeeding brilliantly\u0026mdash;Fellows are quite literally the future of twenty-first century science.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe is one of three Georgia Tech researchers so honored. The others are Vinayak Agarwal, assistant professor in the School of Chemistry, and Lutz Warnke, assistant professor in the School of Mathematics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHaider\u0026rsquo;s research goal is to identify cellular and circuit mechanisms that modulate neural responsiveness in the cerebral cortex, using a variety of advanced electrical and optical techniques to record, stimulate, and the interpret the activity of specific neuronal sub-types.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut the two-year, $65,000 Sloan award doesn\u0026rsquo;t support a specific research project effort, according to Haider. It supports the individual.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s very exciting because it\u0026rsquo;s different from a traditional kind of grant. This is more about the research direction you have envisioned as a young investigator,\u0026rdquo; says Haider, who is a researcher in the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience. \u0026ldquo;This is about funding the person. It\u0026rsquo;s a real vote of confidence.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAvailable to tenure track faculty in eight scientific fields, the Fellowships are awarded at a key moment in a researcher\u0026rsquo;s career. Past Sloan Research Fellows include towering figures in the history of science, including physicists Richard Feynman and Murray Gell-Mann, and game theorist John Nash. Forty-five fellows have received a Nobel Prize in their respective field, 16 have won the Fields Medal in mathematics, 69 have received the National Medal of Science, and 17 have won the John Bates Clark Medal in economics, including every winner since 2007.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDrawn this year from 53 colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada, the 2018 Sloan Research Fellows represent a diverse array of institutions and backgrounds. This year\u0026rsquo;s Fellows include:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EA molecular biologist who studies how birds perceive color;\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EA chemist who has developed molecular \u0026ldquo;printing\u0026rdquo; techniques that can make flexible solar cells that are twice as efficient as current models;\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EA computer scientist who is constructing robots for the home that users can program themselves;\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EAn environmental economist who is exposing the hidden costs of pollution;\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EA mathematician who is trying to explain the remarkable success of neural networks in performing complicated tasks like recognizing faces;\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EA neuroscientist whose work is revealing that best friends don\u0026rsquo;t just think alike; they have similar brains;\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EAn ocean scientist that has shown how warming currents are leading many marine species to breed early, bringing them out of sync with the plankton blooms on which they feed;\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EA physicist who says the structure of the outer solar system makes sense only if there is an undiscovered ninth planet.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOpen to scholars in eight scientific and technical fields\u0026mdash;chemistry, computer science, economics, mathematics, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, neuroscience, ocean sciences, and physics\u0026mdash;the Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded in close coordination with the scientific community. Candidates must be nominated by their fellow scientists and winning fellows are selected by an independent panel of senior scholars in their field on the basis of a candidate\u0026rsquo;s research accomplishments, creativity, and potential to become a leader in his or her field.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAdditional 2018 Winners at Georgia Tech: \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/602061\u0022\u003EAgarwal, Warnke Named 2018 Sloan Research Fellows\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E###\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sloan.org\/\u0022\u003EAlfred P. Sloan Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E is a philanthropic, not-for-profit grant making institution based in New York City. Established in 1934 by Alfred Pritchard Sloan Jr., then-President and Chief Executive Officer of the General Motors Corporation, the Foundation makes grants in support of original research and education in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and economics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"BME assistant professor among 126 early-career researchers honored by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBME assistant professor among 126 early-career researchers honored by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"BME assistant professor among 126 early-career researchers honored by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2018-02-15 15:08:08","changed_gmt":"2018-02-15 20:47:48","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-02-15T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2018-02-15T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"602392":{"id":"602392","type":"image","title":"Bilal Haider","body":null,"created":"1518706829","gmt_created":"2018-02-15 15:00:29","changed":"1518706829","gmt_changed":"2018-02-15 15:00:29","alt":"","file":{"fid":"229588","name":"Haider2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Haider2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Haider2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3569812,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Haider2.jpg?itok=17COYE84"}}},"media_ids":["602392"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["Jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"596764":{"#nid":"596764","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Lena Ting Receives $2.6 Million NIH Grant to Identify Balance Impairment Mechanisms for those with Parkinson\u2019s Disease","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Lena Ting, professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Emory and Georgia Tech, a five year, $2.6 million grant. This grant is a renewal of her previous research spanning more than a decade and marks the transition from basic to clinical science where her lab will translate their unique neuromechanical approaches to study mechanisms of balance impairments that lead to falls for those with Parkinson\u0026rsquo;s disease (PD).\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe grant is also a collaboration with professor Stuart Factor, director of the Movement Disorders Clinic at the Emory Brain Health Center, Madeleine Hackney, a research health scientist in the Atlanta VA and the Department of Medicine at Emory, and Erin Buckley and Lucas McKay, both assistant professors in Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nTing\u0026rsquo;s research will use combined experimental and computational approaches to systematically isolate the causal linkages and interactions between muscle rigidity, muscle activity, and balance ability in Parkinson\u0026rsquo;s disease. Her goals are to identify the causal role of rigidity on impaired balance in PD, to validate novel optically-based and clinically-feasible methods to measure muscle rigidity during standing, and to establish a computational model of neuromechanical balance to simulate how multiple mechanisms interact to cause balance impairments. This research will facilitate the identification of treatment targets for the rational development of rehabilitation and other therapies for balance impairments across a variety of neurological movement disorders.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It was surprising to me that the effects of muscle rigidity on balance is so poorly understood,\u0026rdquo; said Ting. \u0026ldquo;People with Parkinson\u0026rsquo;s disease have both muscle rigidity and postural instability, yet the effects of muscle rigidity have not been considered as contributing to balance impairments. One reason is that we can\u0026rsquo;t yet measure low levels of muscle activity reliably, nor predict how it would alter movement. In our research, we will address both of these problems.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Neuromechanics Lab based at Emory and directed by Ting, uses a broad range of techniques from neuroscience, biomechanics, rehabilitation, robotics, and physiology to discover new principles of human movement. Her lab\u0026rsquo;s basic science findings have facilitated advances in understanding movement disorders and in identifying mechanisms of rehabilitation. In 2016, The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) inducted Ting into its College of Fellows. The College of Fellows is comprised of the top two percent of medical and biological engineers in the country.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Contacts:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:wrich@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EWalter Rich\u003C\/a\u003E\u2028\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Manager\u2028\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u2028\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nat Georgia Tech and Emory\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Her research seeks to identify optimal treatments for the rehabilitation of balance impairments using neuromechanical approaches"}],"uid":"27513","created_gmt":"2017-10-02 17:46:44","changed_gmt":"2017-10-09 11:48:38","author":"Walter Rich","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-10-02T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-10-02T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"596762":{"id":"596762","type":"image","title":"Lena Ting, professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Emory and Georgia Tech","body":null,"created":"1506966178","gmt_created":"2017-10-02 17:42:58","changed":"1506966178","gmt_changed":"2017-10-02 17:42:58","alt":"Lena Ting, professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Emory and Georgia Tech","file":{"fid":"227453","name":"LenaTing-croppedv2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/LenaTing-croppedv2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/LenaTing-croppedv2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":75073,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/LenaTing-croppedv2.jpg?itok=2-JtaXLs"}},"596763":{"id":"596763","type":"image","title":"Lena Ting, professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Emory and Georgia Tech","body":null,"created":"1506966242","gmt_created":"2017-10-02 17:44:02","changed":"1506966242","gmt_changed":"2017-10-02 17:44:02","alt":"Lena Ting, professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Emory and Georgia Tech, pictured in her lab.","file":{"fid":"227454","name":"17C10203-P9-002-Horiz.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/17C10203-P9-002-Horiz.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/17C10203-P9-002-Horiz.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":121507,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/17C10203-P9-002-Horiz.jpeg?itok=dHNAYQwD"}}},"media_ids":["596762","596763"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1612","name":"BME"},{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"},{"id":"175342","name":"go-medicalrobotics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWalter Rich\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["wrich@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"593661":{"#nid":"593661","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Cosmos in the Cranium","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAt the Georgia Institute of Technology, a rare synergy of engineers and scientists, in cooperation with Emory University School of Medicine and other collaborators, is expanding data collection and analysis on the brain.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research road ahead feels endless, many neuroscientists say, and comprehending how the brain generates the human psyche may be decades beyond the horizon. But neuroscience is in a forward lunge powered by sweeping national funding programs such as the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.braininitiative.nih.gov\/\u0022\u003EBRAIN Initiative (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies)\u003C\/a\u003E, which is tapping into the brain to understand it and support well-being.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/cosmos-cranium\u0022\u003EYou can find the Research Horizons feature story here.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech neuroscience researchers explore our most magnificent and vast organ"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech neuroscience researchers explore our most magnificent and vast organ\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech neuroscience researchers explore our most magnificent and vast organ"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2017-07-24 12:29:56","changed_gmt":"2017-08-30 18:36:42","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-07-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-07-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"595314":{"id":"595314","type":"image","title":"Cosmos in the Cranium","body":null,"created":"1504118173","gmt_created":"2017-08-30 18:36:13","changed":"1504118173","gmt_changed":"2017-08-30 18:36:13","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226880","name":"intro-image.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/intro-image.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/intro-image.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":63072,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/intro-image.jpg?itok=g4m06Ep5"}}},"media_ids":["595314"],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"1304","name":"neuroscience"},{"id":"569","name":"bioengineering"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["Jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"593015":{"#nid":"593015","#data":{"type":"news","title":"T. Richard Nichols is Newest Honorary Member of National Physical Therapists\u2019 Organization ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/T.-Richard-Nichols\u0022\u003ET. Richard Nichols\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the School of Biological Sciences, has been named an honorary member of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.apta.org\/Default.aspx\u0022\u003EAmerican Physical Therapy Association\u003C\/a\u003E, the organization \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.apta.org\/PTinMotion\/News\/2017\/6\/21\/NicholsNamedHonoraryMember\/\u0022\u003Eannounced\u003C\/a\u003E on June 21.\u0026nbsp;He was named to APTA by a unanimous vote of its House of Delegates.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;m very honored by it,\u0026rdquo; Nichols says. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s unusual because you have to be a physical therapist to be a regular member. I am not a physical therapist, I\u0026rsquo;m a basic scientist.\u0026rdquo; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENichols\u0026#39;\u0026nbsp;research areas of interest include motor control, sensory feedback, spinal cord injury, muscle physiology, and limb mechanics.\u0026nbsp;In addition to his research in the School of Biological Sciences, Nichols is also a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department\u0026nbsp;of Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, a partnership between Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECollege of Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/med.emory.edu\/index.html\u0022\u003EEmory School of Medicine\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENichols was chair of the School of Applied Physiology until 2016, when it joined the School of Biology \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/547851\u0022\u003Eto form the School of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAPTA cites Nichols as \u0026ldquo;an internationally recognized scholar whose research has contributed to the advancement of scientific knowledge related to the control of movement.\u0026rdquo; APTA also calls Nichols a \u0026ldquo;stalwart advisor\u0026rdquo; who has done exemplary work to help train future physical therapists and advanced physical therapist clinicians.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAPTA\u0026rsquo;s approximately 95,000 members include physical therapists, their assistants, and those who are studying to become therapists. The organization represents their interests in the legislative and regulatory arenas.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Professor recognized for motor skills research"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThanks to his research into motor skills and the science of movement, School of Biological Sciences Professor T. Richard Nichols is named a honorary member of the American Physical Therapy Association.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The American Physical Therapy Association makes T. Richard Nichols an honorary member."}],"uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2017-06-27 14:21:20","changed_gmt":"2017-06-27 17:06:48","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-06-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-06-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"593017":{"id":"593017","type":"image","title":"T. Richard Nichols, honorary member of the American Physical Therapy Association ","body":null,"created":"1498573427","gmt_created":"2017-06-27 14:23:47","changed":"1498573427","gmt_changed":"2017-06-27 14:23:47","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226053","name":"T RICHARD NICHOLS.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/T%20RICHARD%20NICHOLS.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/T%20RICHARD%20NICHOLS.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":194757,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/T%20RICHARD%20NICHOLS.jpg?itok=nJGcJRko"}},"593018":{"id":"593018","type":"image","title":"American Physical Therapy Association Logo","body":null,"created":"1498573502","gmt_created":"2017-06-27 14:25:02","changed":"1498573502","gmt_changed":"2017-06-27 14:25:02","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226054","name":"APTA Logo.gif","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/APTA%20Logo.gif","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/APTA%20Logo.gif","mime":"image\/gif","size":5615,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/APTA%20Logo.gif?itok=u0rlgPqK"}}},"media_ids":["593017","593018"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166882","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"173857","name":"T. Richard Nichols"},{"id":"174792","name":"American Physical Therapy Association"},{"id":"12926","name":"motor skills"},{"id":"376","name":"movement"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERenay San Miguel\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer\/Science Writer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-894-5209\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["renay.san@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"592945":{"#nid":"592945","#data":{"type":"news","title":"B.S. in Neuroscience Takes Off at Georgia Tech","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUPDATED 10\/25\/2017\u0026nbsp;\u0026mdash;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;When Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s College of Sciences created a prospectus for a new Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience, it estimated 25 to 50 students would enroll the first year.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EWrong.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESince the new degree program was approved by the Board of Regents on Valentine\u0026rsquo;s Day 2017, nearly 200 students clamored to\u0026nbsp;sign\u0026nbsp;on.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis enthusiastic response was surprising \u0026mdash; but then again, not, says Tim Cope, chair of the Undergraduate Neuroscience Curriculum Committee and professor in the School of Biological Sciences and the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Hardly a day goes by that there\u0026rsquo;s not something in the news \u0026mdash; a health concern or a recent breakthrough or societal challenge \u0026mdash; that\u0026nbsp;doesn\u0026rsquo;t involve neuroscience,\u0026rdquo; he says. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s a growing field with so many\u0026nbsp;opportunities, and it\u0026rsquo;s inspired a lot of interest from our students.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of them is\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/yeseul-heo-597a5472\/\u0022\u003EYeseul\u0026nbsp;Heo\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I got really excited when I learned about the new major,\u0026rdquo; the rising second-year student says. \u0026ldquo;I think I was one of the first to turn in my paper to switch.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHeo\u0026rsquo;s original major was psychology \u0026mdash; and she is keeping that as a minor, along with a double major in international affairs \u0026mdash; but she sees neuroscience as a way to put her studies on a more quantitative footing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Along with psychology, I wanted to focus more on hard research, specifically on brain activity, and working with quantitative data,\u0026rdquo; she says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHeo has gotten a taste of neuroscience already as a student assistant in the lab of Associate Professor of Psychology Eric Schumacher, whose research uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and other experimental techniques to investigate the neural mechanisms for vision, attention, memory, learning, and cognitive control.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EA Research Community\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchumacher is one of more than 50 faculty members from disciplines across Georgia Tech who are involved in\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Eneuroscience research\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026mdash; and have been for years. But however collaborative, widespread, and even world-renowned these neuroscience efforts have been, what they have lacked, Cope suggests, is \u0026ldquo;community.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe and many others anticipate this new undergraduate degree will build that necessary component, for both faculty and students. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s a very important, symbolic event in the development of neuroscience on this campus,\u0026rdquo; he says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENeuroscience is \u0026ldquo;the perfect incarnation of an interdisciplinary subject,\u0026rdquo; says College of Sciences Dean and Sutherland Chair Paul M.\u0026nbsp;Goldbart.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s also a subject of deep intellectual interest.\u0026nbsp;Who couldn\u0026#39;t be curious about how the brain and nervous systems work at the most basic level?\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGoldbart\u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;couldn\u0026rsquo;t be more excited\u0026rdquo; about the new degree, because \u0026ldquo;It opens up a marvelous new channel to a wide variety of career paths and will make Georgia Tech even more appealing\u0026nbsp;to prospective undergraduates in the sciences.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I am grateful to everyone who worked so hard to create a program that defines 21\u003Csup\u003Est\u003C\/sup\u003E-century neuroscience education for a 21\u003Csup\u003Est\u003C\/sup\u003E-century technological research university.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003ENeuroX\u0026nbsp;Factor\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGetting from neuroscience activity to neuroscience community at Georgia Tech has been something of a journey, starting with the formation of a \u0026ldquo;NeuroX\u0026rdquo; committee back in 2014 and ending with Board of Regents approval for the new undergraduate degree in February 2017.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo reach this place, certain boxes had to be checked. It was not enough that faculty were engaged in neuroscience and students wanted it, although that was clearly the case.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEvery time the Institute offered a neuroscience course, it maxed out, and professors were constantly asked if there would be more courses, or if they could open up another section.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EStill, Cope points out, \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s a legitimate thing for the administration to think about these things exceedingly carefully. No university can be everything \u0026mdash; there\u0026rsquo;s a limit to resources and we have to be strategic with our planning.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBasically, the key questions were: Is there a demand for this major from employers? Is there a demand for this degree from students? How would a neuroscience degree program advance Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s strategic plan? And would the program be redundant within the University System of Georgia?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis last question sent Cope over to Georgia State University \u0026mdash; the only other USG school with an undergraduate neuroscience degree \u0026mdash; to meet with the leadership of their\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/neuroscience.gsu.edu\/\u0022\u003ENeuroscience Institute\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I said, \u0026lsquo;Here\u0026rsquo;s what we\u0026rsquo;re planning to do,\u0026rsquo;\u0026rdquo; Cope recalls.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;They said, \u0026lsquo;Oh, this is fantastic, with Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s traditions and resources, you bring something unique to the table,\u0026rsquo; and they wrote a letter for me right on the spot \u0026mdash; they endorsed our plan 100 percent.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u0026#39;Kind of Pulsing\u0026#39;\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile every neuroscience program has its \u0026ldquo;multiplication tables,\u0026rdquo; as Cope terms them \u0026mdash; certain facts every neuroscientist has to know \u0026mdash; the bigger challenge is, where do students take it from there?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHeo eventually wants to take her neuroscience focus into the study of first impressions. \u0026ldquo;You develop this first impression within two seconds in your brain, and you don\u0026rsquo;t control that, ever,\u0026rdquo; she says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;So, I want to figure what\u0026rsquo;s the reason behind it, and if we learn the reason, is there a way to, not eliminate it, but maybe try to understand each other better, avoid racism and discrimination, and bring about more peace.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs a neuroscience undergraduate, Heo will learn what Cope calls \u0026ldquo;the three flavors of neuroscience\u0026rdquo; \u0026mdash; cell and molecular, behavioral, and systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond these basics, Heo can branch out into one of 10 different specializations \u0026mdash; biochemistry, biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, health and medical, physics, physiology, or psychology.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn her case, completing the psychology specialization will qualify her for a minor in that field.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EStudents are coming into the program from disciplines all over campus, and all these areas can and do intersect with neuroscience, notes Cope. \u0026ldquo;To have a degree in neuroscience means you have to be conversant in wide-ranging concepts,\u0026rdquo; he says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In my mind\u0026rsquo;s eye, I have the sense of neuroscience kind of pulsing \u0026mdash; it borrows concepts and technologies from all the fields, but it\u0026nbsp;doesn\u0026rsquo;t only take, it gives back.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe undergraduate neuroscience degree will \u0026mdash; as with all Georgia Tech disciplines \u0026mdash; culminate in a senior research or capstone project.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We want to leave our students with an experience that really gets their creative juices going and gives them a tantalizing view of what they might do next,\u0026rdquo; Cope says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/neuroscience\u0022\u003Eprogram website\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;lists 50 occupations for which neuroscience can serve as preparation or grad school foundation, and then, of course, there\u0026rsquo;s entrepreneurship.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong the many other student startup and business incubators in and around Georgia Tech, there\u0026rsquo;s even one called\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/neurolaunch.com\/\u0022\u003ENeuroLaunch\u003C\/a\u003E, which introduces itself as \u0026ldquo;the world\u0026rsquo;s first neuroscience startup accelerator.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EProving It\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience launched this fall.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs the community builds and the degree program gains visibility, Cope expects Georgia Tech to carve its niche among neuroscience programs as only Georgia Tech can.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;re especially mindful of active learning here, of inquiry-based education, where the students are led to discovery, not just have the discovery dumped in their laps,\u0026rdquo; he says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;What we\u0026rsquo;d like to bring to neuroscience is the strong analytical, deep understanding of concepts and methods that Tech brings to its curriculum in all fields.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDown the road, Cope sees the undergraduate degree program leading to more and bigger grants for neuroscience research at Tech, and ultimately a Ph.D. program.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the meantime, he says, there\u0026rsquo;s much to learn and do, quoting a fortune cookie slip he\u0026rsquo;s kept in his wallet for more than 25 years now: \u0026ldquo;It says, \u0026lsquo;You are respectable, you are intelligent, you are creative \u0026mdash; prove it.\u0026rsquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI think that applies here. We\u0026rsquo;ve got a lot of what we need to do some really great things in neuroscience. Now we\u0026rsquo;ve got to prove it.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch1\u003ENeuroscience Research in the College of Sciences\u003C\/h1\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENeuroscience is \u0026ldquo;the perfect incarnation of an interdisciplinary subject,\u0026rdquo; says College of Sciences Dean and Sutherland Chair Paul M.\u0026nbsp;Goldbart. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s also a subject of deep intellectual interest. Who\u0026nbsp;couldn\u0026rsquo;t be curious about how the brain and nervous systems work at the most basic level?\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENeuroscience majors interested in\u0026nbsp;research have a broad array of options. Researchers at Tech seek to understand the mechanics of brain function and the emergence of normal, aberrant, or developmental behavior from the components of the nervous system at multiple scales of complexity.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe details of every faculty member\u0026rsquo;s research are diverse, but they all aim to address one or more of the following overarching questions:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Col\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EHow does the brain perceive the world, learn new information, express emotions, and produce behaviors?\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EHow does the nervous system cooperate with the body it lives in?\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EHow does the brain compute responses and commands?\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EHow do behaviors emerge from molecules, cells, and systems?\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EHow can genetic and environmental factors impact neural functions?\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ol\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHere are examples of research led by College of Sciences faculty members.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EThe Reorganization Problem of Neurons: Addressing the\u0026nbsp;neurotoxicity\u0026nbsp;of chemotherapy\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EBy A. Maureen\u0026nbsp;Rouhi\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEven as a child, Tim Cope was fascinated by how physically disabled people move. Why can\u0026rsquo;t they move normally? That fascination led to scientific curiosity about why it can be so difficult to recover normal movement after disease or damage.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne path of inquiry Cope has pursued is the organization of sensory signals to the spinal cord. Over more than two decades of research, he and others have shown that sensory signals can be restored to normal\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.jneurosci.org\/content\/jneuro\/34\/10\/3475.full.pdf\u0022\u003Ewhen damaged sensory nerves regenerate and reconnect with muscle; however, their connections in the central nervous system reorganize.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECentral reorganization changes the flow of sensory information, so some neurons completely lose sensory signals, while others receive twice as much input. Thus, regeneration is not synonymous to recovery, says Cope, a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosci.gatech.edu\/people\/timothy-cope\u0022\u003Eprofessor in the School of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Timothy-Cope\u0022\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and member of the Parker H. Petit Institute for\u0026nbsp;Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnother condition that may cause peripheral nerve damage, and subsequent reorganization is chemotherapy. \u0026ldquo;We have peripheral nerve regeneration after chemo, but we don\u0026rsquo;t regain normal function,\u0026rdquo; Cope says. \u0026ldquo;Maybe it\u0026rsquo;s this reorganization problem again.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo explore this possibility, researchers in Cope\u0026rsquo;s lab recorded sensory signals of rats after chemotherapy. In this case, the sensory signal itself showed long-lasting abnormality. However, they also found that even when nerves are not structurally damaged by chemotherapy, the sensory signal remains atypical.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThese puzzling findings led to the discovery that chemotherapy affects cellular mechanisms responsible for translating mechanical stimuli \u0026mdash; for example, muscle stretch \u0026mdash; into sensory signals. As with peripheral nerve trauma, sensory information changes, but for a very different reason.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECope relishes this unexpected turn of the research. \u0026ldquo;Our chemo studies led us to a way of restoring the signals to normal, and I think our findings may have some translation to humans,\u0026rdquo; he says. \u0026ldquo;We believe if we can fix the signal, then we can improve the daily movement activity in patients who otherwise might experience disability long after chemotherapy is discontinued.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFixing the signal means restoring the damaged proteins, or just bypassing them. Cope\u0026rsquo;s team has identified a drug to do the latter. \u0026ldquo;But a better solution is to find out exactly what protein is damaged and restore it through genetic therapy or other molecular techniques.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENext, Cope hopes to do genetic screening to try to get a comprehensive list of the proteins damaged by chemotherapeutic\u0026nbsp;neurotoxicity, particularly those involved in generating sensory signals. This work would be in collaboration with\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosci.gatech.edu\/people\/john-mcdonald\u0022\u003EJohn McDonald\u003C\/a\u003E, a cancer expert, professor in the School of Biological Sciences\u0026nbsp;and member of IBB.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMeanwhile, other work goes on in the Cope lab. \u0026ldquo;If you\u0026rsquo;re interested in how we generate movement and how sensory information is required to generate that movement, and what goes wrong in various disease and damage situations, then whether you\u0026rsquo;re a chemist, an engineer, or interested in behavioral science, there is an entry level for you in my lab to study those things,\u0026rdquo; he says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EMemory, Emotion, and Aging: Exploring \u0026ldquo;memory clutter\u0026rdquo; and the neuroscience of human cognition\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EBy\u0026nbsp;Renay\u0026nbsp;San Miguel\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EForget where you parked your car? Misplaced your keys? Can\u0026rsquo;t remember what a restaurant dinner companion\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003Ejust\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Esaid to you? All signs of early-onset dementia, right?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENot quite, says\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.psychology.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/335\u0022\u003EAudrey Duarte\u003C\/a\u003E, associate professor in the School of Psychology and principal investigator in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/duartelab.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EMemory and Aging Lab\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;There are memory changes we think of as being associated with dementia, and that\u0026rsquo;s\u0026nbsp;very concerning, but that\u0026rsquo;s not really what we\u0026rsquo;re talking about,\u0026rdquo; Duarte says. \u0026ldquo;Just by getting older, we experience more memory impairment.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETake that restaurant dinner, for example. When you\u0026rsquo;re younger, people coming in and out of the dining room, nearby conversations, and any other distractions are easier to tune out. \u0026ldquo;As we get older and we have that impaired ability to ignore distracting information, it gets incorporated into our memories,\u0026rdquo; Duarte says. \u0026ldquo;That information is there even at the subconscious level, and that creates what we call memory clutter.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat clutter gums up the brain and forces older adults to work harder than before to recreate that restaurant experience in their minds in the hopes of remembering information.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDuarte\u0026rsquo;s 2016\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/27094851\u0022\u003Estudy\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;on memory clutter is the latest example of her focus on human cognition. How does the brain process new information, and how is that tied to emotions and behaviors?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;m a memory person, so I always think memory is the most important thing,\u0026rdquo; she says. The information we take into our brains has to be processed by our sensory systems \u0026mdash; what we see, hear, etc. \u0026mdash; and then filtered through our past experiences. \u0026ldquo;Those memories have emotional associations with them, some positive, some negative. If it comes down to why a particular emotion is stronger than others, we don\u0026rsquo;t really understand why the brain is organized that way.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDuarte\u0026rsquo;s research involves exploring which areas of the brain are necessary for emotional processing. She and her team in the Memory and Aging Lab use electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to determine which parts of the brain make those connections between memory and emotion.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt\u0026rsquo;s known that the amygdala, located within the brain\u0026rsquo;s medial temporal lobes, is associated with processing emotions. Duarte says her research shows that \u0026ldquo;if you see something that\u0026rsquo;s negative, the amygdala is sensitive to that.\u0026rdquo; But she emphasizes that other brain regions also seem to process stimuli associated with bad emotions such as disgust, sadness, anger, etc.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDuarte is determined to discover how disease, injury and aging effect all aspects of human cognition. She believes the future of her field will bring an interdisciplinary focus, folding in computational modeling, biology, genetics and biomedical engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research tools she\u0026rsquo;s using now are noninvasive. \u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;re not implanting electrodes in people.\u0026rdquo; But to get a complete picture of neural communications \u0026mdash; how that supports human cognition and what happens when that communication breaks down \u0026mdash; \u0026ldquo;we\u0026rsquo;re going to have to drill down to the neuron level itself.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EProtective Responses: Neurons linked to itch and\u0026nbsp;bronchoconstriction\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EBy A. Maureen\u0026nbsp;Rouhi\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EItch. Just seeing the word makes you feel itchy. The sensation that makes you want to scratch your skin does the same to other mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds. \u0026ldquo;Itch sensation is an evolutionarily conserved way used by many animals to sense environmental irritations and respond accordingly,\u0026rdquo; says\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosci.gatech.edu\/people\/liang-han\u0022\u003ELiang Han\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the School of Biological Sciences.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHan\u0026rsquo;s laboratory strives to understand how the nervous system receives, transmits, and interprets stimuli to induce responses. In particular, she is interested in the mechanisms of\u0026nbsp;nocifensive\u0026nbsp;\u0026mdash; or protective \u0026mdash; responses. She wants to know how alterations in neural pathways that mediate these responses lead to chronic disease. For now, she\u0026rsquo;s focusing on two protective responses: itch and constriction of the lungs\u0026rsquo; airways, or\u0026nbsp;bronchoconstriction.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Everyone experiences itchy feelings \u0026mdash; when they get a mosquito bite or are wearing a prickly wool sweater.\u0026rdquo; Han says. In these cases, the itch is relieved by scratching. But imagine if the itchiness goes on and on!\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Chronic itch accompanying disease can be devastating,\u0026rdquo; Han says. More than 40 percent of patients receiving dialysis for end-stage renal disease suffer from severe itching, as do 60 to 70 percent of patients with advanced liver disease, according to Han. Persistent itching can lead to sleep deprivation and depression. Despite the clinical importance of itch sensation, Han says, the mechanisms governing it are largely unknown.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA long-standing question is whether itch-sensing neurons are itch specific or also signal other sensations such as pain. In earlier work using molecular genetic approaches, Han discovered a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/neuro\/journal\/v16\/n2\/full\/nn.3289.html\u0022\u003Esubpopulation of sensory neurons specifically linked to itch sensation\u003C\/a\u003E. When those neurons are removed from experimental mice, the animals do not sense itch from multiple stimuli, but they continue to sense pain or pressure. Conversely, when these neurons are activated by painful stimuli, they elicit itch, not pain. \u0026ldquo;The data demonstrate the existence of the dedicated itch-sensing neurons,\u0026rdquo; Han says, \u0026ldquo;and advances our understanding of the cellular mechanisms of itch sensation.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENow at Georgia Tech, Han aims to discover the mechanisms of chronic itch and find therapeutic targets for treatment, while also advancing understanding of\u0026nbsp;bronchoconstriction.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe lungs\u0026rsquo; sensory nerves help regulate the respiratory system, for example, by controlling breathing patterns and evoking airway-protective behavior such as coughing, airway constriction, and mucus secretion. Han\u0026rsquo;s lab recently discovered a subpopulation of sensory neurons that, when stimulated, induce\u0026nbsp;bronchoconstriction\u0026nbsp;and airway\u0026nbsp;hyperresponsiveness, both of which are hallmarks of asthma.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Current investigations of the pathogenesis of asthma have largely focused on immune responses,\u0026rdquo; Han says. \u0026ldquo;However, anti-inflammatory treatment only partially controls asthma symptoms. We need to understand the involvement of non-immune systems in the disease.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERecent studies, including Han\u0026rsquo;s, indicate an important role for the nervous system in the pathogenesis of asthma. \u0026ldquo;We are currently using molecular genetic tools to investigate whether blocking those neurons can inhibit asthma in a mouse model,\u0026rdquo; she says. \u0026ldquo;We hope to obtain insights into the neural mechanisms of asthma and identify neuronal targets for management of asthma symptoms.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EMuscle-Neuron Connections: Maintaining contact as aging occurs\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EBy A. Maureen\u0026nbsp;Rouhi\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosci.gatech.edu\/people\/young-jang\u0022\u003EYoung C.\u0026nbsp;Jang\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;aspires to understand the aging process, particularly as it relates to muscle loss. An assistant professor in the School of Biological Sciences and the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, and member of the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience,\u0026nbsp;Jang\u0026nbsp;hopes that therapeutic interventions could be developed to treat muscle loss, whether from aging or disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn considering scientific questions,\u0026nbsp;Jang\u0026rsquo;s approach is to look at the forest. \u0026ldquo;You can be interested in muscle,\u0026rdquo; he says, \u0026ldquo;but you can\u0026rsquo;t just work on muscle to understand the whole biological process.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMotor neurons connect muscles to the nervous system; however, the muscle-neuron connection can be severed by injury or disease. When the muscle is restored to function, the junction can be reconnected.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith age, the reconnection between muscle and neuron becomes increasingly difficult. When contact disappears,\u0026nbsp;Jang\u0026nbsp;explains, \u0026ldquo;muscles cannot communicate with the spinal cord and brain, and they start to degenerate.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;Jang\u0026nbsp;studies how to keep these connections going in hopes of developing ways to prevent or treat muscle loss.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAging and disease have some common pathways,\u0026nbsp;Jang\u0026nbsp;says. One is oxidative stress. When the body has an excess of reactive, oxidizable species, aging occurs faster than usual.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJang\u0026rsquo;s work has shown that oxidative stress contributes to disconnection of the muscle-neuron junction. Oxidative stress is a well-accepted theory of aging,\u0026nbsp;Jang\u0026nbsp;says. It posits that when the body\u0026rsquo;s balance of antioxidant enzyme and oxidizing free radicals tilts in favor of free radicals, aging accelerates.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJang\u0026rsquo;s early work showed that, in mice, removing the antioxidant enzyme \u0026mdash; which increases reactive oxygen species \u0026mdash; promotes severance of the muscle-neuron junction. In humans,\u0026nbsp;Jang\u0026nbsp;notes, genetic mutation of the same enzyme leads to\u0026nbsp;amyotrophic\u0026nbsp;lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig\u0026rsquo;s disease, a motor neuron disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;ve found one mechanism that promotes detachment,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;Jang\u0026nbsp;says. \u0026ldquo;Can we reverse the process or slow it down?\u0026rdquo; Looking for ways to halt or reverse muscle-neuron detachment has taken\u0026nbsp;Jang\u0026nbsp;to multiple paths of inquiry, including caloric restriction,\u0026nbsp;parabiosis, and organs-on-a-chip.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJang\u0026rsquo;s caloric restriction research showed that mice receiving only 60 percent of the normal caloric requirement\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/j.1474-9726.2012.00843.x\/epdf\u0022\u003Eform fewer reactive oxygen species, and the treatment promotes muscle-neuron attachment\u003C\/a\u003E. Furthermore,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ac.els-cdn.com\/S1934590912001671\/1-s2.0-S1934590912001671-main.pdf?_tid=5f371690-511f-11e7-bf58-00000aacb362\u0026amp;acdnat=1497458264_db4f43f53753156f8eee48f6f3a1e751\u0022\u003Ecaloric restriction rejuvenates muscle stem cells\u003C\/a\u003E, which help restore the function of muscles degenerated by aging or disease. With aging, these stem cells\u0026rsquo; number and viability diminish, thus making muscle more prone to damage, a trend that slows with caloric restriction.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn physiological research,\u0026nbsp;parabiosis\u0026nbsp;is the physical joining of two individuals.\u0026nbsp;Jang\u0026nbsp;turned to this approach because blood is a way for cells, tissues, and organs to communicate. When\u0026nbsp;Jang\u0026nbsp;joined a young mouse to an old one so that they share the same circulating blood, he found that the muscle-neuron junction in the old animal is rejuvenated. However, \u0026ldquo;if you put two old animals together, that junction detaches,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;Jang\u0026nbsp;says. \u0026ldquo;Something in young blood is helping preserve the muscle-neuron junction.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIndeed,\u0026nbsp;Jang\u0026nbsp;has reported\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/science.sciencemag.org\/content\/344\/6184\/649.long\u0022\u003Ea circulating protein in the blood that seems to be an important factor in connecting the muscle-neuron junction\u003C\/a\u003E. However, this protein \u0026ldquo;is not the only one,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;Jang\u0026nbsp;says. \u0026ldquo;We need more research.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMeanwhile, how could\u0026nbsp;parabiosis\u0026nbsp;be applied to humans? \u0026ldquo;Obviously, we can\u0026rsquo;t put two humans together,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;Jang\u0026nbsp;says. But it is possible to faithfully mimic\u0026nbsp;parabiosis\u0026nbsp;of organs on\u0026nbsp;microfluidic\u0026nbsp;chips.\u0026nbsp;Jang\u0026nbsp;is collaborating with\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/kim\u0022\u003EYongTae\u0026nbsp;(Tony) Kim\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, to design organ-on-a-chip systems for\u0026nbsp;parabiosis\u0026nbsp;of human organs.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003ESensory Input, Neural Networks, and Locomotion: Creating a new rehabilitation paradigm\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EBy A. Maureen\u0026nbsp;Rouhi\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESo you think walking across a room is easy,\u0026nbsp;peasy? Think again.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Walking across the room is one of the most complicated things we do,\u0026rdquo; says\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosci.gatech.edu\/people\/richard-nichols\u0022\u003ET. Richard Nichols,\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;a professor in the School of Biological Sciences and the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering and a member of the Parker H. Petit Institute for\u0026nbsp;Bioengineering and Bioscience. Locomotion is complex, he says, the result of networks of nerve cells communicating, processing information, and integrating myriad sensory signals.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn studying how sensory information from muscles helps regulate movement, Nichols has focused on the Golgi tendon organs (GTOs). These sensory receptors in the muscle tell the central nervous system \u0026mdash; which consists of the brain and the spinal cord \u0026mdash; the amount of force generated by muscles. The spinal cord then distributes the information to different muscles in the limb. The feedback of muscular forces is thought to help determine how the body responds to obstacles or unexpected circumstances.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESo far, what we know about\u0026nbsp;GTOs\u0026nbsp;comes from research on animal subjects. Injury to the spinal cord disrupts communication between the central nervous system and the muscles and causes malfunctioning of the spinal cord\u0026rsquo;s neural circuits, Nichols says. \u0026ldquo;Muscle weakness or paralysis can result, as well as loss of balance and stability.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWorking with\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/louisville.edu\/kscirc\/basic-research\/faculty-1\/dena-howland\u0022\u003EDena\u0026nbsp;Howland\u0026nbsp;at the University of Louisville\u003C\/a\u003E, Nichols has discovered a link between the disruption of the force-regulating system and motor disorders from partial spinal cord injury in animal models. They recently started two projects based on the GTO research.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne project, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), aims to discover how the brain stem controls the\u0026nbsp;GTO-generated\u0026nbsp;neural circuits in the spinal cord to meet the needs of different movement tasks. The other project, funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, will help define the extent to which malfunction in the force-regulating system contributes to motor dysfunction in partial spinal cord injury. It will also test the efficacy of a potential new treatment for spinal cord injury in humans that would not require special equipment.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe potential new treatment is based on the force-regulating neural networks of cats walking up \u0026mdash; or down \u0026mdash; hill. Researchers in the Nichols lab have shown that these networks are organized for propulsion when cats walk uphill and for suspension and braking when cats walk downhill.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It turns out that in spinal cord injury, the downhill pathway becomes extreme\u0026rdquo; Nichols says. \u0026ldquo;Animals with spinal cord injury tend to crouch; it\u0026rsquo;s like an exaggeration of walking downhill.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESuppose animals with spinal cord injury are rehabilitated by exercising under downhill-walking conditions? The idea is counterintuitive but, Nichols thought, \u0026ldquo;maybe the central nervous system has some internal wisdom that will say, okay, now we need to repair this injury.\u0026rdquo; Could training in this particular way promote recovery from partial spinal cord injury?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENichols and\u0026nbsp;Howland\u0026nbsp;proposed this rehabilitation treatment to Veterans Affairs and received funding. \u0026ldquo;At the same time, because of our work at Tech, we can find whether the same exercise causes a change in the neural networks of the spinal cord,\u0026rdquo; Nichols says. Through the NIH grant funding,\u0026nbsp;Howland\u0026nbsp;and Nichols aim to mechanistically connect the recovery with restoration of normal function in the spinal network.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EBiomechanics of Locomotion: Toward next-generation artificial limbs\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EBy A. Maureen\u0026nbsp;Rouhi\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/pwp.gatech.edu\/bmmc\/\u0022\u003Elab of Boris I.\u0026nbsp;Prilutsky\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;aims to understand the biomechanics and control of locomotion, which comprises the movements that take two- and four-footed animals from place to place.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring locomotion, sensations from the limbs (called sensory feedback) inform the nervous system about the state of the movement.\u0026nbsp;Prilutsky\u0026nbsp;studies how this sensory feedback affects locomotion. In particular, he investigates feedback from foot pressure and limb motion.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDisrupting the feedback, through injury for example, can lead to instability and falls during locomotion. \u0026ldquo;We modify sensory pathways in experimental animals and in computational models and observe the effects on locomotion,\u0026rdquo; says\u0026nbsp;Prilutsky,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosci.gatech.edu\/people\/boris-prilutsky\u0022\u003Ea professor in the School of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and a member of the Parker H. Petit Institute for\u0026nbsp;Bioengineering and Bioscience.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA key research tool is a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3403605\/pdf\/1471-2202-13-S1-P48.pdf\u0022\u003Eneuromechanical\u0026nbsp;model\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;the\u0026nbsp;Prilutsky\u0026nbsp;group developed in collaboration with the group of\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rybak-et-al.net\/\u0022\u003EIlya\u0026nbsp;A.\u0026nbsp;Rybak\u003C\/a\u003E, at Drexel University. This model accurately reproduces the walking mechanics and muscle activity of cats. Computational experiments have pinpointed the sensory feedback pathways that produce mild and severe locomotion defects when interrupted. These predictions have been experimentally tested.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a recent study, for example,\u0026nbsp;Prilutsky\u0026rsquo;s team injected local anesthetic to the paw pads on one side of a cat to block the sense of touch. Under this condition, the animal loses the symmetry of its gait and becomes less stable. The effect can be reversed, however, by electrically stimulating the nerves that convey the sense of touch to the central nervous system. When that happens, the cat\u0026rsquo;s walk becomes symmetric and stable again.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn other experiments, they removed muscle stretch feedback \u0026ndash; or stretch reflex \u0026ndash; from selected muscles and investigated the effects. \u0026ldquo;We found that this feedback is task- and muscle-dependent,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;Prilutsky\u0026nbsp;says. For example,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/jn.physiology.org\/content\/115\/5\/2406\u0022\u003Eloss of feedback from certain muscles of the ankle causes problems only in\u0026nbsp;downslope\u0026nbsp;walking\u003C\/a\u003E. More recently, they found that removing the stretch reflex from hip flexors causes profound changes in locomotion, as predicted and explained by their computational model.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;From our experimental and computational studies, we gain insight into how spinal circuits cooperate with the moving body segments during locomotion,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;Prilutsky\u0026nbsp;says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThose insights are now propelling\u0026nbsp;Prilutsky\u0026nbsp;and others toward prosthetic devices that behave like natural limbs. For example,\u0026nbsp;Prilutsky\u0026nbsp;is applying discoveries about sensory pathways, feedback loops, and natural control signals from the nervous system in the field of\u0026nbsp;osseointegrated\u0026nbsp;\u0026mdash; or bone-anchored \u0026mdash; limb prostheses. In this approach to attaching prosthetic devices, the artificial limb is directly anchored to the bone through a titanium rod, similar to a dental implant. Potentially this implant can be used as a neural interface between the prosthesis and nerves in the stump.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlthough used in Europe, bone-anchored limb prostheses are not approved in the U.S. because of the high rate of skin infections, which develop when skin fails to form a close connection with the bone implant. However,\u0026nbsp;Prilutsky\u0026nbsp;and others have shown that, in rats,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3871976\/\u0022\u003Euse of porous titanium\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;allows skin to grow into the implant, thereby reducing infections.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3959271\/\u0022\u003ERecently they experimented with cats to test this implant in natural walking conditions to see whether it forms a tight bond with skin and bone and whether and how the animals use a bone-anchored prosthesis for walking.\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;It works,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;Prilutsky\u0026nbsp;says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENow the stage is set for the next phase: using the implant as a neural interface between the prosthetic device and the nerves in the residual limb so that the nerves and prosthesis talk to each other, and the prosthesis is controlled naturally without the person\u0026rsquo;s attention. If the promise of this approach is fulfilled, it could revolutionize prosthetics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EMoving in a Complex World: How do insects do it?\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EBy A. Maureen\u0026nbsp;Rouhi\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHow do animals navigate their environments? That question motivates the research of Simon\u0026nbsp;Sponberg. An\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/simon-sponberg\u0022\u003Eassistant professor in the School of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;with a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosci.gatech.edu\/people\/simon-sponberg\u0022\u003Ejoint appointment in the School of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;Sponberg\u0026nbsp;studies animals to discover how they move around in a complex world.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Perceiving and then navigating the irregular terrain of Earth requires sophisticated processing by the brain,\u0026rdquo; says\u0026nbsp;Sponberg, who received a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/545001\u0022\u003ENational Science Foundation Early-Career Award in 2016\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;in recognition of his promise as a teacher-scholar and is a member of the Parker H. Petit Institute for\u0026nbsp;Bioengineering and Bioscience. \u0026ldquo;It also demands that the brain work in conjunction with an animal\u0026rsquo;s body and the environment surrounding it.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnimals have evolved to negotiate almost every environment on this planet. To do this,\u0026nbsp;Sponberg\u0026nbsp;says, their\u0026nbsp;nervous systems acquire, process, and act upon information. \u0026ldquo;Yet their brains must operate through the mechanics of the body\u0026rsquo;s sensors and actuators to both perceive and act upon the environment,\u0026rdquo; he adds.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/s1.sponberg.gatech.edu\/research\/\u0022\u003ESponberg\u0026rsquo;s lab\u003C\/a\u003E, researchers are studying how muscles operate as soft, living matter. They\u0026rsquo;re trying to understand the physics of moving animal bodies and the computational principles implemented in the sensors \u0026mdash; such as eyes or antennae \u0026mdash; of animals in motion.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our\u0026nbsp;research investigates how\u0026nbsp;physics and physiology\u0026nbsp;enable animals in motion to achieve the remarkable stability and maneuverability we see in biological systems,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;Sponberg\u0026nbsp;says. \u0026ldquo;We\u0026nbsp;explore how animals fly and run stably even in the face of repeated perturbations, how the\u0026nbsp;multifunctionality\u0026nbsp;of muscles arises from their physiological properties, and how the tiny brains of insects organize and execute movement. We study how the grace and agility of animal movement arises from the synthesis of its parts. Among these is the brain \u0026mdash; a crucial part, but not the only one.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe\u0026nbsp;hawkmoth\u0026nbsp;is a frequent subject of\u0026nbsp;Sponberg\u0026rsquo;s investigations. The swift-flying insect typically imbibes nectar while hovering over a flower. Feeding usually takes place at dusk, when light is limited. It\u0026rsquo;s hard enough to see in dim light and even more when it gets dimmer with time. Yet\u0026nbsp;hawkmoths\u0026nbsp;also hover in air while following a flower that\u0026rsquo;s swaying with the wind. How do they do it?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/multitasking-moths\u0022\u003ESponberg\u0026rsquo;s group has shown that\u0026nbsp;hawkmoths\u0026nbsp;slow their brain down to improve vision in dim light, much like increasing the exposure on a camera.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;However, this adjustment can cause their motion to blur, so they only slow down to the point where they can still track the wind-blown motions of the flowers they prefer in nature. The behavior demonstrates that their neural circuits adapt exquisitely to the environment.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org\/content\/royptb\/372\/1717\/20160078.full.pdf\u0022\u003EMore recent work on three\u0026nbsp;hawkmoth\u0026nbsp;species\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;tracking the group\u0026rsquo;s \u0026ldquo;roboflowers\u0026rdquo; suggests that simple models of neuronal processing can account for interspecies differences in adapting to different light intensities, and the moths actually use touch sensors on their proboscis to help feel the flower\u0026rsquo;s movements.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Behavior, especially movement, arises from the context in which the brain acts,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;Sponberg\u0026nbsp;says. \u0026ldquo;We start by asking questions like, \u0026ldquo;If we know something about the biophysics of how muscles works, how might the brain activate and control muscle to enable an animal to be most agile and versatile?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;What we are finding is that how brains process sensory input and program motor output is intimately coupled to the physics of the surrounding systems and the features of the environment the animal most cares about. Figuring out these coupling principles is a huge task but one that we are confident will help us better understand how we think and act.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EIntent and Action: Unpacking a little-understood aspect of skilled movement\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EBy A. Maureen\u0026nbsp;Rouhi\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosci.gatech.edu\/people\/lewis-wheaton\u0022\u003ELewis A. Wheaton\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;wishes to play golf like a pro. He could raise his game by watching videos of star players like Rory\u0026nbsp;McIlroy. But Wheaton knows from experience \u0026mdash; and his research \u0026mdash; that observation alone\u0026nbsp;doesn\u0026rsquo;t always help motor learning.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch in Wheaton\u0026rsquo;s lab is explaining why observing people who are highly skilled at motor tasks may not be helpful to those who are far less proficient. Wheaton is interested in unpacking how the brain integrates information to effect motor behavior, particularly highly skilled tasks that involve hands and tools. His findings underscore the importance of intent.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EConsider an array of objects on a table: pens, paper, mug, stapler. \u0026ldquo;You need intent to use things together,\u0026rdquo; Wheaton says. \u0026ldquo;If you decide to write a note, you\u0026rsquo;ll focus attention on the pen and paper.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat\u0026rsquo;s obvious, yet some people with certain neurological injuries have trouble understanding what they need to do to write a note. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s not automatic that you can string the information together,\u0026rdquo; Wheaton says. \u0026ldquo;Part of our work is understanding the relationship between intent and action and how that falls apart in case of neurological injury.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing brain-imaging techniques, Wheaton identifies neural signals that capture intent.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERecently he conducted an experiment with people with sound limbs wearing artificial limbs. The participants were asked to learn how to use the prosthetic limbs by watching a video of another prosthetic-device user.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The norm in prosthetic limb rehabilitation is to let people figure it out themselves, with help from physical therapists,\u0026rdquo; Wheaton says. \u0026ldquo;But most physical therapists have two hands. They don\u0026rsquo;t know what it\u0026rsquo;s like to be an amputee.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1177\/1545968315606992\u0022\u003EThe study showed that people who watched other prosthetic-device users became more efficient than those who watched people with sound limbs.\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnother tool is eye-tracking, based on the well-known correlation of eye and arm movements. \u0026ldquo;Particularly in tasks that involve reaching, the eyes precede the hand,\u0026rdquo; Wheaton says. Can we see intent from what the eyes are doing?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENew research suggests that a key to rehabilitation gains might be rooted in visual strategies that capture specific action intent. The eyes see differently when observing different people do the same task, like bringing an object from one side of a barrier to the other side. When watching a person with sound limbs, the prosthetic-device user\u0026rsquo;s eyes look only at the task itself: The object starts on one side and ends on the other, Wheaton says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen watching another prosthetic-device user, the subject\u0026rsquo;s eyes go over the barrier and are paying attention to the shoulders, which power the prosthetic limb. \u0026ldquo;They are paying attention to the motor intent instead of just the task,\u0026rdquo; Wheaton says. \u0026ldquo;Instead of training execution, which we do a lot in rehabilitation, perhaps we should be training intent.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBack to golf, Wheaton suggests, \u0026ldquo;Its\u0026rsquo; hard to understand the intent of a professional when you are an amateur, until you develop more skill. Instead of watching Rory, take a different approach. You may be more like Joe, who will help you progress to the next step. Then you\u0026rsquo;ll meet Mary, who\u0026rsquo;s a bit better than Joe. She\u0026rsquo;ll take you farther.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EWhen to Make a Decision: Accumulating and evaluating evidence\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EBy A. Maureen\u0026nbsp;Rouhi\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhat was your dinner last night? How about the previous night? How about the week before?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.psychology.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/435\u0022\u003EMark E. Wheeler\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;is interested in memories and what happens in the brain that allows us to remember. Part of what he studies is how we make decisions about the accuracy of what we retrieve. \u0026ldquo;You can\u0026rsquo;t remember immediately what you had for dinner a week before because you lack information,\u0026rdquo; he says. \u0026ldquo;If you think about it a bit more, you may remember. How can you evaluate the accuracy of your memory? What is happening in the brain when we decide whether our memories are accurate or not?\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMemory is difficult to study, however. \u0026ldquo;People are often not good at describing how they remember,\u0026rdquo; says Wheeler, a professor in the School of Psychology. \u0026ldquo;Some retrieved information may not be easy to communicate, people may ignore some memories, or they may be unaware of other memories.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo get at memory, Wheeler studies perception, which is easier to manipulate and measure. The hope is that understanding how we evaluate evidence in making decisions based on perception can help us understand what happens when retrieving memories.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen viewed from the brain\u0026rsquo;s perspective, even simple tasks \u0026mdash; such as deciding whether an object is green or yellow \u0026mdash; consist of a sequence of processing stages, Wheeler says. These stages can be represented by different patterns of brain activity. \u0026ldquo;If we understand the process as a system,\u0026rdquo; Wheeler says, \u0026ldquo;then we can ask: What parts of this system are involved when things break down or don\u0026rsquo;t function well?\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECentral to Wheeler\u0026rsquo;s work is the concept of an accumulation-to-boundary mechanism. \u0026ldquo;In the midst of gathering evidence, you reach some threshold of evidence: Okay, now I\u0026rsquo;m going to decide,\u0026rdquo; Wheeler explains. \u0026ldquo;The idea is that brain activity that is thought to reflect evidence builds up, and when it crosses that threshold, that is the signal that you have enough information to commit to a decision. We don\u0026rsquo;t understand precisely how that works, which is why we\u0026rsquo;re studying it, but there\u0026rsquo;s a lot of data that this happens at the neural level.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInstead of asking experimental subjects to remember what they had for dinner, Wheeler asks them to lie still while being scanned by a functional MRI (fMRI) machine at the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cabiatl.com\/CABI\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia State University\/Georgia Tech Center for Advanced Brain Imaging\u003C\/a\u003E. Amid the constant beeping of the scanner, participants receive visual stimuli and make decisions about what they see.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBrain activity data reveal how much evidence participants accumulate before they decide.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.jneurosci.org\/content\/jneuro\/27\/44\/11912.full.pdf\u0022\u003EThe basis for this approach was developed a decade ago, when Wheeler and others showed that\u0026nbsp;fMRI\u0026nbsp;allows identification of distinct neural processes that work together when people make decisions based on perception\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrently Wheeler is interested in how aging affects the way decision-making evidence accumulates and how that manifests in brain activity. His recent work, funded by the National Science Foundation and Georgia Tech, examines how noise \u0026mdash; anything that degrades information \u0026mdash; affects the accumulation of evidence and decision-making as we get older.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Perception and decision-making,\u0026rdquo; Wheeler says, \u0026ldquo;can involve a series of stages, where you take in sensory information, analyze the information, and accumulate evidence, until you can make a decision. Suppose that aging affects the first stage most significantly, but the latter two are fine. You could target interventions more precisely, if you know where the problem lies.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe experimental approach, Wheeler notes, can apply to other conditions, such as drug addiction or alcoholism. If one can deconstruct how the brain of an alcoholic takes in and processes information, it may be possible to develop better ways to train alcoholics to avoid that first drink.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s College of Sciences created a prospectus for a new Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience, it estimated 25 to 50 students would enroll the first year. \u003Cem\u003EWrong\u003C\/em\u003E. Since the new degree program was approved by the Board of Regents on Valentine\u0026rsquo;s Day 2017, nearly 200\u0026nbsp;students have signed on.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New undergraduate program builds on strength of research across campus, from neurons to behavior ."}],"uid":"30678","created_gmt":"2017-06-26 13:29:07","changed_gmt":"2017-11-02 14:51:38","author":"A. Maureen Rouhi","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-06-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-06-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"593190":{"id":"593190","type":"image","title":"A galaxy of neurons","body":null,"created":"1498853469","gmt_created":"2017-06-30 20:11:09","changed":"1498853469","gmt_changed":"2017-06-30 20:11:09","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226106","name":"neurons.original.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/neurons.original.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/neurons.original.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4107642,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/neurons.original.jpg?itok=3DE8tdSP"}},"593193":{"id":"593193","type":"image","title":"Human brain (all-free-download.com) ","body":null,"created":"1498853879","gmt_created":"2017-06-30 20:17:59","changed":"1498853879","gmt_changed":"2017-06-30 20:17:59","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226109","name":"human brain.088_3500x3500_all-free-download.com_10708540.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/human%20brain.088_3500x3500_all-free-download.com_10708540.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/human%20brain.088_3500x3500_all-free-download.com_10708540.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":484265,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/human%20brain.088_3500x3500_all-free-download.com_10708540.jpg?itok=E7JKR65k"}},"593194":{"id":"593194","type":"image","title":"Human nervous system (dreamstime.com)","body":null,"created":"1498853956","gmt_created":"2017-06-30 20:19:16","changed":"1498853956","gmt_changed":"2017-06-30 20:19:16","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226110","name":"human nervous system.dreamstime.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/human%20nervous%20system.dreamstime.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/human%20nervous%20system.dreamstime.png","mime":"image\/png","size":302543,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/human%20nervous%20system.dreamstime.png?itok=Zi6G5OAh"}},"593191":{"id":"593191","type":"image","title":"Tim Cope","body":null,"created":"1498853589","gmt_created":"2017-06-30 20:13:09","changed":"1498853589","gmt_changed":"2017-06-30 20:13:09","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226107","name":"Sidebar.TimCope.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Sidebar.TimCope.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Sidebar.TimCope.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":239961,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Sidebar.TimCope.jpg?itok=YSx2Aj8j"}},"593192":{"id":"593192","type":"image","title":"Yeseul Heo","body":null,"created":"1498853670","gmt_created":"2017-06-30 20:14:30","changed":"1498853670","gmt_changed":"2017-06-30 20:14:30","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226108","name":"Heo.portrait.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Heo.portrait.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Heo.portrait.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":628937,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Heo.portrait.jpg?itok=gTHrft-K"}},"590572":{"id":"590572","type":"image","title":"Dean Paul Goldbart ","body":null,"created":"1492533643","gmt_created":"2017-04-18 16:40:43","changed":"1492533643","gmt_changed":"2017-04-18 16:40:43","alt":"","file":{"fid":"225002","name":"Dean Paul Goldbart.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Dean%20Paul%20Goldbart.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Dean%20Paul%20Goldbart.png","mime":"image\/png","size":92972,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Dean%20Paul%20Goldbart.png?itok=xeZMp1Dk"}},"218911":{"id":"218911","type":"image","title":"brain-audrey-duarte","body":null,"created":"1449180151","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:02:31","changed":"1475894885","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:05","alt":"brain-audrey-duarte","file":{"fid":"197210","name":"audrey-duarte136.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/audrey-duarte136_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/audrey-duarte136_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1140710,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/audrey-duarte136_0.jpg?itok=1qSfbR7X"}},"593195":{"id":"593195","type":"image","title":"Liang Han","body":null,"created":"1498854227","gmt_created":"2017-06-30 20:23:47","changed":"1498854227","gmt_changed":"2017-06-30 20:23:47","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226111","name":"Liang Han headshot 06062017.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Liang%20Han%20headshot%2006062017.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Liang%20Han%20headshot%2006062017.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":197606,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Liang%20Han%20headshot%2006062017.jpeg?itok=hDsSq8gg"}},"593196":{"id":"593196","type":"image","title":"Young Jang","body":null,"created":"1498854308","gmt_created":"2017-06-30 20:25:08","changed":"1498854338","gmt_changed":"2017-06-30 20:25:38","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226112","name":"Young Jang DSC_0328.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Young%20Jang%20DSC_0328.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Young%20Jang%20DSC_0328.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":276367,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Young%20Jang%20DSC_0328.jpg?itok=C0h64dCb"}},"593197":{"id":"593197","type":"image","title":"T. Richard Nichols","body":null,"created":"1498854592","gmt_created":"2017-06-30 20:29:52","changed":"1498854592","gmt_changed":"2017-06-30 20:29:52","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226114","name":"T RICHARD NICHOLS DSC_9125.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/T%20RICHARD%20NICHOLS%20DSC_9125_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/T%20RICHARD%20NICHOLS%20DSC_9125_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":194757,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/T%20RICHARD%20NICHOLS%20DSC_9125_0.jpg?itok=CzeUgpW7"}},"593198":{"id":"593198","type":"image","title":"Boris Prilutsky","body":null,"created":"1498854712","gmt_created":"2017-06-30 20:31:52","changed":"1498854712","gmt_changed":"2017-06-30 20:31:52","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226115","name":"Boris I. Prilutsky DSC_7128.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Boris%20I.%20Prilutsky%20DSC_7128.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Boris%20I.%20Prilutsky%20DSC_7128.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":276823,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Boris%20I.%20Prilutsky%20DSC_7128.jpg?itok=9O4zQ9uy"}},"413181":{"id":"413181","type":"image","title":"Simon Sponberg","body":null,"created":"1449254222","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:37:02","changed":"1475895145","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:25","alt":"Simon Sponberg","file":{"fid":"202378","name":"hawkmoth16.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth16_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth16_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":891932,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hawkmoth16_1.jpg?itok=aqrbgxEZ"}},"593199":{"id":"593199","type":"image","title":"Lewis Wheaton","body":null,"created":"1498854920","gmt_created":"2017-06-30 20:35:20","changed":"1498854920","gmt_changed":"2017-06-30 20:35:20","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226116","name":"Lewis Wheaton.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Lewis%20Wheaton.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Lewis%20Wheaton.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":280134,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Lewis%20Wheaton.jpg?itok=iLwBb6HB"}},"593200":{"id":"593200","type":"image","title":"Mark Wheeler","body":null,"created":"1498854997","gmt_created":"2017-06-30 20:36:37","changed":"1498854997","gmt_changed":"2017-06-30 20:36:37","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226117","name":"mark.wheeler.2017.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mark.wheeler.2017.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mark.wheeler.2017.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":251137,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mark.wheeler.2017.jpg?itok=1eCn3150"}}},"media_ids":["593190","593193","593194","593191","593192","590572","218911","593195","593196","593197","593198","413181","593199","593200"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"443951","name":"School of Psychology"}],"categories":[{"id":"42911","name":"Education"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"140","name":"Cancer Research"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1304","name":"neuroscience"},{"id":"174813","name":"B.S. Neuroscience"},{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"174814","name":"Tim Cope"},{"id":"14224","name":"Audrey Duarte"},{"id":"112161","name":"Liang Han"},{"id":"174815","name":"Young Jang"},{"id":"173857","name":"T. Richard Nichols"},{"id":"14478","name":"Boris Prilutsky"},{"id":"170414","name":"Simon Sponberg"},{"id":"68441","name":"Lewis Wheaton"},{"id":"174816","name":"Mark Wheeler"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"},{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA. Maureen Rouhi, Ph.D.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"592041":{"#nid":"592041","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Study Stands Up for Flamingos\u0027 Unique Pose","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen it comes to Big Questions About Birds, here\u0026rsquo;s one that rivals those about chickens crossing roads and that whole chicken-and-egg quandary: Why do flamingos stand on one leg?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Anytime I go to the zoo, I always hear a kid ask why or how they do that,\u0026rdquo; says \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosci.gatech.edu\/people\/young-chang\u0022\u003EYoung-Hui Chang\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the School of Biological Sciences who studies\u0026nbsp;locomotion in animals from both a neurological and a biomechanical lens. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s a natural question.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause science has yet to provide a definitive answer, Chang and fellow researcher \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/neuromechanicslab.emory.edu\/people\/ting-lena.html\u0022\u003ELena Ting\u003C\/a\u003E investigated how flamingos are able to stand and sleep on one leg so easily for so long\u003Cs\u003E.\u003C\/s\u003E Ting is a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at Emory University and Georgia Tech who studies\u0026nbsp;balance control in humans and mammals.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETheir findings, published this week in \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org\/content\/13\/5\/20160948\u0022\u003EBiology Letters\u003C\/a\u003E, suggest a reason that differs from most previous suggestions: it\u0026rsquo;s about reducing muscular effort.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPotential applications stretch from better robotics, orthopedic braces, and artificial limbs, to more focused treatments for neurological or balance problems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut Chang argues that simply providing clarity to long-standing questions about long-standing flamingos has great value as well.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;There\u0026rsquo;s something to be said for just scientific curiosity and learning how nature works,\u0026rdquo; he says. Flamingos aren\u0026rsquo;t the only birds that stand on one leg, he adds, but \u0026ldquo;the extreme example is the flamingo. It\u0026rsquo;s precisely from these extreme examples in nature where you can really gain a lot of insight.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA firmer foundation for flamingos\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESurprisingly, Chang says, given how long the question about flamingos has been around, \u0026ldquo;there hasn\u0026rsquo;t been a whole lot of research done.\u0026rdquo; Others have suggested that the birds engage in this behavior to avoid muscle fatigue or to conserve body heat.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EChang and Ting studied live birds at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/zooatlanta.org\/\u0022\u003EZoo Atlanta\u003C\/a\u003E flock, one of the largest breeding flocks of Chilean flamingos in the U.S. They also used two cadaver birds from the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.birminghamzoo.com\/\u0022\u003EBirmingham Zoo\u003C\/a\u003E and flamingo skeletons from the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ucmp.berkeley.edu\/\u0022\u003EUniversity of California at Berkeley\u0026rsquo;s Museum of Paleontology\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EZoo Atlanta and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/researchintegrity.gatech.edu\/iacuc\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(IACUCs)\u0026nbsp;approved all procedures using live animals. No animal was killed or harmed for the purposes of the study.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETheir research shows that a \u0026ldquo;passively engaged gravitational stay apparatus\u0026rdquo; helps the birds support their weight and maintain balance while on one reed-thin leg. The bird\u0026rsquo;s specialized anatomy, clever posture, and gravity combine to give the flamingo this ability, which does \u003Cem\u003Enot\u003C\/em\u003E involve bones locking into position. Chang says it\u0026rsquo;s more like a hammock or sling than a lock, but it does require the unique anatomy of flamingos.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The biomechanics are such that when they stand on one leg, they become very stable and are able to maintain that posture without activating muscle,\u0026rdquo; Ting says. \u0026ldquo;If they deviate from that posture to two legs, that no longer holds. It\u0026rsquo;s very posture-specific, a one-legged posture that can support their body weight.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe \u0026ldquo;passively engaged\u0026rdquo; part of the flamingo\u0026rsquo;s gravitational stay apparatus is exactly as it sounds: It requires minuscule, if any, active muscular or nerve control, Chang adds.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThose who marvel at a large, fluffy pink lump of flamingo body held up by one slender leg may be surprised to learn that the \u0026ldquo;joint\u0026rdquo; in the middle of that leg is actually an ankle, not a knee. \u0026ldquo;Most people don\u0026rsquo;t realize that knee and hip joints are not actually in view in most birds,\u0026rdquo; Chang says. \u0026ldquo;They\u0026rsquo;re near the body, kind of behind the wing. The flamingo thigh is almost perfectly horizontal.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAll that contributes to biomechanics that might actually require greater muscular effort if not for the flamingo\u0026rsquo;s ability to \u0026ldquo;stay\u0026rdquo; in a pose, which flamingos can get out of easily in flight-or-fight situations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGiving robots - and people \u0026ndash; stronger legs to stand on \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA one-legged standing test, actually termed a \u0026ldquo;flamingo test,\u0026rdquo; is used to diagnose human balance disorders with the help of pressure plates, instruments that measure balance, force, and other data. Humans are usually more than willing to stand on pressure plates. But flamingos? They tend to squawk at things foreign in their environment.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The zoo didn\u0026rsquo;t want us to interact with the adult flamingos because they don\u0026rsquo;t handle change in their environment very well,\u0026rdquo; Ting says. But zoo workers could handle juvenile flamingos and placed them near the plates after they were fed, hoping that postprandial sleepiness would yield measurable data.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe cadaver birds actually provided a eureka\u0026nbsp;moment for Chang. After putting one into the one-legged pose, \u0026ldquo;I don\u0026rsquo;t know what made me do it, but I just kind of grabbed the leg and picked it up,\u0026rdquo; he says. The bird maintained its posture. \u0026ldquo;Here we have a non-living animal able to stand on one leg. Obviously, if it\u0026rsquo;s not alive, then\u0026nbsp;the muscles are not activated.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECan flamingo biomechanics help treat human movement and balance disorders?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If we know how much is passive mechanics and how much the nervous system has to control, it puts researchers in a better position to treat people,\u0026rdquo; Chang says. Flamingo biomechanics can mean better wearable artificial limbs and longer battery life for stability supports.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERobots could also benefit. Getting robots to balance can be difficult; sensing the environment and making adjustments is how they currently do it. \u0026ldquo;But if you design the biomechanics of a robot in the right way, not so much sensing but a sort of feedback control,\u0026rdquo; Ting says, \u0026ldquo;then they would have this passive ability, and they would be more robust in uncertain environments.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"The big pink birds stand, sleep on one leg to relax, Tech research suggests"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn findings that could\u0026nbsp;mean better robots and prosthetics, Georgia Tech researchers show it is biomechanically possible for flamingos to stand and even sleep on one leg with little muscle effort.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Tech researchers have a new theory on why flamingos stand and sleep on one leg."}],"uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2017-05-23 17:51:02","changed_gmt":"2017-05-25 21:29:55","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-05-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-05-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"592042":{"id":"592042","type":"image","title":"Young-Hui Chang","body":null,"created":"1495562064","gmt_created":"2017-05-23 17:54:24","changed":"1495562064","gmt_changed":"2017-05-23 17:54:24","alt":"","file":{"fid":"225629","name":"Young-Hui Chang.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Young-Hui%20Chang.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Young-Hui%20Chang.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":41392,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Young-Hui%20Chang.jpg?itok=a5XgEZOY"}},"592044":{"id":"592044","type":"image","title":"Lena Ting","body":null,"created":"1495562306","gmt_created":"2017-05-23 17:58:26","changed":"1495562306","gmt_changed":"2017-05-23 17:58:26","alt":"","file":{"fid":"225630","name":"Lena Ting .png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Lena%20Ting%20.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Lena%20Ting%20.png","mime":"image\/png","size":332880,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Lena%20Ting%20.png?itok=zDQMueYB"}},"592049":{"id":"592049","type":"image","title":"James Ballance (left), bird curator at Zoo Atlanta, works with juveniles flamingos as Tech professor Young-Hui Chang looks on. (Photo by Lena Ting.)  ","body":null,"created":"1495563118","gmt_created":"2017-05-23 18:11:58","changed":"1495563171","gmt_changed":"2017-05-23 18:12:51","alt":"","file":{"fid":"225634","name":"Flamingo study #1.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Flamingo%20study%20%231.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Flamingo%20study%20%231.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":914851,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Flamingo%20study%20%231.JPG?itok=WFDGD_at"}},"592048":{"id":"592048","type":"image","title":"A flamingo at Zoo Atlanta. (Photo by Adam Thompson\/Zoo Atlanta.)","body":null,"created":"1495562883","gmt_created":"2017-05-23 18:08:03","changed":"1495562883","gmt_changed":"2017-05-23 18:08:03","alt":"","file":{"fid":"225633","name":"Flamingo #1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Flamingo%20%231.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Flamingo%20%231.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":599126,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Flamingo%20%231.jpg?itok=S4OUUNYc"}},"592047":{"id":"592047","type":"image","title":"Juvenile flamingo on a force plate at Zoo Atlanta (Photo by Rob Felt\/Georgia Tech)","body":null,"created":"1495562740","gmt_created":"2017-05-23 18:05:40","changed":"1495562740","gmt_changed":"2017-05-23 18:05:40","alt":"","file":{"fid":"225632","name":"Juvenile flamingo \u0026 force plate.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Juvenile%20flamingo%20%26%20force%20plate.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Juvenile%20flamingo%20%26%20force%20plate.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":120527,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Juvenile%20flamingo%20%26%20force%20plate.jpg?itok=WYFm9JVb"}},"592050":{"id":"592050","type":"image","title":"Lena Ting (left) and Young-Hui Chang with flamingos at Zoo Atlanta. (Photo by Rob Felt\/Georgia Tech)","body":null,"created":"1495568262","gmt_created":"2017-05-23 19:37:42","changed":"1495568262","gmt_changed":"2017-05-23 19:37:42","alt":"","file":{"fid":"225635","name":"Ting:Chang and flamingos.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Ting%3AChang%20and%20flamingos_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Ting%3AChang%20and%20flamingos_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":113987,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Ting%3AChang%20and%20flamingos_0.jpg?itok=8oFyBunJ"}}},"media_ids":["592042","592044","592049","592048","592047","592050"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/figshare.com\/articles\/S1_Supplementary_movie_of_cadaveric_flamingo_demonstration_from_Mechanical_evidence_that_flamingos_can_support_their_body_on_one_leg_with_little_active_muscular_force\/4990475","title":"Flamingo Demonstration Video"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166882","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"174496","name":"Walter H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering"},{"id":"2305","name":"Emory University"},{"id":"169203","name":"Young-Hui Chang"},{"id":"2266","name":"Lena Ting"},{"id":"174497","name":"flamingos"},{"id":"8963","name":"biomechanics"},{"id":"174498","name":"Birmingham Zoo"},{"id":"6765","name":"zoo atlanta"},{"id":"174499","name":"University of California at Berkeley Museum of Paleontology"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERenay San Miguel\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer\/Science Writer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-894-5209\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["renay.san@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"582279":{"#nid":"582279","#data":{"type":"news","title":"NIH Grants Support Research on Balance in Parkinson\u0027s and Other Diseases","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ETwo new grants to researchers at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology will support studies that will increase our understanding of how balance and movement are affected in people with disorders such as Parkinson\u0026#39;s disease, stroke and dystonia.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJ. Lucas McKay, Ph.D., MSCR, assistant professor (research) in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;at Georgia Tech and Emory University, was awarded a four-year, $500,000 Mentored Quantitative Research Career Development Award from the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR), a sub\u0026ndash;institute of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health \u0026amp; Human Development (NICHD) entitled \u0026quot;Neural mechanisms of balance deficits, falls, and freezing of gait in Parkinson\u0026#39;s disease.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe grant will allow McKay to apply his engineering background to help improve clinical outcomes for Parkinson\u0026#39;s patients, working with faculty mentors, including Thomas Wichmann, M.D., director of Emory\u0026#39;s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.udall.emory.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EMorris K. Udall Center of Excellence for Parkinson\u0026#39;s Disease Research,\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;to better understand the scientific mechanisms of Parkinson\u0026#39;s disease, and Stewart Factor, DO, director of the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.emoryhealthcare.org\/neurology\/specialties\/movement-disorders\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EEmory Movement Disorders Clinic\u003C\/a\u003E, to understand how recent advances in human movement science can be applied to the clinical management of Parkinson\u0026#39;s disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMcKay will work with Lena Ting, Ph.D., professor of rehabilitation medicine at Emory and professor of biomedical engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory, to conduct laboratory-based movement studies in people with Parkinson\u0026#39;s disease to identify new physiologic markers of fall risk.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETing was recently awarded a $1.7 million Collaborative Research Grant from the NICHD\/NCMRR to develop computer simulations of how sensory signals are generated within the muscles for balance control. Tim Cope, Ph.D., a neuroscientist in the Coulter Department at Georgia Tech and Emory, and in the School of Applied Physiology at Georgia Tech, is co-principal investigator of the grant, along with Ken Campbell, Ph.D., a muscle physiologist at the University of Kentucky.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research is aimed at developing a fundamental understanding of how muscle spindle proprioceptive organs provide sensory awareness during movement. Proprioceptors feed information to the brain about the position and length of joints and muscles and the position of limbs in space, allowing people to maintain balance and move their limbs effectively.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;We plan to predict changes in sensory function associated with chemotherapy-based sensory loss and other sensory neuropathies,\u0026quot; explains Ting. \u0026quot;The establishment of this new model will provide a new basis for understanding and treating other sensorimotor disorders such as spasticity seen in stroke and spinal cord injury, rigidity in Parkinson\u0026#39;s disease, and abnormal muscle contractions in dystonia.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe awards follow a recent scientific paper by McKay, Ting, and collaborator Madeleine Hackney, PhD, research health scientist at the Atlanta VA Center for Visual and Neurocognitive Rehabilitation and assistant professor (research) in the division of general medicine\/geriatrics at Emory. The paper describes changes in mechanisms of balance control in individuals with Parkinson\u0026#39;s disease after\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/news.emory.edu\/stories\/2016\/10\/ting_mckay_tango_study\/index.html\u0022\u003Edance-based rehabilitation\u003C\/a\u003E. The work is published online and will be in the October issue of the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/journals.lww.com\/jnpt\/Abstract\/2016\/10000\/Balance,_Body_Motion,_and_Muscle_Activity_After.7.aspx\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EJournal of Neurologic Physical Therapy.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cstrong\u003EEmory Contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nHolly Korschun\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-727-3990\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nhkorsch@emory.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:wrich@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EWalter Rich\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Manager\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Two new grants to researchers at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology "}],"uid":"27513","created_gmt":"2016-10-07 16:32:53","changed_gmt":"2016-10-07 16:34:04","author":"Walter Rich","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-10-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-10-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"582278":{"id":"582278","type":"image","title":"J. Lucas McKay and Lena Ting","body":null,"created":"1475857664","gmt_created":"2016-10-07 16:27:44","changed":"1475857664","gmt_changed":"2016-10-07 16:27:44","alt":"J. Lucas McKay and Lena Ting","file":{"fid":"221957","name":"therapy_520_prop.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/therapy_520_prop.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/therapy_520_prop.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":83269,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/therapy_520_prop.jpg?itok=2uy0VYfe"}}},"media_ids":["582278"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1612","name":"BME"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWalter Rich\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Manager\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["wrich@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"486871":{"#nid":"486871","#data":{"type":"news","title":"\u201cBursting\u201d Cells Gain the Brain\u2019s Attention for Life-or-Death Decisions","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs you start across the street, out of the corner of your eye, you spot something moving toward you. Instantly, your brain shifts its focus to assess the potential threat, which you quickly determine to be a slow-moving bicycle \u2013 not a car \u2013 which will pass behind you as you complete your crossing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe brain\u2019s ability to quickly focus on life-or-death, yes-or-no decisions, then immediately shift to detailed analytical processing, is believed to be the work of the thalamus, a small section of the midbrain through which most sensory inputs from the body flow. When cells in the thalamus detect something that requires urgent attention from the rest of the brain, they begin \u201cbursting\u201d \u2013 many cells firing off simultaneous signals to get the attention of the cortex. Once the threat passes, the cells quickly switch back to quieter activity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing optogenetics and other technology, researchers have for the first time precisely manipulated this bursting activity of the thalamus, tying it to the sense of touch. The work, done in animal models, was reported January 14th in the journal \u003Cem\u003ECell Reports\u003C\/em\u003E. The research is supported by the National Institutes of Health\u2019s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf you clap your hands once, that\u2019s loud,\u201d explained \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Garrett-B.-Stanley\u0022\u003EGarrett Stanley\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech and Emory University. \u201cBut if you clap your hands several times in a row, that\u2019s louder. And if you and your friends all clap together and at the same time, that\u2019s even stronger. That is what these cells do, and the idea is that this mechanism produces bursts synchronized across many cells to send out a very strong signal about a stimulus in the outside world.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENeuroscientists have long believed that such coordinated spikes of activity serve to focus the brain\u2019s attention on issues requiring immediate attention. Stanley and graduate student Clarissa Whitmire \u2013 working with researchers Cornelius Schwarz and Christian Waiblinger from the University of T\u00fcbingen in Germany \u2013 used optogenetics techniques to study bursting activity in the thalamus of rats. Their findings could lead to a better understanding of how cells in this walnut-sized portion of the human brain perform a variety of sensory and motor control tasks, switching from one mode to another as needed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cClarissa was able to get into the mechanism of synchronized thalamic bursting so we can manipulate it and look at it not only from within individual cells, but also across cells, recording from multiple cells simultaneously,\u201d said Stanley, who has been studying the thalamus for more than a decade. \u201cWe can now begin to provide a coherent story about how information gets from the outside world to the brain machinery that\u2019s in the cortex.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers studied the connection between the rats\u2019 whiskers and cells in their thalamus. By stimulating the whiskers in many different ways, they were able to induce signals \u2013 including bursting \u2013 in the thalamus. The researchers used light-sensitive proteins introduced into the thalamic cells \u2013 a technology known as optogenetics \u2013 to establish optical control of the bursting activity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe were able to turn the bursting mechanism on or off at will,\u201d explained Stanley, who is the Carol Ann and David D. Flanagan Professor in the Coulter Department. \u201cThis is really the first time we have been able to readily control this, turning the knob in one direction to eliminate the bursting activity and then turning it the other way to make the cells produce these bursts in rapid succession.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe control extended not just to turning the bursting on or off, but also allowed the researchers to create a continuum of cell activity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cClarissa could make them act very \u2018bursty\u2019 and very synchronized, or she could turn the knob and move them very smoothly to the opposite end of the spectrum,\u201d Stanley said. \u201cThere is a range of activity that people had speculated would be there, but nobody had actually done the experiments to show it existed.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe cellular bursting mechanism likely developed very early in mammalian evolution to help creatures survive threats posed by predators. The brain\u2019s cortex is always busy with higher-level activity, and the thalamic bursting serves to let it know that critical outside activities need its urgent attention.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOther sensory inputs such as vision can initiate bursting, but Stanley\u2019s group chose to study sense of touch in this work. In rats, the whiskers are embedded in follicles that have specialized cells whose function is similar to that of human sensory cells. Thus, these whiskers serve many of the same \u201ctouch\u201d functions as human fingers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen you reach out with your hand and touch a surface, you are mechanically deforming the skin, stretching the sensors that are in the skin and sending signals to tell the brain about the surface you are touching,\u201d Stanley noted. \u201cIn the rats, we moved the whiskers, recorded the activity, and identified the presence of a burst.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a next step, Stanley and his research team plan to connect what they\u2019ve learned about bursting activity of the thalamus to behavior in an effort to fully confirm the theory. \u201cThe next step is to take this to behavior and work with animals that are trained to detect and discriminate between different kinds of inputs,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith the optogenetics and other advanced technology, researchers are beginning to see the big picture of how sensory inputs affect brain activity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese thalamic cells are somewhere in between the outside world and the cognitive machinery of the brain, and they have a job that changes rapidly,\u201d Stanley said. \u201cIn some cases, they are saying \u2018yes\u2019 or \u2018no\u2019 about something in the outside world, and in some cases they are discriminating between the final details of objects in the outside world.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis work was supported by US-German Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience grant (US: NSF CRCNS IOS-1131948; German: BMBF CRCNS 01GQ1113) and NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke grants R01NS048285 and R01NS085447. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Clarissa Whitmire, Christian Waiblinger, Cornelius Schwarz, Garrett Stanley, \u201cInformation Coding Through Adaptive Gating of Synchronized Thalamic Bursting, (Cell Reports, 2016).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing optogenetics and other technology, researchers have for the first time precisely manipulated the bursting activity of cells in the thalamus, tying this alerting activity to the sense of touch.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have for the first time precisely manipulated the bursting activity of cells in the thalamus."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2016-01-14 20:52:20","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-01-14T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-01-14T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"486851":{"id":"486851","type":"image","title":"Studying bursting brain cells","body":null,"created":"1452902401","gmt_created":"2016-01-16 00:00:01","changed":"1475895242","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:02","alt":"Studying bursting brain cells","file":{"fid":"204341","name":"bursting-behavior4.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bursting-behavior4_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bursting-behavior4_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2078244,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bursting-behavior4_0.jpg?itok=y1JKYwuZ"}},"486861":{"id":"486861","type":"image","title":"Studying bursting brain cells2","body":null,"created":"1452902401","gmt_created":"2016-01-16 00:00:01","changed":"1475895242","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:02","alt":"Studying bursting brain cells2","file":{"fid":"204342","name":"bursting-behavior3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bursting-behavior3_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bursting-behavior3_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1930242,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bursting-behavior3_0.jpg?itok=Dv8bPC45"}}},"media_ids":["486851","486861"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1912","name":"brain"},{"id":"171581","name":"cell bursting"},{"id":"14462","name":"Garrett Stanley"},{"id":"11635","name":"optogenetics"},{"id":"11327","name":"Thalamus"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"465911":{"#nid":"465911","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Study finds ballet training may improve balance and coordination in daily activities","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EFrom the American Physiological Society:\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA ballet dancer\u2019s grace is not just because the dancer constantly practices moving with poise. New research published in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EJournal of Neurophysiology\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;reports that professional ballet dancers\u2019 years of physical training have enabled their nervous systems to coordinate their muscles when they move more precisely than individuals who have no dance training.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe nervous system is comprised of the brain, spinal cord and nerves throughout the body. It allows the body\u2019s systems to communicate and coordinate with each other, such as the brain controlling movement of the leg muscles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERather than controlling muscles individually, the nervous system initiates movement by activating muscles in groups. The groups of muscles are called \u0022motor modules,\u0022 and the nervous system combines different motor modules to achieve a wide range of motion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn this study, a research team at Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology examined whether long-term training to enhance physical coordination, such as dance training, affects how motor modules are recruited when moving.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This study helps us understand how long-term training in an activity such as dance affects how we do everyday tasks,\u0022 says study author Lena Ting, Ph.D. \u0022We found that years of ballet training change how the nervous system coordinates muscles for walking and balancing behaviors overall. This may also have implications for how training through rehabilitation helps people with impaired mobility.\u0022 Ting is professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory and in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers compared the movements of professional ballet dancers with 10 or more years of ballet training to individuals with no dance or gymnastics training. Gait and activity of muscles in the legs and torso were tracked as the subjects walked across the floor, across a wide beam and across a challenging narrow beam.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBallet dancers and untrained individuals had similar gait patterns when they walked across the floor or the beam. However, when walking across the narrow beam, ballet dancers showed better balance by walking across farther. Ballet dancers recruited more motor modules and did so more consistently than untrained individuals, indicating that ballet dancers used their muscles more effectively and efficiently, the researchers stated. The ballet dancers also used more of the same motor modules when walking across a floor as when walking across the beam compared with untrained individuals, supporting that training can affect control of every-day movements.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to the researchers, the results show that years of ballet training changed how the nervous system coordinated muscles for walking and balancing behaviors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe article \u0022Long-term training modifies the modular structure and organization of walking balance control\u0022 is published ahead-of-print in\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/jn.physiology.org\/content\/early\/2015\/10\/09\/jn.00758.2015\u0022\u003EJournal of Neurophysiology.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECONTACT:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:wrich@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EWalter Rich\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Manager\u003Cbr \/\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Study finds ballet training may improve balance and coordination in daily activities"}],"uid":"27513","created_gmt":"2015-11-03 16:37:09","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:54","author":"Walter Rich","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-11-02T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2015-11-02T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"465901":{"id":"465901","type":"image","title":"A new study about the way long-term training affects the nervous system could assist with rehabilitation medicine, says study author Lena Ting.","body":null,"created":"1449256395","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:13:15","changed":"1475895213","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:33","alt":"A new study about the way long-term training affects the nervous system could assist with rehabilitation medicine, says study author Lena Ting.","file":{"fid":"203740","name":"ting_rehab220.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ting_rehab220_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ting_rehab220_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":63884,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ting_rehab220_0.jpg?itok=gxxr6n3c"}},"466031":{"id":"466031","type":"image","title":"Professor Lena Ting collecting data","body":null,"created":"1449256395","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:13:15","changed":"1475895213","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:33","alt":"Professor Lena Ting collecting data","file":{"fid":"203745","name":"dsc_0274.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc_0274_0.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc_0274_0.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":212234,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dsc_0274_0.jpeg?itok=cGs6_xJK"}}},"media_ids":["465901","466031"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"249","name":"Biomedical Engineering"},{"id":"2266","name":"Lena Ting"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:wrich@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EWalter Rich\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003ECommunications Manager\u003Cbr \/\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["wrich@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"460471":{"#nid":"460471","#data":{"type":"news","title":"BRAIN Initiative Taps Two Labs from Georgia Tech","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003ETwo researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology are riding a second wave of grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EChristine Payne and Garrett Stanley, both faculty members of the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, are among the 131 investigators working at 125 institutions in the U.S. and eight other countries receiving 67 new awards, totaling more than $38 million.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EPayne, Stanley and their collaborators are part of a new round of projects for visualizing the brain in action. It\u2019s all part of the initiative launched by President Obama in 2014 as a wide-spread effort to equip researchers with fundamental insights for treating a range of brain disorders, like Alzheimer\u2019s, schizophrenia, autism, epilepsy and traumatic brain injury.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EStanley and Dieter Jaeger, professor in Emory University\u2019s Department of Biology, are principal investigators of a project titled, \u201cMultiscale Analysis of Sensory-Motor Cortical Gating in Behaving Mice.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003ETheir overall goal is better understand and capture the flow of information as we sense and perceive the outside world, \u201cso that we can take action,\u201d says Stanley, professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME), a joint department of Emory and Georgia Tech. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThe Stanley lab provides expertise on tactile sensing and information processing, while the Jaeger lab provides expertise on motor\/muscle coordination and control.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cWe are developing approaches to using genetically expressed voltage sensors to optically image brain activity during a sensory-motor task,\u201d Stanley says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThe new technology would let the researchers monitor brain activity at high spatial and temporal resolution over long periods of time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cIt allows us to address questions related to the circuits involved in coordinating the relationship between sensing and action for the first time,\u201d Stanley says.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThe project grew out of another collaboration between Jaeger and Stanley. They are co-principal investigators of an NIH-sponsored training grant in computational neuroscience, which targets a new generation of scientists bound together through questions about how the brain computes.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cThrough this interaction, Dieter and I got to know each other better, started to talk more science, and eventually cooked up this project,\u201d Stanley says.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u201cThe research is relevant to public health because it provides an impactful and innovative study of the circuitry underlying the output from the basal ganglia to the motor cortex and the integration of basal ganglia output with sensory information.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EDebilitating and difficult to treat neurological disorders like Parkinson\u2019s disease, Huntington\u2019s disease and dystonia are caused by dysfunction of this circuitry.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cThe proposed research is expected to provide basic insights into motor circuit function and may reveal new possibilities for treatment of these diseases as well as a better understanding of deep brain stimulation treatments already in use,\u201d says Stanley, who was part of the first round of BRAIN Initiative funding last year with fellow Georgia Tech researcher Craig Forest.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EPeter Borden, a Ph.D. student in Stanley\u2019s lab, and Christian Waiblinger, a postdoctoral researcher in Stanley\u2019s lab, will also be contributing to the research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EMeanwhile, Payne is principal investigator for a project titled, \u201cConducting polymer nanowires for neural modulation.\u201d She\u2019s collaborating with Bret Flanders, a professor at Kansas State whose lab is working on new ways to insulate nanowires. Georgia Tech students Scott Thourson (a Bioengineering Ph.D. candidate) and Rohan Kadambi (undergrad in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering) are helping to lead the effort.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cUnderstanding how the brain functions requires fundamentally new tools to probe individual neurons without damaging the surrounding tissue,\u201d says Payne, associate professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cThis research will develop a prototype device that uses biocompatible conducting polymer nanowires to interface with individual neurons,\u201d says Payne. \u201cThe use of flexible conducting polymers in place of traditional metal, silicon, and carbon electrodes is expected to minimize disruption to the surrounding tissue.\u201d \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThe new round of funding brings the NIH investment for BRAIN Initiative research to $85 million in fiscal year 2015. Last year NIH awarded $46 million to the effort, designed to ultimately catalyze new treatments and cures for devastating brain disorders and diseases that are estimated by the World Health Organization to affect more than one billion people on the planet.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cGeorgia Tech is proud to play a role in this important global effort,\u201d says Steve Cross, Tech\u0027s executive vice president for research. \u201cThese grants are further evidence of Tech\u2019s reputation for conducting world-class bioengineering and bioscience research.\u201d\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECONTACT:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/node\/jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Petit Institute researchers Christine Payne and Garrett Stanley contributing to global effort"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EPetit Institute researchers Christine Payne and Garrett Stanley contributing to global effort\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Petit Institute researchers Christine Payne and Garrett Stanley contributing to global effort"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2015-10-19 11:42:38","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:47","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-10-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-10-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"460431":{"id":"460431","type":"image","title":"Neural activity","body":null,"created":"1449256361","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:41","changed":"1475895206","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:26","alt":"Neural activity","file":{"fid":"203590","name":"neuron_pic.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/neuron_pic_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/neuron_pic_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":669703,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/neuron_pic_0.jpg?itok=MfqQwTQ8"}},"391851":{"id":"391851","type":"image","title":"Garrett Stanley","body":null,"created":"1449246332","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:25:32","changed":"1475894406","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:06","alt":"Garrett Stanley","file":{"fid":"75568","name":"garrett_stanley_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/garrett_stanley_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/garrett_stanley_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":42109,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/garrett_stanley_0.jpg?itok=SX8cZwvr"}},"293571":{"id":"293571","type":"image","title":"Christine Payne, PhD - School of Chemistry \u0026 Biochemistry","body":null,"created":"1449244313","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:51:53","changed":"1475894991","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:51","alt":"Christine Payne, PhD - School of Chemistry \u0026 Biochemistry","file":{"fid":"199309","name":"paynechristine.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/paynechristine_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/paynechristine_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":111877,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/paynechristine_0.png?itok=UP61oh4w"}}},"media_ids":["460431","391851","293571"],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"111361","name":"BRAIN initiative"},{"id":"126591","name":"go-NeuralEngineering"},{"id":"138191","name":"go-qbios"},{"id":"147931","name":"go_neuralengineering"},{"id":"147941","name":"go_qbios"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/node\/jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"457391":{"#nid":"457391","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech, Emory Unite to Train Healthcare Roboticists","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022normal\u0022\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology and Emory University faculty members are uniting to train the next generation of engineering students in healthcare robotics technologies, so they can better understand the changing needs of patients and their caregivers and healthcare providers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022normal\u0022\u003EWith the support of a five-year, $2.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation National Research Traineeship program, this faculty team will create new bachelor\u2019s, master\u2019s, and doctoral degree programs and concentrations in healthcare robotics \u2013 the first degree programs in this area in the United States.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022normal\u0022\u003ELed by Ayanna M. Howard, the Linda J. and Mark C. Smith Chair Professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), this initiative will blend Emory\u2019s medical and clinical expertise and Tech\u2019s robotics and engineering know-how to train engineering students in robotics, physiology, neuroscience, rehabilitation, and psychology. The program also aims to increase the appeal of STEM fields to a wide range of people, including women, underrepresented minorities, and people with disabilities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022normal\u0022\u003EThe U.S. population is living longer and is becoming older and more racially and ethnically diverse. In addition, the number of younger people living with a lifelong disability is also increasing, including 52,351 post-9\/11 military veterans with combat injuries and 6.4 million children with developmental disorders or delays. Fifty million people are also diagnosed annually with neurological\/neurodegenerative diseases. \u201cProviding innovative solutions to help improve an individual\u2019s quality of life continues to emerge as a growing need,\u201d said Howard, who leads the Human-Automation Systems Lab in ECE. \u201cKeeping this need in mind, we will train engineers not only to develop robotics technologies, but also learn how to work with and listen to the needs of the technology end users \u2013 patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022normal\u0022\u003EThree faculty join Howard\u2019s leadership team. Charlie Kemp, an associate professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at Georgia Tech and Emory University and director of the Healthcare Robotics Lab in BME, focuses on intelligent mobile robots for physical assistance in the context of healthcare. Lena H. Ting, a BME professor with an appointment in Emory School of Medicine\u2019s Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Division of Physical Therapy, and co-director of the Neural Engineering Center, will integrate human needs related to accessibility and rehabilitation to inform the design of robotics solutions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022normal\u0022\u003ERandy D. Trumbower, an assistant professor in both BME and Physical Therapy and the director of research within Rehabilitation Medicine at Emory, will work on interfacing robotics and physical therapy techniques.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022normal\u0022\u003EAdditional faculty will serve as student advisors, including Wendy Rogers, professor in Tech\u2019s School of Psychology; Jun Ueda, an associate professor from Tech\u2019s George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering; Steven L. Wolf, a professor in Emory\u2019s Division of Physical Therapy; and Minoru Shinohara, an associate professor in Tech\u2019s School of Applied Physiology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022normal\u0022\u003EThe team will focus first on developing the doctoral and master\u2019s programs, with the goal of having a mini-cohort of Ph.D. students in spring 2016 and starting the official graduate degree programs next fall. The undergraduate degree will combine the five-year, B.S.\/M.S. degree program and undergraduate thesis option, allowing students to build a foundation for an eventual M.S. thesis. The graduate program will build on the highly successful multidisciplinary robotics Ph.D. program at Georgia Tech. \u201cWe\u2019re excited about this opportunity to further enhance and grow our world-class educational programs in robotics,\u201d said Kemp, who has served on the robotics Ph.D. program\u2019s leadership team since its inception in 2007.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022normal\u0022\u003EA sampling of these courses include:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022normal\u0022\u003E\u2022\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Interfacing Engineering and Rehabilitation, taught by Trumbower, engages both engineering and clinical students. They will learn equally from clinical experts about their target demographics and the issues they face and from engineering faculty about how robotics can address these challenges. Members from collaborating medical organizations and non-profit agencies will regularly visit the class to talk with students. Discussion points and group projects will be derived from real case studies using persons with physical challenges as technology consumers and consultants.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022normal\u0022\u003E\u201cIn order for clinicians to play a more active role in the development, evaluation, and implementation of robotics technologies in rehabilitation, they must first more comfortably engage engineers who develop and test these technologies,\u201d said Trumbower. \u201cMutually, in order for engineers to play a more active role in the development, evaluation, and implementation of rehabilitation technologies, they must first more comfortably engage clinicians who evaluate and treat patients. This course provides a novel learning approach for this type of collaborative interaction.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022normal\u0022\u003E\u2022\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; A course on ethics, privacy, and regulations in medicine and biomedical robotics will be offered, where students learn about considerations that must be addressed when designing and deploying robotic systems for health. \u201cWhile engineering students at Tech are required to take ethics courses, certain areas like privacy or statistical analysis have different nuances in the healthcare arena,\u201d said Howard. \u201cFor instance, what does \u2018good\u2019 mean as a healthcare roboticist vs. a traditional roboticist? How do you manage privacy and share information from doctor to doctor, and is there a correlation to a robot in the doctor\u2019s office doing the same thing with a robot in a patient\u2019s home?\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022normal\u0022\u003E\u2022\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Interdisciplinary research training will provide students with hands-on, healthcare experience during their first summer in the program. Matched with mentors in both engineering and healthcare, students will do one week of clinical rotations, where they will observe medical practices and learn about current problems in healthcare.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022normal\u0022\u003EStudents will then conduct eight weeks of research using robotics to address healthcare issues discovered during rotations. Clinical partners with which students may work include Emory Medical School, Shepherd Center, Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory ALS Center, Atlanta Area Agency on Aging, and the Veterans Administration.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022normal\u0022\u003EAdditional components of the healthcare robotics degree programs are required communications training and availability of entrepreneurship activities for interested students. All students will receive communications training, so that they can interact effectively with different audiences. Examples include academic and professional communications; talking to patients or patient groups about their work; giving media interviews, writing press releases, and producing short videos about their work; and communicating with the general public. Trainees interested in entrepreneurship will be able to participate in a Georgia Tech student incubator during their second summer in the program, or they may intern at a medical startup company in the Atlanta area.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022normal\u0022\u003EWorking with engineering students to think about and design their technologies for the benefit of their target populations will be an exciting challenge, according to Howard. \u201cWorking in healthcare robotics will be a learning process, where there is no equation in the book that can be derived. It will require looking at a problem, working and talking with others, and developing a solution by being creative and thinking outside of the box,\u201d said Howard. \u201cThis will be a different way of thinking for engineers, and when our students graduate, they will be exceptional because of that.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESources for statistics:\u003C\/strong\u003E National Center for Education Statistics, Congressional Research Service\/U.S. Department of Defense, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"NSF Grant to Support First of Its Kind Degree Programs"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022normal\u0022\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology and Emory University faculty members are uniting to train the next generation of engineering students in healthcare robotics technologies, so they can better understand the changing needs of patients and their caregivers and healthcare providers.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022normal\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech and Emory faculty members are uniting to train the next generation of engineering students in healthcare robotics technologies, so they can better understand the changing needs of patients and their caregivers and healthcare providers."}],"uid":"27241","created_gmt":"2015-10-08 16:22:50","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:43","author":"Jackie Nemeth","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-10-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-10-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"457341":{"id":"457341","type":"image","title":"Ayanna Howard","body":null,"created":"1449256347","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:27","changed":"1475895202","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:22","alt":"Ayanna Howard","file":{"fid":"203510","name":"howard_with_robot.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/howard_with_robot_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/howard_with_robot_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1520959,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/howard_with_robot_0.png?itok=9wp0VO-0"}},"457451":{"id":"457451","type":"image","title":"Charlie Kemp","body":null,"created":"1449256347","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:27","changed":"1475895202","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:22","alt":"Charlie Kemp","file":{"fid":"203517","name":"charlie_kemp_2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/charlie_kemp_2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/charlie_kemp_2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2642668,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/charlie_kemp_2_0.jpg?itok=eGwymNu3"}},"457351":{"id":"457351","type":"image","title":"Lena Ting","body":null,"created":"1449256347","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:27","changed":"1475895202","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:22","alt":"Lena Ting","file":{"fid":"203511","name":"lting3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lting3_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lting3_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3711899,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/lting3_0.jpg?itok=P6EDnKtx"}},"457361":{"id":"457361","type":"image","title":"Randy Trumbower","body":null,"created":"1449256347","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:27","changed":"1475895202","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:22","alt":"Randy Trumbower","file":{"fid":"203512","name":"trumbower_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/trumbower_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/trumbower_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1683721,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/trumbower_0_0.jpg?itok=RTREvtFU"}}},"media_ids":["457341","457451","457351","457361"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=135","title":"Profile"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Charlie-Kemp","title":"Faculty Host Profile"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Lena-H.-Ting","title":"Lena Ting"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.inspirlab.com\/","title":"Randy Trumbower"}],"groups":[{"id":"1255","name":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2157","name":"Charlie Kemp"},{"id":"94321","name":"College of Engineering; Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering"},{"id":"144271","name":"Emory School of Medicine Department of Rehabilitation Medicine"},{"id":"2305","name":"Emory University"},{"id":"144251","name":"Emory; Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering; Ayanna Howard"},{"id":"1506","name":"faculty"},{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"144281","name":"Graduate Affairs"},{"id":"1808","name":"graduate students"},{"id":"12319","name":"Healthcare Robotics Lab"},{"id":"67281","name":"Human-Automation Systems Lab"},{"id":"2266","name":"Lena Ting"},{"id":"362","name":"National Science Foundation"},{"id":"144261","name":"Neural Engineering Center"},{"id":"15110","name":"randy trumbower"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"166855","name":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJackie Nemeth\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-2906\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jackie.nemeth@ece.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejackie.nemeth@ece.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jackie.nemeth@ece.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"441311":{"#nid":"441311","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Closing the Loop with Optogenetics","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOptogenetics provides a powerful tool for studying the brain by allowing researchers to activate neurons using simple light-based signals. But until now, these optical stimulation techniques have been \u201copen loop,\u201d meaning they lack the kind of feedback control that most biological and engineering systems use to maintain a steady operating state.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAn engineering example of closed-loop control is a simple thermostat used to maintain a steady temperature in the home. Without it, heating or air conditioning would run without reacting to changes in outside conditions, allowing inside temperatures to vary dramatically.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOptogenetics technology places genes that express light-sensitive proteins into mammalian cells that normally lack such proteins. When the proteins are illuminated with specific wavelengths of light, they change the behavior of the cells, introducing certain types of ions or pushing ions out of the cells to alter electrical activity. But without a feedback loop, scientists could only assume that the optical signals were having the effects desired \u2013 or try to confirm at the end of the experiment that this had happened.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo address that shortcoming, researchers have created an open-source technology called the optoclamp which closes the loop in optogenetic systems. The technique uses a computer to acquire and process the neuronal response to the optical stimulus in real-time and then vary the light input to maintain a desired firing rate. By providing this feedback control, the optoclamp could facilitate research into new therapies for epilepsy, Parkinson\u2019s disease, chronic pain \u2013 and even depression.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur work establishes a versatile test bed for creating the responsive neurotherapeutic tools of the future,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Steve-M.-Potter\u0022\u003ESteve Potter\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cNeural modulation therapies of the future, whether they be targeted drug delivery, electrical stimulation or even light-plus-optogenetics through fiber optics, will all be closed loop. That means they will be responsive to the moment-to-moment needs of the nervous system.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research, supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, was recently published in the open-access journal \u003Cem\u003EeLife\u003C\/em\u003E. Feedback control already exists for neural stimulation systems based on electrical inputs, but the optoclamp is the first system to provide similar closed-loop control for optical stimulation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOptoclamp provides continuous, real-time adjustments of optical stimulation to lock neural spiking activity to specified targets over time scales ranging from seconds to days. By providing precise optical control of firing in neuronal populations, the technology will help scientists disentangle causally related variables of circuit activation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers in Potter\u2019s lab studied the effects of open-loop optical stimulation on neural systems, and found considerable variation in the responses of neuronal networks grown on multi-electrode arrays and in the neurons of animal models.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe same stimulus pattern can produce highly variable levels of activity,\u201d said Jon Newman, who built the optoclamp while a Ph.D. student in Georgia Tech\u2019s Laboratory for Neuroengineering. Newman is now a postdoctoral researcher at MIT. \u201cThe amount of optical stimulation needed to achieve the same level of activity varied by orders of magnitude, depending on the population that was being controlled, or even in the same type of cells and preparation, but within different subjects.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a cultured cortical network, the optoclamp records activity from as many as 200 cells, using them to measure activity in the larger culture population, which can include as many as a million cells.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBecause we have all those electrodes, we can process the data in real-time and then compare the amount of activity being expressed by the culture to a target rate, then use the difference between those two signals to inform our optical stimulator to vary the intensities of different wavelengths of light,\u201d Newman explained.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe optoclamp can be used to control cell cultures grown atop electrode arrays, as well as in living animal models in which electrodes have been implanted.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn research conducted with colleagues at Emory University, the optoclamp\u2019s ability to maintain a steady neural firing state allowed researchers to study a key control issue in homeostatic plasticity, a phenomenon that results from a lack of neural stimulation. Scientists had believed that the effect was controlled by the firing rate of cells, but the optoclamp allowed a team of researchers from Georgia Tech and Emory University to clamp firing at normal levels during the addition of a drug that inhibits neurotransmission. This showed that neurotransmission levels, not firing activity, governed a key form of homeostatic plasticity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEffectively, we were able to decouple two things that are normally very closely related,\u201d said Newman. \u201cThis is potentially a very big deal in terms of developing therapies for aberrant forms of synaptic plasticity.\u201d Potential applications include chronic pain, epilepsy, tinnitus, phantom limb syndrome and other nervous systems disorders where the brain has over-reacted to the loss of normal inputs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat work, recently published in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Communications\u003C\/em\u003E, was a collaboration with Emory University Professor Pete Wenner and former graduate student Ming-fai Fong, demonstrating the value of bringing biological scientists together with engineers. Newman, an engineer by training, says concepts common in engineering can be useful in the life sciences.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cClosed-loop control is a concept that is woven through all engineered systems, but it\u2019s often hard to find in the biological sciences,\u201d he said. \u201cAny time you can introduce feedback control into an experiment, it almost always produces better control of the variables of interest. Feedback control is an extremely important concept for the life sciences.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScientists are already using the optoclamp in its current form, but the researchers hope to improve spatial differentiation of the optical signals, allowing experiments to focus stimulation on specific areas of the brain or brain cell cultures. The light signals now affect an entire culture or brain region.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe want to precisely control where photons are being sent to activate different cells,\u201d Newman said. \u201cOptogenetics allows genetic specification of which cells express these proteins, and that gives you some level of spatial control. But I don\u2019t believe that\u2019s as precise as what will be required to speak the language of the brain.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, the research team included Professor Garrett Stanley from the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, and graduate students Daniel C. Millard and Clarissa J. Whitmire, also from the Coulter Department.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation under Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience grant IOS-1131948 and Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation grant 1238097, and by the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke grant 2R01NS048285 and National Institute of Neurological Disorders grant 1R01NS079757-01. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Science Foundation or National Institutes of Health.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATIONS\u003C\/strong\u003E:\u003Cbr \/\u003ENewman, J. P., Fong, M-f, Millard, D. C., Whitmire, C. J., Stanley, G. B., \u0026amp; Potter, S. M., \u201cOptogenetic feedback control of neural activity,\u201d (eLife, 2015). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.7554\/eLife.07192\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.7554\/eLife.07192\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMing-fai Fong, et al, \u201cUpward synaptic scaling is dependent on neurotransmission rather than spiking,\u201d (Nature Communications, 2015). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/ncomms7339\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/ncomms7339\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-894-6986).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have created an open-source technology called the optoclamp which closes the loop in optogenetic systems. The technique uses a computer to acquire and process the neuronal response to the optical stimulus in real-time and then vary the light input to maintain a desired firing rate.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have created a technology called the optoclamp which closes the loop in optogenetic systems."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-08-27 23:27:48","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:26","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-08-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-08-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"441281":{"id":"441281","type":"image","title":"Preparing culture for optoclamp","body":null,"created":"1449256190","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:09:50","changed":"1475895179","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:59","alt":"Preparing culture for optoclamp","file":{"fid":"203078","name":"optoclamp-001.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/optoclamp-001_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/optoclamp-001_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1732736,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/optoclamp-001_0.jpg?itok=Q2TP8M5Z"}},"441291":{"id":"441291","type":"image","title":"The optoclamp system","body":null,"created":"1449256190","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:09:50","changed":"1475895179","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:59","alt":"The optoclamp system","file":{"fid":"203079","name":"optoclamp-006.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/optoclamp-006_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/optoclamp-006_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1079398,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/optoclamp-006_0.jpg?itok=q6OCp6EL"}},"441301":{"id":"441301","type":"image","title":"The optoclamp system2","body":null,"created":"1449256190","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:09:50","changed":"1475895179","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:59","alt":"The optoclamp system2","file":{"fid":"203080","name":"optoclamp-003.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/optoclamp-003_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/optoclamp-003_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1622856,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/optoclamp-003_0.jpg?itok=vXBqDlC4"}}},"media_ids":["441281","441291","441301"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1912","name":"brain"},{"id":"139461","name":"closed-loop"},{"id":"5282","name":"feedback"},{"id":"1110","name":"gene"},{"id":"68411","name":"neurons"},{"id":"2768","name":"optics"},{"id":"139451","name":"optoclamp"},{"id":"11635","name":"optogenetics"},{"id":"168365","name":"Steve Potter"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"407701":{"#nid":"407701","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Neuro Design Suite Open for Business","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Parker H. Petit Department of Bioengineering and Bioscience recently unveiled its newest core facility. But even before its official grand opening earlier this year, the Neuro Design Suite (NDS) was having an important impact on the work of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELast year, when Craig Forest and Garrett Stanley applied for grant funding through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for President Obama\u2019s BRAIN Initiative (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies), they made sure to include the Neuro Design Suite in their description of available facilities. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt\u2019s because facilities were among the important five criteria on which these grant proposals were scored by NIH, who awarded the Forest\/Stanley research team $1.5 million as part of the first wave of BRAIN Initiative funding. Part of NIH\u2019s reasoning on this score is that the NDS is a state-of-the-art facility with some of the best research tools available.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cThey want to know, \u2018does your team have adequate facilities to conduct this research?\u2019 So, it made a great impression,\u201d says Forest, associate professor of bioengineering in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. \u201cThe modern tools of neuroscience are allowing researchers unprecedented access to the living brain at work. These tools allow measurements at the level of single cells, and the connections between them.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELike all core facilities, the Neuro Design Suite are shared resources, a high-tech \u201csandbox\u201d for engineers and scientists to try out their novel inventions in a controlled setting with all the necessary equipment at hand. So far, a number of different researchers from different disciplines have utilized the tools.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u201cHaving a shared facility that can support multiple grants and multiple [principal investigators] is absolutely essential,\u201d Forest says. \u201cWe\u2019re excited that these tools invented for neuroscience could be brought to bear on entirely different problems.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn other words, you don\u2019t have to be a neuroscientist to reap the research benefits of the Neuro Design Suite. Assisting researchers who use the facility is lab manager Bo Yang, who can sit down with a scientist and help design experiments suitable to their needs or discipline.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cBo has recorded the electrical activity of 2,500 brain cells,\u201d says Forest. \u201cWe\u2019re fortunate to have one of the world\u2019s experts working with researchers.\u201d \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe suite features three major rigs that allow researchers to perform manual and\/or automated \u003Cem\u003Ein vitro, in vivo\u003C\/em\u003E patch clamping and \u003Cem\u003Ein vivo\u003C\/em\u003E extracellular electrophysiology recordings. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Q-Scientifica SliceScope within\u0026nbsp;the \u003Cem\u003Ein vitro\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;patch clamping rig is a compact upright microscope equipped with a fully-motorized fixed stage, various electrode manipulators, a wide range of Olympus objectives and an LED system to meet the demands of electrophysiology study.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe electromagnetically shielded\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003Ein vivo\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;extracellular electrophysiology rig is constructed with various elements, including Zesis surgical microscopes, a 128-channel Tucker Davis Technologies data acquisition system (RZ2), Kopf stereotaxic frames, and DC temperature controllers to enable stable, reliable and high-quality recordings. Also, a complete LED driver system (Thorlabs) was equipped to this rig to facilitate optogenetic \u003Cem\u003Ein vivo\u003C\/em\u003E experiments.\u003Cbr \/\u003EAutomatic patch clamping devices (autopatchers) are also attached to both\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003Ein vitro\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;and\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003Ein vivo\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;patch clamping rigs to obtain high yield and high quality whole cell recordings. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EForest and Stanley, professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME), were awarded BRAIN Initiative funding from the NIH for their project entitled, \u201c\u003Cem\u003EIn-vivo\u003C\/em\u003E circuit activity measurement at single cell, sub-threshold resolution,\u201d research that could only happen with the best tools available.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cWe can use these tools not only to record what\u2019s happening in cells, at the level of a single cell, but also in cells that are in two different brain regions simultaneously,\u201d says Forest. \u201cIn each region we can record activity within a single cell, at the sub-threshold resolution of a single cell. No one\u2019s been able to do that before. We can record cells talking to each other in a living brain.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECONTACT:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/node\/jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Newest core facility giving researchers unprecedented access to the brain"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENewest core facility giving researchers unprecedented access to the brain\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Newest core facility giving researchers unprecedented access to the brain"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2015-05-28 00:36:49","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:18:21","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-05-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-05-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"407691":{"id":"407691","type":"image","title":"Neurons","body":null,"created":"1449254168","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:36:08","changed":"1475895132","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:12","alt":"Neurons","file":{"fid":"202154","name":"-1_8.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/-1_8_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/-1_8_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1274734,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/-1_8_0.jpg?itok=6ByD52XH"}},"407681":{"id":"407681","type":"image","title":"neuro design ribbon cutting","body":null,"created":"1449254168","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:36:08","changed":"1475895132","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:12","alt":"neuro design ribbon cutting","file":{"fid":"202153","name":"ribbon_2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ribbon_2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ribbon_2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":524259,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ribbon_2_0.jpg?itok=imOm55N8"}}},"media_ids":["407691","407681"],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"126591","name":"go-NeuralEngineering"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/node\/jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"402101":{"#nid":"402101","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Patterns of Movement","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe simple actions that humans make and take for granted every moment of every day are visible results of complex, unseen engineering at work:\u0026nbsp; neuron-activated muscles throughout the body generate forces for movement, with each movement particular to each individual, influenced by a staggering number of potential neuromechanical solutions. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cWhen you see a neuron go off in the brain, what does that mean for movement? We\u2019re talking about a really complex transformation,\u201d says Lena Ting, professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering and a member of the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience. \u201cBecause there are not only many ways in which your muscles can perform a particular task, but there are many different centers in the nervous system that can generate similar motor tasks.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAll of which really complicates the study of neuroscience and the mechanisms of normal movement.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cSo imagine what happens when you\u2019re now trying to take that knowledge and apply it to somebody with a neurological injury or disorder in which their movement is impaired,\u201d says Ting, who addresses that challenge as lead author in a recently published perspective essay in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENeuron\u003C\/em\u003E, entitled, \u201cNeuromechanical Principles Underlying Movement Modularity and Their Implications for Rehabilitation.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETing\u2019s lab group develops experiments and computational models to understand features of muscle coordination, taking a neuromechanical approach \u2013 neuromechanics is an interdisciplinary field that basically is the study of how neural, biomechanical and environmental dynamics interact to create movement. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EUsing techniques from neuroscience, biomechanics, kinesiology, signal processing, control systems, physiology, and image processing, Ting\u2019s work aims to better characterize and model normal and impaired performance of fundamental motor tasks, thereby influencing the development of rehabilitation techniques, neural prosthetics, and neural tissue engineering to improve motor function.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cThe principles of neuromechanics are a framework for understanding patterns of neural activity that generate movements in a healthy nervous system, as well as in motor deficits, and how these patterns change through rehabilitation,\u201d Ting and her co-authors write.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThey hypothesize that these principles support the development of motor modules, which are coordinated patterns of muscle activity that combine to produce functional motor behaviors. Then they address how these modules may provide the basis to address limitations that impede the development of more effective and individualized rehabilitation therapies.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThese motor modules are solutions for movement particular to an individual and shaped by evolution, development, genetics, training, and even cultural influences. Motor modules can change over the course of a so-called normal lifetime as a body ages. They can also be disrupted by neurological disorders like Parkinson\u2019s disease, spinal cord injury, and stroke \u2013 areas of specific interest to Ting and her co-authors, some of whom are affiliated with Emory University\u2019s Department of Rehabilitation Medicine.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cThere\u2019s sort of a modular organization to movement, where lots of different muscles are coordinated in a particular way to perform a task,\u201d Ting says. \u201cWithin each person are different answers to how they solve a movement problem, different ways that people produce the same movement. So we have to look holistically at how muscles coordinated, rather than reading them one by one. We have to look at how the whole relationship between all the muscles and how they actually produce movement. That\u2019s challenging and a major question in neuroscience.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt is a challenge that demands a collaborative approach, and Ting\u2019s co-authors\/co-researchers represent a widespread effort: Hillel Chiel from Case Western Reserve University; Randy D. Trumbower and Trish Keser, both assistant professors in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Division of Physical Therapy at Emory; Jessica Allen, post-doctoral researcher in Ting\u2019s lab in the Georgia Tech\/Emory Coulter Department; J. Lucas McKay, a research assistant professor in the Coulter Department and a member of the Ting lab; Madeleine Hackney, assistant professor of medicine at Emory and a clinical researcher affiliated with the Atlanta VA Medical Center. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETogether they postulate that motor module organization is altered after central nervous system (CNS) disease or injury, and that quantifying this disruption may provide tremendous insight into individual-specific motor impairments as well as mechanisms of learning and refining motor behaviors during rehabilitation. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cOur technologies are contributing to our basic knowledge of how we move, but also have been very practical in helping us develop and understand new rehabilitation methods,\u201d Ting says. \u201cBecause rehabilitation science is still in the very early stages, we don\u2019t know a lot about why a particular intervention works, or why it works on some people but not others.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt gets to the heart of biological systems versus engineered systems. Biological systems are inherently multifunctional. So basically, if you pull a muscle in your leg, it\u2019ll hurt and it will affect the way you walk, but you can still walk. But if your car gets a flat tire, you\u2019re done driving. Ting and her co-researchers want to understand exactly how the body manages this. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cWe know there are interventions that improve some people\u2019s walking, but we don\u2019t know why. And if we don\u2019t know why, we can\u2019t tweak it very well to optimize it,\u201d says Ting, whose paper touches on the interventions at the most extreme (and elite) physical levels. They write about Tiger Woods\u2019 golf swing, how it took him two years to reshape it. Even someone whose movements are ostensibly, rigidly consistent \u2013 like a pro golfer \u2013 demonstrates that there are multiple ways a body can make the transformation from neural spark to concerted movement.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cWhen you look at people who perform physically at a very high level, like Tiger Woods, you find that they also have large differences in how they move,\u201d Ting says. \u201cWe should take that to heart in rehabilitation, where there is no \u2018one size fits all\u2019 approach. We talk about solutions that are good enough, that may not be the most efficient, but get you where you need to go. So, they don\u2019t have to be the best solutions, just good enough, and from there you can improve and modify.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECONTACT:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/node\/jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Ting essay takes interdisciplinary approach to exploring motor function"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETing essay takes interdisciplinary approach to exploring motor function\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Ting essay takes interdisciplinary approach to exploring motor function"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2015-05-06 09:30:08","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:18:13","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-05-06T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-05-06T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"402091":{"id":"402091","type":"image","title":"Neuromechanics image","body":null,"created":"1449252000","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:00:00","changed":"1475895122","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:02","alt":"Neuromechanics image","file":{"fid":"75914","name":"neurothing_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/neurothing_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/neurothing_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":725392,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/neurothing_0.jpg?itok=LGbN-iNm"}}},"media_ids":["402091"],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"126381","name":"go-neu#ral"},{"id":"2266","name":"Lena Ting"},{"id":"125611","name":"neuromechanics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/node\/jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"345641":{"#nid":"345641","#data":{"type":"news","title":"NFL honors Georgia Tech-Emory team for brain injury detection system","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe National Football League (NFL), GE and UnderArmour have selected a team of physicians and engineers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University as winners in the Head Health Challenge II, a competition for new innovations intended to speed diagnosis and improve treatment for concussions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Atlanta-based team was awarded for development of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3oalhVkd3bQ\u0022\u003EiDETECT\u003C\/a\u003E (integrated Display Enhanced TEsting for Cognitive Impairment and mTBI), a rapidly deployable, easily administered, comprehensive system designed to improve neurologic assessment following mild traumatic brain injury, such as concussion sustained in athletic events and military conflict.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA total of seven winners of Head Health Challenge II were announced November 13, 2014. The winning teams, selected from more than 500 submissions, will receive $500,000 each for development of new innovations and technologies intended to identify, measure and mitigate brain injury. The first round of winners will be eligible for an additional $1 million after a second phase of judging.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EiDETECT addresses feasibility and reliability drawbacks associated with current concussion screening tools. It is an easy-to-administer, portable, and immersive system that integrates multiple concussion tests within one platform. The next generation iDETECT system will be further tested in a clinical study comparing iDETECT outcomes against other traditional separate mTBI screening tools.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur team is excited and honored to be selected as a winner in the NFL-GE-UA Head Health Challenge II competition,\u201d says Tamara Espinoza, assistant professor of emergency medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and principal investigator of the Head Health Challenge award. \u201cA tremendous amount of research and effort has gone into the development of iDETECT, and we believe it may become an essential tool in assessing sports-related concussion.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOf the 1.7 million traumatic brain injuries in the United States each year, more than 750,000 are considered \u201cmild,\u201d and over 173,000 are related to recreational and sports activity. In the last decade, emergency department visits for mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) among highly vulnerable populations, such as children and developing youth, have increased by more than 60 percent.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAdequately assessing mTBI using individual, single-pathway screening methods is extremely difficult, given the complexities of neurologic injury,\u201d says Shean Phelps, principal research scientist at Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). \u201cWith this additional funding from the Head Health Challenge II, our team can more fully pursue the long-term vision of iDETECT as a multi-modal device that addresses sports-related, mild traumatic brain injury.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe DETECT project was the brainchild of David Wright, director of Emergency Neurosciences at Emory University School of Medicine and Michelle LaPlaca, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. In 2011, the project evolved from a single neurocognitive approach for detection of concussions to an extended, multi-modal platform when the partnership broadened to include the Georgia Tech Research Institute. GTRI added critical systems engineering, human factors and military medical operational expertise.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMild traumatic brain injuries in youth, college and professional sports have the potential for life-changing, long-term consequences,\u201d says Wright. \u201cThe iDETECT system integrates multiple concussion testing capabilities within one platform and allows rapid and reliable assessment at the location where the injury occurred.\u201d This comprehensive approach enhances the ability to validate the on-field assessment platform and more accurately screen for traumatic injury.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPhelps, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel adds, \u201cmTBI assessments in the military is an area that needs new approaches such as those provided by iDETECT.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPartner institutions forming the iDETECT team include Georgia Tech, Emory and the University of Rochester. The Department of Defense and the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation provided financial support for development of iDETECT.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Espinoza, Wright, LaPlaca and Phelps, team members include Brian Liu, Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) research engineer; Stephen Smith, research engineer, Russell Gore, sports neurologist; John Brumfield, biomedical engineer; Jeff Bazarian, associate professor of emergency medicine, University of Rochester; and Courtney Crooks, GTRI senior research scientist.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWritten by Emory University\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Team wins competition for new innovations intended to speed diagnosis and improve treatment for concussions"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe National Football League, GE and UnderArmour have selected a team of physicians and engineers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University as winners in the Head Health Challenge II, a competition for new innovations intended to speed diagnosis and improve treatment for concussions.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech-Emory team wins award from NFL for brain injury detection system."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2014-11-13 14:53:38","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:30","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-11-13T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2014-11-13T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"345611":{"id":"345611","type":"image","title":"IDETECT","body":null,"created":"1449245670","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:14:30","changed":"1475895068","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:08","alt":"IDETECT","file":{"fid":"200908","name":"idetect.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/idetect_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/idetect_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2001104,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/idetect_0.jpg?itok=4Z7GXjkY"}},"345601":{"id":"345601","type":"image","title":"iDETECT in use","body":null,"created":"1449245654","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:14:14","changed":"1475895068","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:08","alt":"iDETECT in use","file":{"fid":"200907","name":"15c10302-p2-016.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/15c10302-p2-016_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/15c10302-p2-016_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":6977001,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/15c10302-p2-016_0.jpg?itok=05EB8yG4"}},"345581":{"id":"345581","type":"image","title":"iDETECT team","body":null,"created":"1449245654","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:14:14","changed":"1475895068","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:08","alt":"iDETECT team","file":{"fid":"200906","name":"15c10302-p2-024.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/15c10302-p2-024_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/15c10302-p2-024_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":7820882,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/15c10302-p2-024_0.jpg?itok=fcq8uNHs"}}},"media_ids":["345611","345601","345581"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.headhealthchallenge.com\/","title":"Head Health Challenge"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3oalhVkd3bQ","title":"See the iDETECT video"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"1912","name":"brain"},{"id":"3190","name":"concussion"},{"id":"521","name":"injury"},{"id":"12525","name":"NFL"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003ENational Media Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-2966\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"334161":{"#nid":"334161","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Planting Brain Seeds","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERobert Butera and Lena Ting were there at the beginning, when neuroengineering started becoming a serious thing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. They were part of what began as a loose affiliation of faculty from diverse disciplines who made it a thing, researchers and educators with a common interest in the myriad workings of the human brain. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cWhat we started with over 10 years ago, the Laboratory for Neuroengineering (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/neurolab.gatech.edu\/\u0022 title=\u0022https:\/\/neurolab.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/neurolab.gatech.edu\/\u003C\/a\u003E), was a self-organized collection of faculty, and we sort of built a neuroengineering community,\u201d says Ting, professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering. \u201cWhen we started, there was really nothing else here. But over the last 10 years there\u2019s been a lot of growth and interest in the area, through different units across campus.\u201d \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe fledgling Neural Engineering Center (\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.neuro.gatech.edu\/neural-engineering-center\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/www.neuro.gatech.edu\/neural-engineering-center\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.neuro.gatech.edu\/neural-engineering-center\u003C\/a\u003E) at the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience was established with a mission to develop novel science and technology for measuring, understanding, modifying, and stimulating neural activity. The aim is for both clinical and scientific applications. Bottom line, says Butera: \u201cmodulating nervous system function requires new tools and new science, and our goal is to facilitate both.\u201d \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThis new research center is the latest phase in a continuing Georgia Tech neuroscience evolution, which includes the aggregation and evaluation of all campus neuro-activities. \u201cWe noticed there were people all over campus doing neuroscience related research and helped launch a web site to try to identify who on campus was affiliated with neuroscience in general,\u201d Ting says. People from all over responded. They\u2019re from Applied Physiology, Biology, Physics, Psychology, and throughout the College of Engineering. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cThe neuro initiative is a big tent,\u201d says Butera, professor of Electrical and Computer engineering and jointly appointed in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, and co-director (with Ting) of the Neural Engineering Center (NEC). \u201cWith this center, we are narrowing our focus.\u201d \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInterest in the kind of mission the new center is pursuing has only ramped up since President Barack Obama announced his Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative in April 2013, promising more than $300 million in public and private funds to support groundbreaking research that can lead to a better understanding of human brain function and new treatments or cures for a wide range of neurological disorders. Georgia Tech researchers Craig Forest and Garrett Stanley recently won $1.5 million BRAIN Initiative award when the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced its first wave of investments to support the program. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd it turns out, Ting says, \u201cAtlanta has one of the largest neuroscience communities of any city. I think Boston\u2019s chapter of the Society of Neuroscience might be the only one bigger than Atlanta\u2019s. Emory has a very large neuroscience program. So does Georgia State.\u201d \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Neural Engineering Center collaborates with the Emory Neuromodulation Technology Innovation Center (ENTICe), founded by Emory researchers and clinicians who are leaders in a therapeutic procedure known as deep brain stimulation (DBS), which involves sending electrical impulses through implanted electrodes to specific parts of the brain, and treats a variety of disorders, such as Parkinson\u2019s disease, tremors, dystonia, and depression. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cThe clinical devices used older neural stimulation technology, and the doctors are directly facing scientific and engineering challenges in improving their procedures,\u201d Ting says. \u201cThrough engagement with ENTICe we decided that we should really start pulling people together to establish a research center at Georgia Tech, where we could focus on the science and engineering issues around how you stimulate and modify neural activity and brain activity.\u201d \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Neural Engineering Center will announce its ceremonial launch on October 28, 2014 with a seminar speaker in the Whitaker Building. In collaboration with the Young Innovators in Biomedical Engineering Seminar Series, the NEC will present Sridevi V. Sarma from Johns Hopkins University (11 a.m. to noon in Whitaker 1103), whose presentation is entitled, \u201cOn the Therapeutic Mechanisms of Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson\u0027s Disease: Why High Frequency?\u201d The talk will be immediately followed by a reception in the Whitaker Atrium to celebrate the NEC\u2019s opening. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut the center already has begun fine-tuning its focus, which includes the support of smart people and early-phase research that will help the NEC accomplish its mission. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re going with a very different seed grant model,\u201d says Butera. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s kind of an experiment. We call it the rapid-fire seed grant,\u201d adds Ting. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cWe want people to move fast and fail quickly,\u201d Butera quips, the basic premise being to show some research progress sooner rather than later. And there\u2019s a backstory to the grants (\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/neuro-seed-grant-call\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/neuro-seed-grant-call\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/neuro-seed-grant-call\u003C\/a\u003E). \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe idea is for researchers to initiate projects and use that activity as a catalyst to reach for something bigger. The bulk of the center\u2019s initial funding supports the rapid-fire seed grant program. The grants are limited to $5,000-$10,000, covering short-term (three months) exploratory projects that are intended to test new ideas and generate preliminary data, with an emphasis on collaborative research. The deadline for applying is November 1, 2014. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhat they\u2019d really like is to become a Science and Technology Center (STC, a National Science Foundation program). \u201cThe Neural Engineering Center is focused on a particular area in which we think we have a lot of strength. The idea is that we move forward with a coherent research program, and then we can seek large, externally funded grants,\u201d says Ting. That was the idea when they wrote a proposal to Steve Cross, Georgia Tech\u2019s executive vice president for research, outlining their goals and establishing NEC as a Petit Institute research center. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut, even before they were calling for rapid-fire proposals, Butera and Ting were taking the long view, planning to leverage what\u2019s been more than 10 years of concentrated growth in neurotechnology research at Georgia Tech. Over the summer they submitted a proposal for a National Science Foundation (NSF) National Research Training Grant which would fund graduate students at Georgia Tech and Emory in the development of neuromodulation technologies.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Neural Engineering Center becomes official, launches new seed grant program"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENeural Engineering Center becomes official, launches new seed grant program\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Neural Engineering Center becomes official, launches new seed grant program"}],"uid":"27195","created_gmt":"2014-10-15 09:32:19","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:15","author":"Colly Mitchell","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-10-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-10-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"334121":{"id":"334121","type":"image","title":"Robert Butera - professor of Electrical and Computer engineering and jointly appointed in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, and co-director of the Neural Engineering Center (NEC)","body":null,"created":"1449245133","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:05:33","changed":"1475895046","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:46","alt":"Robert Butera - professor of Electrical and Computer engineering and jointly appointed in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, and co-director of the Neural Engineering Center (NEC)","file":{"fid":"200446","name":"butera2-square.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/butera2-square_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/butera2-square_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":753843,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/butera2-square_0.jpg?itok=YJgCuqD1"}},"334151":{"id":"334151","type":"image","title":"Lena Ting - professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering and co-director of Neural Engineering Center (NEC)","body":null,"created":"1449245133","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:05:33","changed":"1475895046","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:46","alt":"Lena Ting - professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering and co-director of Neural Engineering Center (NEC)","file":{"fid":"200447","name":"tinglena-headshot2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tinglena-headshot2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tinglena-headshot2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":41507,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tinglena-headshot2_0.jpg?itok=Gv5FLZkY"}}},"media_ids":["334121","334151"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.neuro.gatech.edu\/","title":"Neuro@Tech website"},{"url":"https:\/\/neurolab.gatech.edu\/labs\/ting","title":"Ting lab"},{"url":"https:\/\/neurolab.gatech.edu\/labs\/butera","title":"Butera lab website"},{"url":"http:\/\/petitinstitute.gatech.edu\/","title":"Petit Institute website"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/","title":"Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"126591","name":"go-NeuralEngineering"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering \u0026amp; Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"280951":{"#nid":"280951","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Brain Circuits Multitask to Detect, Discriminate the Outside World","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EImagine driving on a dark road. In the distance you see a single light. As the light approaches it splits into two headlights. That\u2019s a car, not a motorcycle, your brain tells you. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA new study found that neural circuits in the brain rapidly multitask between detecting and discriminating sensory input, such as headlights in the distance. That\u2019s different from how electronic circuits work, where one circuit performs a very specific task. The brain, the study found, is wired in way that allows a single pathway to perform multiple tasks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe showed that circuits in the brain change or adapt from situations when you need to detect something versus when you need to discriminate fine details,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/stanley.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGarrett Stanley\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, whose lab performed the research. \u201cOne of the things the brain is good at is doing multiple things. Engineers have trouble with that.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research findings were published online in the journal \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1016\/j.neuron.2014.01.025\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003ENEURON\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E on March 5. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEvery day we are bombarded with sensations and the brain automatically chooses which ones to detect. This study may help scientists answer fundamental questions about how neurological disorders may disrupt the brain circuits that make those choices,\u201d said Jim Gnadt, Ph.D., program director at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of NIH. \u201cInsights into sensory perception may help design new therapies, including prosthetic devices for amputees that recreate human touch.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe distance at which a person can discern two headlights from a single light is controlled by the acuity of the body\u2019s sensory pathway. For decades neuroscientists have assumed that the level of one\u2019s acuity is controlled by the distance between areas in the brain that are triggered by the sensory input. If these two areas of the brain closely overlap, then two sensory inputs \u2014 two headlights in the distance \u2014 will appear as one, the thinking went. The new study, for the first time, used animal models and optical imaging to directly assess how acuity is controlled in the brain, and how acuity can adapt to the task at hand. One neuronal circuit can do different things and do them in a robust way, the study found.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe general problem that is not well understood is how information about the outside world makes its way into our brain, into these patterns of electrical activity that ultimately let us perceive the outside world,\u201d Stanley said. \u201cThis paper squarely goes after that link between what the brain is doing, how it\u2019s activated and what that means for perception.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESensory information is encoded in the brain, much like gene sequences in DNA code for some physical representation. The brain has corresponding codes for when the visual pathway detects an object, like a coffee cup. There\u2019s a representation in the brain to transform that input into sensation. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers had yet to adequately quantify the link between discerning whether an object exists and discriminating finer details about what that object is, Stanley said. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSurprisingly, we don\u2019t understand neural coding problems very well, either in normal physiology or in disease states,\u201d Stanley said. \u201cI think it\u2019s great to be an engineer that works on this because engineers tend to love and think about very complicated systems.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo learn about the details of the brain\u2019s acuity, the researchers studied an animal with a high level of acuity \u2014 the rat. Rats are nocturnal animals that use their whiskers to sense the outside world. Their whiskers are arranged in rows, and chunks of brain tissue correspond to those individual whiskers. That\u2019s similar to how a human\u2019s body surface is mapped onto the brain surface. When a rat\u2019s whisker touches something, a specific part of the brain becomes activated. When a person\u2019s finger touches something, a specific part of the brain becomes activated.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen we image the brain, we can move a whisker on the side of the face and on the opposite side of the brain there\u2019s a little hotspot that you can image in real time,\u201d Stanley said. \u003Cbr \/\u003EThe researchers deflected rats\u2019 whiskers and then used optical imaging technology to observe the areas of the brain that were activated and measured the overlap between those areas. Rats were also trained to perform a specific task depending on which whisker was deflected.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers found that pathways in the brain have the ability to switch between doing different kinds of tasks, such as detecting a sensory input and deciding what to do with that information. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSame circuit, same cells, but doing something different in two different contexts,\u201d Stanley said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen engineers want a circuit to do something, they build a circuit specific for that task. When they want a circuit to do something else, they build a different circuit. But in the brain, a pathway adaptively changes between being good at detecting something to being good at discriminating something, the study showed. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs an engineer, I can\u2019t design a circuit that would do that,\u201d Stanley said. \u201cThis is where the brain jumps out and says, \u2018I\u2019m better than you are at this.\u2019\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELearning more about how circuits in the brain multitask could lead to a better understanding of disease, therapeutic applications or to potentially improving how the brain functions. Stanley said that down the road engineers might be able to experimentally manipulate brain circuits to perform a desired task. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cCan we make individuals better at doing something? Can we have them detect things more rapidly or discriminate between things with better acuity?\u201d Stanley said. \u201cUsing modern techniques, we believe that we can actually influence the circuit and have it selectively grab one kind of information from the outside world versus another.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under award number R01NS48285, and by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience (CRCNS) program under award number IOS-1131948. Any conclusions or opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Douglas Ollerenshaw, et al., \u201cThe adaptive trade-off between detection and discrimination in cortical representations and behavior,\u201d (NEURON, March 2014). (\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1016\/j.neuron.2014.01.025\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1016\/j.neuron.2014.01.025\u003C\/a\u003E). \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/GTResearchNews\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E@GTResearchNews\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Brett Israel (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/btiatl\u0022\u003E@btiatl\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-385-1933) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Brett Israel\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new study found that neural circuits in the brain rapidly multitask between detecting and discriminating sensory input, such as headlights in the distance. That\u2019s different from how electronic circuits work, where one circuit performs a very specific task. The brain, the study found, is wired in way that allows a single pathway to perform multiple tasks.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study found that neural circuits in the brain rapidly multitask between detecting and discriminating sensory input, such as headlights in the distance."}],"uid":"27902","created_gmt":"2014-03-05 13:28:39","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:15:58","author":"Brett Israel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-03-05T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2014-03-05T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"280931":{"id":"280931","type":"image","title":"Garrett Stanley","body":null,"created":"1449244184","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:49:44","changed":"1475894973","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:33","alt":"Garrett Stanley","file":{"fid":"198920","name":"garrett_stanley.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/garrett_stanley_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/garrett_stanley_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":186377,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/garrett_stanley_1.jpg?itok=za48QE0L"}},"280941":{"id":"280941","type":"image","title":"Rat whiskers","body":null,"created":"1449244184","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:49:44","changed":"1475894973","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:33","alt":"Rat whiskers","file":{"fid":"198921","name":"rat-whiskers.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rat-whiskers_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rat-whiskers_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":341286,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rat-whiskers_0.jpg?itok=h0TRKY5U"}}},"media_ids":["280931","280941"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"63261","name":"Brain Mapping"},{"id":"14462","name":"Garrett Stanley"},{"id":"88371","name":"neural circuits"},{"id":"7276","name":"neuron"},{"id":"1304","name":"neuroscience"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBrett Israel\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-385-1933\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/btiatl\u0022\u003E@btiatl\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"219001":{"#nid":"219001","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Researchers Seek a Better Understanding of the Brain","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen you look at a color, hear a sound or smell a favorite aroma, what part of your brain goes into action? When you drive a car or recognize a face, which part of your brain comes alive with the electrical impulses of firing neurons? If your brain is injured, how does it work differently?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScientists and engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are applying their expertise, tools and techniques to address questions like these \u2013 and to explore on a fundamental level how the brain works.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause the human brain is immensely complex, the researchers are pursuing many levels of inquiry \u2013 from molecules to cells to circuits to the mystery of the mind itself \u2013 and also studying brain disorders and development, along with daily feats of brain activity, such as vision, speech, movement and memory.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers are also developing better interventions for brain injuries and disorders. They are designing tools to help neuroscientists better probe and record the activity of neurons in tissue samples and living animals. And they are using brain imaging techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electroencephalography (EEG), to peek inside the skull and examine how the brain reacts differently when cognitive tasks are completed by the young and the old, or the healthy and those with injuries.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis article provides a snapshot of Georgia Tech\u2019s research in the biology of the brain.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDeveloping Better Interventions for Brain Disorders and Injuries\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EReducing Epileptic Seizures\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E -- Researchers at Georgia Tech and Emory University are investigating the use of electrical stimulation to reduce or eliminate seizures associated with epilepsy, a disorder that affects approximately 2 million people in the United States. Seizures are temporary disturbances in brain function in which groups of nerve cells in the brain fire abnormally and excessively.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo perform their studies, the researchers have created an animal model for temporal lobe epilepsy. Using this model, they can examine different approaches for preventing seizures associated with epilepsy. For one approach, they are implanting tiny electrodes in the animal\u2019s brain that can be used to stimulate neurons and record their activity. The team is also trying to utilize the field of optogenetics \u2013 a mix of optical and genetic techniques \u2013 to stop the seizures by stimulating the brain with light.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur goal is to better understand what causes epileptic seizures and try to find a way to respond to those bursts in activity with stimulation and reduce the number of seizures an individual experiences,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/facultystaff\/faculty_record.php?id=39\u0022\u003ESteve Potter\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech and Emory University.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe stimulation techniques could be a possible alternative for individuals who do not respond to drug therapies and may therefore require surgical resection of the portion of the brain causing the seizures.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPotter is collaborating on this project with Robert Gross, an associate professor in the Departments of Neurosurgery and Neurology at Emory University, and a member of the program faculty in the Coulter Department. Their graduate students, Sharanya Desai and Neal Laxpati, are developing and testing these new brain stimulation therapies in the epileptic rat model. This work has been funded in part by the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE) and the American Epilepsy Society.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EImproving Recovery from Spinal Cord Injuries\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E -- Following an injury to the brain or spinal cord, a glial scar begins to form. While the scar signifies the beginning of the healing process, neuron extensions \u2013 called axons \u2013 cannot regenerate through the glial scar, thus preventing repair and recovery.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe inhibitory characteristics of the scar have been attributed to an increase in proteins known as chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans at the injury site. This family of proteins prevents regeneration of damaged nerve endings.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a recent study, a research team led by \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/facultystaff\/faculty_record.php?id=59\u0022\u003ERavi Bellamkonda\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, examined the influence on central nervous system recovery of a chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan called chondroitin sulfate-4,6 (CS-E). The researchers found that expression of CS-E increased following a central nervous system injury. In cell culture experiments, CS-E inhibited the growth of neurons, and when researchers reduced the amount of CS-E, the inhibition of neuron growth was significantly alleviated.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur findings showed that CS-E is a big player in inhibiting nerve growth following an injury, and its expression needs to be reduced as much as possible,\u201d said Bellamkonda.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne strategy to overcome the inhibitory effects of proteins like chondroitin sulfate-4,6 is to enzymatically digest them. In 2009, Bellamkonda developed an improved version of an enzyme capable of digesting chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers eliminated the thermal sensitivity of the enzyme \u2013 called chrondroitinase ABC (chABC) \u2013 and developed a delivery system that allowed the enzyme to be active for weeks without implanted catheters and pumps. In animal studies, when the thermostabilized enzyme was delivered, the scar at the injury site was significantly degraded for at least six weeks, and enhanced axonal sprouting and recovery of nerve function at the injury site were observed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese results brought us a step closer to repairing spinal cord injuries, which require multiple steps including minimizing the extent of secondary injury, bridging the lesion, overcoming inhibition due to scar, and stimulating nerve growth,\u201d said Bellamkonda, who is also the Carol Ann and David D. Flanagan Chair in Biomedical Engineering and a Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholar.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERobert McKeon, an associate professor in cell biology at Emory University, Georgia Tech senior research scientist Lohitash Karumbaiah and graduate student Hyun-Jung Lee also contributed to this work, which was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUncovering the Neural Basis of Rapid Brain Adaptation\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E -- Your brain is able to quickly switch from detecting an object flying toward you to determining what the object is through a phenomenon called adaptation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/facultystaff\/faculty_record.php?id=108\u0022\u003EGarrett Stanley\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, published a study in the journal Nature Neuroscience that detailed the biological basis for rapid adaptation: neurons located at the beginning of the brain\u2019s sensory information pathway that change their level of simultaneous firing. This modification in neuron firing alters the nature of the information being relayed, which enhances the brain\u2019s ability to discriminate between different sensations \u2013 at the expense of degrading its ability to detect the sensations themselves.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cPrevious studies have focused on how brain adaptation influences how much information from the outside world is being transmitted by the thalamus to the cortex, but we showed that it is also important to focus on what information is being transmitted,\u201d said Stanley.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecording how neurons in different parts of the brain simultaneously communicate with each other in different situations is a big step in the neuroscience field. The researchers plan to use the techniques from this study to probe the effects of brain injury, which can change the degree of synchronization of neurons in the brain, resulting in harmful effects.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Stanley, Coulter Department research scientist Qi Wang and Harvard University researchers contributed to this work, which is supported by the National Institutes of Health.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFilling the Neuroscience Toolbox\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDevice for Probing Neurons in Tissue Samples\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E -- Axion BioSystems, a startup company based on intellectual property developed at Georgia Tech, offers neural interfacing technologies for basic science, and for pharmaceutical and clinical research applications. The company has developed microelectrode arrays (MEAs) that allow simultaneous stimulation and recording of neural tissue, and include low-power chips that can\u0026nbsp; service hundreds of channels.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur objective has been to develop devices that can precisely manipulate and monitor electrically active cells and tissues of many types \u2013 including brain, spinal, muscle and cardiac \u2013 and provide real-time access to complex electrophysiological information,\u201d said James Ross, the company\u2019s chief technical officer. \u201cResearchers using Axion\u2019s technology capture biological models of human heartbeats and brain waves in a dish, which opens the door to a wide range of drug development and safety tests.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Ross and company CEO Tom O\u2019Brien, Axion BioSystems was founded by School of Electrical and Computer Engineering professor Mark Allen, Department of Biomedical Engineering professor \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=27\u0022\u003EStephen DeWeerth\u003C\/a\u003E, research engineer Edgar Brown and Swami Rajaraman, a recent Ph.D. graduate.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAxion has raised more than $9 million from private investors, grants from the National Institutes of Health\u2019s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and early-stage funding from the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gra.org\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Research Alliance\u003C\/a\u003E (GRA). The company resides in laboratory and office space at the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.atdc.org\/\u0022\u003EAdvanced Technology Development Center\u003C\/a\u003E (ATDC) biosciences incubator on Georgia Tech\u2019s campus.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe company is currently working to increase the sales and adoption of its products by pharmaceutical companies, contract research organizations and academic institutions. Since it was founded in 2007, the company has grown from two to 20 employees and launched two commercial products \u2013 the Muse and the Maestro.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe technology we licensed from the Georgia Tech Research Corporation allows us to provide two MEA systems that reduce the cost and complexity of conducting neuroscience research,\u201d explained Ross. \u201cBoth systems consist of low-cost, disposable multielectrode arrays, and integrated circuits that eliminate stimulation artifacts and enable simultaneous stimulation and recording.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Muse is a bench-top system containing 64 channels for stimulating and recording electroactive tissue. The high-throughput Maestro contains 768 stimulating and recording channels, accommodates multiwell plates of up to 96 wells and is suited for large-scale cellular analysis in commercial drug screening applications.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile the company\u2019s current efforts are focused on pharmaceutical drug screening, ongoing development is expected to result in products in the medical diagnostic and medical device arenas, Ross said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDevices for Probing Neurons in Living Animals\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E -- When high-fidelity recording of individual neurons in live animals is required, whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology of neurons in vivo is the gold-standard, but it requires great skill to perform. The technique utilizes a glass micropipette to establish electrical and molecular connections to the insides of neurons embedded in intact tissue to record synaptic and ion-channel-mediated events.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at Georgia Tech and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a simple robot that automatically performs whole-cell patch clamping in vivo. Using the robot, the researchers have demonstrated high throughput and recording quality in the cortex and hippocampus of small animals.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWith the robot, neuroscientists can achieve high-quality recordings with yields that exceed those of skilled humans at speeds sufficient to enable an unskilled human operator to clamp dozens of cells or more per day and collect data about each one\u2019s gene expression, shape and electrical behavior,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/forest\u0022\u003ECraig Forest\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EApplications for the autopatching robot include studying the effects of drugs on neuron electrophysiology; examining neuron behavior in disease states, such as epilepsy and narcolepsy; and classifying neuron cell types on a high-throughput scale.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe robot was designed by Forest; Georgia Tech graduate student Suhasa Kodandaramaiah; Edward Boyden, an associate professor of biological engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at the MIT Media Lab and MIT McGovern Institute; MIT graduate student Giovanni Franzesi; and MIT postdoctoral researcher Brian Chow.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers recently created a startup company, Neuromatic Devices, to commercialize the device. Development of the new technology was funded primarily by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the MIT Media Lab.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=147\u0022\u003EMaysam Ghovanloo\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, has developed a wireless system that collects neural signals from awake, freely moving animals during behavioral neuroscience research experiments. The Wireless Implantable Neural Recording (WINeR) system can simultaneously record from 32 channels for an unlimited period of time using a wireless inductive power transmission system.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe WINeR system removes the need to tether a small animal via cable to a neural recording device during behavioral neuroscience research experiments and relieves the animal from carrying bulky batteries, thus eliminating two major sources of motion artifacts and bias,\u201d said Ghovanloo.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWINeR is powered by the EnerCage system, which consists of an array of overlapping spiral planar coils that cover the bottom of the experimental area and enable inductive power transmission. A mobile unit attaches to the animal to regulate and deliver a constant amount of inductive power to the WINeR device and any other electrophysiology sensors used to collect data during an experiment, despite animal movements. The mobile unit also contains a small magnet that allows the animal\u2019s location to be tracked in real time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers plan to add the functionality of wirelessly stimulating neurons to the WINeR device and increase the number of channels it provides.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGhovanloo is collaborating with Joseph Manns, an assistant professor in the Emory University Department of Psychology, and Karim Oweiss, an associate professor in the Michigan State University Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Neuroscience Program, to test the WINeR and EnerCage systems. This work is supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo alleviate the need for electrodes implanted in the brain, researchers in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E (GTRI) are collaborating with Neural Signals Inc. to explore the potential use of near-infrared fluorescent probes to wirelessly transmit neural signals from inside the brain to an external recording device.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA team led by GTRI principal research scientist Brent Wagner is investigating the possibility of connecting neurons to a wireless neural interface system that could respond to low-voltage, low-frequency electrical signals in the brain. The system would consist of a grid of gold nanoparticles, each linked via flexible strand of DNA to a semiconductor quantum dot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith this system, when a neural cell is at rest, the quantum dot and gold nanoparticle are in close proximity, so no light is emitted from the quantum dot. When a neural cell fires, the voltage change on the neuron\u2019s surface pushes the quantum dot away from the gold nanoparticle, allowing the quantum dot to emit light. The precise location of the quantum dot\u2019s near-infrared luminescence can be detected using an infrared camera.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe sensing mechanism for the system is based on energy transfer between the quantum dot and the gold nanoparticle,\u201d said Wagner. \u201cWe think one of the major advantages of this type of system is its potential to transmit a high throughput of neural signals from multiple recording sites at the same time without the use of bulky cables or implanted electrodes.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis project is supported by the GTRI Independent Research and Development (IRAD) program.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers in the Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E are building devices to help neuroscientists better understand how neurons in the brain contribute to an organism\u2019s behavior.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing inexpensive components from ordinary LCD projectors, associate professor \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/faculty\/lu\u0022\u003EHang Lu\u003C\/a\u003E can control the brain and muscles of freely moving tiny organisms, including the Caenorhabditis elegans worm that is commonly used for biological studies. Red, green and blue lights from the projector activate light-sensitive microbial proteins that are genetically engineered into the worms, allowing the researchers to switch neurons on and off like light bulbs and turn muscles on and off like engines.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe inexpensive illumination technology allows researchers to stimulate and silence specific neurons and muscles of the worms, while precisely controlling the location, duration, frequency and intensity of the light.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUse of the LCD technology to control small animals advances the field of optogenetics \u2013 a mix of optical and genetic techniques that has given researchers unparalleled control over brain circuits in laboratory animals. Until now, the technique could be used only with larger animals by placement of an optical fiber into an animal\u2019s brain, or by illumination of an animal\u2019s entire body.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor another project, Lu developed a microfluidic device that enables genetic studies on small organisms to be performed more quickly. An addition to the system since its original development is a laser beam that can destroy individual neurons. By monitoring the animal\u2019s behavior after the laser ablation, the researchers can infer the function of each neuron. The process takes only 20 to 30 seconds, much less than the half hour it can take to ablate neurons using other techniques.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELu and collaborators at the Queensland Brain Institute and the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, have also adapted the original design of the microfluidic device to a curved geometry that enables positioning C. elegans bodies into lateral orientations. This alignment makes it easier to analyze neuronal developmental and disease processes that travel from the worm\u2019s head to end or laterally across the worm\u2019s body. Results of this research were published in April 2012 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EPLoS ONE\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese systems have many applications in developmental and behavioral neuroscience of model organisms,\u201d said Lu. \u201cOur challenge is to make them as easy to use as possible so that the technology can make an impact in biological and medical research.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELu\u2019s research is supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EModels of How the Brain Processes Information\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E -- \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=158\u0022\u003EChristopher Rozell\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, uses mathematical models and signal processing technologies to understand how the brain organizes and processes images and sounds.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMachine systems and the human brain perform similar tasks, such as speech recognition and computer vision, but the machines still fall far short of the human brain in these tasks, especially in the areas of power consumption and efficiency,\u201d said Rozell.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the brain, information about a stimulus in the outside world is communicated to higher centers in the brain by a collection of electrochemical signals present in groups of neurons. Recent evidence indicates that these groups of neurons may represent information by activating only a few of these units \u2013 known as a sparse code \u2013 and never centralizing the information in a single decision-making unit.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile sparse coding in neural systems is not well understood, Rozell and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering professor \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=45\u0022\u003EJennifer Hasler \u003C\/a\u003Eand associate professor \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=149\u0022\u003EJustin Romberg\u003C\/a\u003E are developing neurally plausible analog circuits to quickly find sparse codes. This approach could potentially solve problems relevant for many engineering applications much faster, while using less power than a traditional digital system.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe don\u2019t have the time or capability to record the characteristics and properties of each of the billions of neurons in the brain to validate our models, but we know our models of neural coding for sensory information are biophysically realistic because we verify them against published results of electrophysiology experiments,\u201d said Rozell.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers in Rozell\u2019s laboratory are also examining what advantages a sparse code might have for the brain, which is making perceptual judgments based on visual data. By investigating how the brain transforms the outside world into meaningful representations it can work with, Rozell hopes better brain-machine interfaces can be designed, more efficient signal processing systems can be developed, and vision and hearing deficits can be corrected. This research is supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMonitoring Activity in the Brain During Cognitive Tasks\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPicking Out the Right Tool\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E -- Choosing how to use tools to accomplish a task is a natural and seemingly trivial aspect of our lives, yet it can be very difficult for persons with certain brain injuries.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn my laboratory, I study cognitive motor control,\u201d said Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ap.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Applied Physiology\u003C\/a\u003E assistant professor \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ap.gatech.edu\/Wheaton\/index.php\u0022\u003ELewis Wheaton\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cI want to understand the neural system that allows us to select the best tool to accomplish a task, pick that tool up and use it correctly to complete the task without overloading our brains with information.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a recent study, Wheaton identified neural activation patterns in the brain associated with watching tools used in correct and incorrect contexts. He used the functional MRI (fMRI) scanner at the Georgia State\/Georgia Tech Center for Advanced Brain Imaging, along with electroencephalography (EEG), to record neural activations in the brain as healthy individuals identified whether tools shown in photographs were being used in correct or incorrect contexts. For example, a participant might be shown a hammer and nail, which is a correct tool use, or a hammer and coffee mug \u2013 an incorrect tool use.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe fMRI results revealed that when participants identified correct tool use, different parts of the brain became active compared to when they identified incorrect tool use. The EEG recordings provided additional information about the evolution of these activations over time. Activation occurred between 300 and 400 milliseconds after a correct tool use image was shown, but more quickly following onset of an incorrect tool use image. These findings were published in the journals \u003Cem\u003EBrain Research\u003C\/em\u003E and \u003Cem\u003EFrontiers in Human Neuroscience\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWheaton is now using the information he learned about the neural mechanisms of tool use in healthy brains to better understand tool learning and why some individuals experience impaired tool-related behavior following a stroke \u2013 a deficit called apraxia.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn conceptual apraxia, we think the network that codes for incorrect tool use may be selectively damaged and incorrect contextual information is being passed to the areas of the brain activated by correct tool use. Because no error signal arises, contextually inappropriate use becomes possible,\u201d said Wheaton.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPredicting an Individual\u2019s Attentiveness\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E -- \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/facultystaff\/faculty_record.php?id=82\u0022\u003EShella Keilholz\u003C\/a\u003E\u2019s long-term research goal is to build a model of spontaneous activity in the brain. As an engineer, she views the brain as a collection of hierarchical networks, with local networks of cells that work together and larger networks where information is transferred between different areas in the brain.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKeilholz is part of a team that is using the fMRI scanner at the Georgia State\/Georgia Tech Center for Advanced Brain Imaging to probe the functional connectivity of the brain while an individual is performing a cognitive task requiring vigilance. The researchers are investigating whether the complex neural interactions between spatially distinct brain regions can be used to predict how well an individual will perform on cognitive tasks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFunding for this work is provided in part by the U.S. Air Force through the Bio-nano-enabled Inorganic\/Organic Nanostructures and Improved Cognition (BIONIC) Air Force Center of Excellence at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team\u2019s goal is to find a stable marker in the fMRI signal that is associated with cognitive processing and alertness. Initial results of their experiments show that the level of brain activity preceding the presentation of a visual stimulus can predict how fast an individual will respond to the stimulus during a vigilance task.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cU.S. Air Force analysts must remain attentive to computers and controls for hours at a time, so we are trying to develop a noninvasive way to measure the current state of an individual\u2019s brain and determine if that person is getting off task,\u201d said Keilholz, an assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. \u201cWith that information, one might be able to develop a way to refocus that person and get him or her back on task, which would optimize work effectiveness and possibly save lives.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlso contributing to this project are School of Psychology associate professor Eric Schumacher, and Air Force Research Laboratory biomedical engineer Andrew McKinley and integration manager Lloyd Tripp.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERecalling Memories\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E -- \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.psychology.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/duarte_audrey.php\u0022\u003EAudrey Duarte\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Psychology, is a cognitive neuroscientist \u2013 someone who looks at the neuroscience that supports human behavior. Duarte\u2019s research is focused on episodic memory, which is the memory of specific events, situations and experiences. Your first day of school, attending a friend\u2019s birthday party and what you ate for dinner last night are examples of episodic memories.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEpisodic memory can be affected by a number of disorders \u2013 including stroke, dementia and Alzheimer\u2019s disease \u2013 and even healthy aging. Through her research, Duarte is trying to understand what happens as the brain ages to cause decline in memory abilities over time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe want to determine if there are specific areas in the brain or specific brain networks that are disproportionately affected in a negative way by aging, causing lapses in episodic memory,\u201d she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing the fMRI scanner at the Georgia State\/Georgia Tech Center for Advanced Brain Imaging, Duarte measures activity from thousands of neurons in the brain at the same time and assesses the patterns of activity while young and older adults examine and subsequently retrieve pictures of common objects from memory. Using this data, Duarte is developing strategies to help older adults better encode and retrieve episodic memories.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy finding out where an individual\u2019s attention is drawn when looking at a picture, we can better understand the relationship between attention and memory and look for ways to remediate impairments in episodic memory,\u201d said Duarte.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis research is supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the American Federation for Aging Research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAccomplishing Fine Motor Tasks\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E -- In another project, Georgia Tech researchers are studying the effects of aging on the neural connectivity between the motor cortex and muscles during tasks that require fine motor skills.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe know that aging and dual-task paradigms often degrade fine motor performance, so we wanted to compare the performance of young and older adults during the execution of a fine motor task alone and concurrent tasks that required substantial divided attention,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ap.gatech.edu\/shinohara\/\u0022\u003EMinoru Shinohara\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the Georgia Tech School of Applied Physiology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor the study, two groups of healthy adults, one group between the ages of 18 and 38 and the other between 61 and 75, performed tasks involving one-finger motor, two-finger motor, cognitive and concurrent motor-cognitive skills.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs the participants completed the tasks, Shinohara and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering graduate student Ashley Johnson examined the synchrony between two signals \u2013 an electroencephalogram (EEG) acquired from the primary motor cortex in the brain and an electromyogram (EMG) acquired from a muscle in the hands. The synchronous measurement is called corticomuscular coherence.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the study, the older adults demonstrated higher corticomuscular coherence than the young adults during performance of both unilateral and dual tasks. Corticomuscular coherence was highest in the older adults, especially during the dual motor-cognitive task and increased with an additional task for both groups of subjects. But during the motor-cognitive task, corticomuscular coherence was negatively correlated with motor output error across young, but not older, adults. The results of the study were published online in January 2012 in the \u003Cem\u003EJournal of Applied Physiology\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe findings demonstrate that older and younger adults don\u2019t need to use the same neural strategy to accomplish the same motor performance,\u201d said Shinohara. \u201cWe are seeing changes in neural strategies for accomplishing fine motor skills with aging.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to aging, these types of changes in neural strategies could be valuable for rehabilitation applications. Individuals with neurological deficits might benefit from using a different strategy to perform motor tasks, rather than using the same strategy they used before the deficit occurred.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s extensive involvement in neuroscience research \u2013 from basic to clinical science \u2013 reflects the interests of researchers from multiple academic departments and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). The researchers are working to better understand how the brain works and apply this knowledge to improving brain function, which has applications for those who have sustained losses due to injuries or disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EResearch reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS054809, NS079268, NS043486, NS48285, NS062031 and NS058465), the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (EB009437 and EB012803), the National Institute on Aging (AG035317 and AG016201), the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (GM088333), the National Eye Institute (EY019965), the National Science Foundation (ECCS-0824199, CBET-0954578, DBI-0649833, CCF-0905346 and BCS-1125683), and the U.S. Air Force (FA9550-09-1-0162). The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigators and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH, NSF or U.S. Air Force.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch Horizons Magazine\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Abby Robinson\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EScientists and engineers at Georgia Tech are applying their expertise, tools and techniques to explore on a fundamental level how the brain works. Because the human brain is immensely complex, the researchers are pursuing many levels of inquiry\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech reseachers are applying tools and techniques to better understand the biology of the brain."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-06-24 19:33:26","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:27","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-06-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-06-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"218951":{"id":"218951","type":"image","title":"brain-wheaton76","body":null,"created":"1449180151","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:02:31","changed":"1475894885","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:05","alt":"brain-wheaton76","file":{"fid":"197214","name":"lewis-wheaton76.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lewis-wheaton76_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lewis-wheaton76_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1403431,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/lewis-wheaton76_1.jpg?itok=cFeFFxv6"}},"218971":{"id":"218971","type":"image","title":"brain-wheaton240","body":null,"created":"1449180151","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:02:31","changed":"1475894885","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:05","alt":"brain-wheaton240","file":{"fid":"197216","name":"lewis-wheaton240.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lewis-wheaton240_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lewis-wheaton240_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1305942,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/lewis-wheaton240_0.jpg?itok=2000Vkm_"}},"218981":{"id":"218981","type":"image","title":"brain-ghovanloo","body":null,"created":"1449180151","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:02:31","changed":"1475894885","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:05","alt":"brain-ghovanloo","file":{"fid":"197217","name":"maysam-ghovanloo110.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/maysam-ghovanloo110_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/maysam-ghovanloo110_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1735753,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/maysam-ghovanloo110_0.jpg?itok=cXNDe0kH"}},"218991":{"id":"218991","type":"image","title":"brain-bellamkonda","body":null,"created":"1449180151","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:02:31","changed":"1475894885","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:05","alt":"brain-bellamkonda","file":{"fid":"197218","name":"ravi-bellamkonda126.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ravi-bellamkonda126_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ravi-bellamkonda126_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":965450,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ravi-bellamkonda126_0.jpg?itok=wcFA_z4G"}},"218891":{"id":"218891","type":"image","title":"brain-alison-hirsch","body":null,"created":"1449180151","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:02:31","changed":"1475894885","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:05","alt":"brain-alison-hirsch","file":{"fid":"197208","name":"allison-hirsch82.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/allison-hirsch82_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/allison-hirsch82_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":902775,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/allison-hirsch82_0.jpg?itok=O_d-ECYz"}},"218901":{"id":"218901","type":"image","title":"brain-axion-biosystems","body":null,"created":"1449180151","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:02:31","changed":"1475894885","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:05","alt":"brain-axion-biosystems","file":{"fid":"197209","name":"axion-biosystems81.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/axion-biosystems81_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/axion-biosystems81_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1378513,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/axion-biosystems81_0.jpg?itok=3aeRbroY"}},"218911":{"id":"218911","type":"image","title":"brain-audrey-duarte","body":null,"created":"1449180151","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:02:31","changed":"1475894885","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:05","alt":"brain-audrey-duarte","file":{"fid":"197210","name":"audrey-duarte136.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/audrey-duarte136_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/audrey-duarte136_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1140710,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/audrey-duarte136_0.jpg?itok=1qSfbR7X"}},"218921":{"id":"218921","type":"image","title":"brain-electrodes","body":null,"created":"1449180151","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:02:31","changed":"1475894885","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:05","alt":"brain-electrodes","file":{"fid":"197211","name":"brain-electrodes.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/brain-electrodes_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/brain-electrodes_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1189135,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/brain-electrodes_0.jpg?itok=-RbDkFw5"}},"218931":{"id":"218931","type":"image","title":"brain-craig-forest","body":null,"created":"1449180151","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:02:31","changed":"1475894885","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:05","alt":"brain-craig-forest","file":{"fid":"197212","name":"craig-forest1313.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/craig-forest1313_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/craig-forest1313_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1202117,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/craig-forest1313_0.jpg?itok=2vJy1FJW"}},"218941":{"id":"218941","type":"image","title":"brain-garrett-stanley","body":null,"created":"1449180151","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:02:31","changed":"1475894885","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:05","alt":"brain-garrett-stanley","file":{"fid":"197213","name":"garrett-stanley45.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/garrett-stanley45_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/garrett-stanley45_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1325129,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/garrett-stanley45_0.jpg?itok=uptmxN4K"}}},"media_ids":["218951","218971","218981","218991","218891","218901","218911","218921","218931","218941"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1912","name":"brain"},{"id":"68361","name":"brain imaging"},{"id":"68411","name":"neurons"},{"id":"171277","name":"seizure"},{"id":"169585","name":"Spinal Cord"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"203921":{"#nid":"203921","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Researchers Attend White House Event Announcing New BRAIN Initiative","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPresident Barack Obama today announced a major new commitment to fund research to map the activity of the human brain. The goal of this grand challenge project is to develop new technologies that reveal in real time how brain cells and neural circuits interact to process information. The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative will be launched with $100 million in the President\u0027s FY 2014 Budget.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETwo researchers from Georgia Tech were invited by the White House to hear the announcement live. Robert E. Guldberg, executive director for the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience and mechanical engineering professor along with Craig Forest, an assistant professor in mechanical engineering, were present to hear President Obama\u2019s pledge.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTo hear the President\u2019s announcement was exciting,\u0022 Guldberg said. \u201cNeuroengineering is a major strength at Georgia Tech and along with our state-wide partners, we are well poised to make significant contributions to this new initiative.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project is modeled after previous scientific grant challenges, such as the Human Genome Project which mapped the human genome. Francis Collins, director, National Institute of Health, called the potential advancements from this research the next \u201cgreatest scientific frontier.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnlocking the human brain has the potential to impact dozens of diseases including, Parkinson\u2019s disease, eye diseases, mental health, traumatic brain injury, to name just a few. The NIH committed $40 million from its budget for the project and other government agencies, including the National Science Foundation as well as Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency also made commitments. Additional funds will come from foundations and other non-profits.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBRAIN represents a massive challenge across an interdisciplinary spectrum, for example, neuroengineering tool development, neuroscientific interpretation of the deluge of data to arise, and computing challenges in storage and processing,\u201d said Forest who is currently conducting research in this area. \u201cThe magnitude of the undertaking by mankind is analogous to the Apollo Space Program or Manhattan Project in its breadth, depth, technical complexity and the need for large teams focused on \u2018big science.\u2019\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EForest recently collaborated with MIT to develop a way to automate the process of finding and recording information from individual neurons in the living brain. He was featured on CNN earlier this week for this work.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"President Barack Obama today announced a $100 million commitment to a new research initiative to map the activity of the human brain."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPresident Barack Obama today announced a major new commitment to fund research to map the activity of the human brain. The goal of this grand challenge project is to develop new technologies that reveal in real time how brain cells and neural circuits interact to process information. The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative will be launched with $100 million in the President\u0027s FY 2014 Budget.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"President Barack Obama today announced a $100 million commitment to a new research initiative to map the activity of the human brain."}],"uid":"27224","created_gmt":"2013-04-02 13:16:27","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:59","author":"Megan McDevitt","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-04-02T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-04-02T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"203911":{"id":"203911","type":"image","title":"Obama BRAIN Announcement","body":null,"created":"1449179967","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:27","changed":"1475894859","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:39","alt":"Obama BRAIN Announcement","file":{"fid":"196663","name":"img_3714.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_3714_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_3714_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":484579,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/img_3714_0.jpg?itok=MR_ZZ2JD"}},"204051":{"id":"204051","type":"image","title":"Bob Guldberg at  the White House","body":null,"created":"1449179967","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:27","changed":"1475894859","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:39","alt":"Bob Guldberg at  the White House","file":{"fid":"196666","name":"whitehouse.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/whitehouse_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/whitehouse_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":242448,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/whitehouse_0.jpg?itok=nIqNhrwO"}},"204061":{"id":"204061","type":"image","title":"White House Brain Mapping Press Conference","body":null,"created":"1449179967","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:27","changed":"1475894859","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:39","alt":"White House Brain Mapping Press Conference","file":{"fid":"196667","name":"white_house_-_craig_forest.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/white_house_-_craig_forest_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/white_house_-_craig_forest_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":383195,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/white_house_-_craig_forest_0.jpg?itok=VhVDiOi6"}}},"media_ids":["203911","204051","204061"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/robot-brain-recording\/","title":"Neural Recordings: Robot Reveals the Inner Workings of Brain Cells"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2013\/03\/31\/health\/boyden-brain-map\/index.html?iref=allsearch","title":"Forest Featured on CNN"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ibb.gatech.edu\/","title":"Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"155","name":"Congressional Testimony"},{"id":"42941","name":"Art Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"12333","name":"Craig Forest"},{"id":"11629","name":"Robert Guldberg"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMegan Graziano McDevitt\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering \u0026amp; Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["mcdevitt@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"128531":{"#nid":"128531","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Robot Reveals the Inner Workings of Brain Cells","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGaining access to the inner workings of a neuron in the living brain offers a wealth of useful information: its patterns of electrical activity, its shape, even a profile of which genes are turned on at a given moment. However, achieving this entry is such a painstaking task that it is considered an art form; it is so difficult to learn that only a small number of labs in the world practice it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut that could soon change: Researchers at MIT and the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a way to automate the process of finding and recording information from neurons in the living brain. The researchers have shown that a robotic arm guided by a cell-detecting computer algorithm can identify and record from neurons in the living mouse brain with better accuracy and speed than a human experimenter.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe new automated process eliminates the need for months of training and provides long-sought information about living cells\u2019 activities. Using this technique, scientists could classify the thousands of different types of cells in the brain, map how they connect to each other, and figure out how diseased cells differ from normal cells.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project is a collaboration between the labs of Ed Boyden, associate professor of biological engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at MIT, and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/forest.shtml\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ECraig Forest\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur team has been interdisciplinary from the beginning, and this has enabled us to bring the principles of precision machine design to bear upon the study of the living brain,\u201d Forest says. His graduate student, Suhasa Kodandaramaiah, spent the past two years as a visiting student at MIT, and is the lead author of the study, which appears in the May 6 issue of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nmeth.1993\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003ENature Methods\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe method could be particularly useful in studying brain disorders such as schizophrenia, Parkinson\u2019s disease, autism and epilepsy, Boyden says. \u201cIn all these cases, a molecular description of a cell that is integrated with [its] electrical and circuit properties \u2026 has remained elusive,\u201d says Boyden, who is a member of MIT\u2019s Media Lab and McGovern Institute for Brain Research. \u201cIf we could really describe how diseases change molecules in specific cells within the living brain, it might enable better drug targets to be found.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAutomation\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKodandaramaiah, Boyden and Forest set out to automate a 30-year-old technique known as whole-cell patch clamping, which involves bringing a tiny hollow glass pipette in contact with the cell membrane of a neuron, then opening up a small pore in the membrane to record the electrical activity within the cell. This skill usually takes a graduate student or postdoc several months to learn.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKodandaramaiah spent about four months learning the manual patch-clamp technique, giving him an appreciation for its difficulty. \u201cWhen I got reasonably good at it, I could sense that even though it is an art form, it can be reduced to a set of stereotyped tasks and decisions that could be executed by a robot,\u201d he says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo that end, Kodandaramaiah and his colleagues built a robotic arm that lowers a glass pipette into the brain of an anesthetized mouse with micrometer accuracy. As it moves, the pipette monitors a property called electrical impedance \u2014 a measure of how difficult it is for electricity to flow out of the pipette. If there are no cells around, electricity flows and impedance is low. When the tip hits a cell, electricity can\u2019t flow as well and impedance goes up.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe pipette takes two-micrometer steps, measuring impedance 10 times per second. Once it detects a cell, it can stop instantly, preventing it from poking through the membrane. \u201cThis is something a robot can do that a human can\u2019t,\u201d Boyden says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOnce the pipette finds a cell, it applies suction to form a seal with the cell\u2019s membrane. Then, the electrode can break through the membrane to record the cell\u2019s internal electrical activity. The robotic system can detect cells with 90 percent accuracy, and establish a connection with the detected cells about 40 percent of the time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers also showed that their method can be used to determine the shape of the cell by injecting a dye; they are now working on extracting a cell\u2019s contents to read its genetic profile.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDevelopment of the new technology was funded primarily by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the MIT Media Lab.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENew era for robotics\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers recently created a startup company, Neuromatic Devices, to commercialize the device.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers are now working on scaling up the number of electrodes so they can record from multiple neurons at a time, potentially allowing them to determine how different parts of the brain are connected.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey are also working with collaborators to start classifying the thousands of types of neurons found in the brain. This \u201cparts list\u201d for the brain would identify neurons not only by their shape \u2014 which is the most common means of classification \u2014 but also by their electrical activity and genetic profile.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf you really want to know what a neuron is, you can look at the shape, and you can look at how it fires. Then, if you pull out the genetic information, you can really know what\u2019s going on,\u201d Forest says. \u201cNow you know everything. That\u2019s the whole picture.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBoyden says he believes this is just the beginning of using robotics in neuroscience to study living animals. A robot like this could potentially be used to infuse drugs at targeted points in the brain, or to deliver gene therapy vectors. He hopes it will also inspire neuroscientists to pursue other kinds of robotic automation \u2014 such as in optogenetics, the use of light to perturb targeted neural circuits and determine the causal role that neurons play in brain functions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENeuroscience is one of the few areas of biology in which robots have yet to make a big impact, Boyden says. \u201cThe genome project was done by humans and a giant set of robots that would do all the genome sequencing. In directed evolution or in synthetic biology, robots do a lot of the molecular biology,\u201d he says. \u201cIn other parts of biology, robots are essential.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOther co-authors include MIT grad student Giovanni Talei Franzesi and MIT postdoc Brian Y. Chow.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E Georgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E 75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Robinson (abby@innovate.gatech.edu; 404-385-3364) or Caroline McCall (cmccall5@mit.edu; 617-253-1682)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter: \u003C\/strong\u003EAnne Trafton, MIT News\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have automated the process of finding and recording information from neurons in the living brain. A robotic arm guided by a cell-detecting computer algorithm can identify and record from neurons in the living mouse brain with better accuracy and speed than a human experimenter.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have automated the process of finding and recording information from neurons in the living brain."}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2012-05-06 18:15:11","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:09","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-05-06T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-05-06T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"128501":{"id":"128501","type":"image","title":"Craig Forest robotic neural recordings","body":null,"created":"1449178622","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:37:02","changed":"1475894751","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:51","alt":"Craig Forest robotic neural recordings","file":{"fid":"194578","name":"forest_autopatching_hires.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/forest_autopatching_hires_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/forest_autopatching_hires_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":775735,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/forest_autopatching_hires_0.jpg?itok=vdfef1_u"}},"128521":{"id":"128521","type":"image","title":"Whole-cell patching robot schematic","body":null,"created":"1449178622","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:37:02","changed":"1475894751","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:51","alt":"Whole-cell patching robot schematic","file":{"fid":"194580","name":"autopatching_schematic_hires.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/autopatching_schematic_hires_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/autopatching_schematic_hires_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":151885,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/autopatching_schematic_hires_0.jpg?itok=1ge0_Nkx"}},"128511":{"id":"128511","type":"image","title":"Neuromatic Devices research team","body":null,"created":"1449178622","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:37:02","changed":"1475894751","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:51","alt":"Neuromatic Devices research team","file":{"fid":"194579","name":"autopatching_team_hires.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/autopatching_team_hires_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/autopatching_team_hires_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1108663,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/autopatching_team_hires_0.jpg?itok=hvVbN3LH"}}},"media_ids":["128501","128521","128511"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1912","name":"brain"},{"id":"32681","name":"brain cell"},{"id":"594","name":"college of engineering"},{"id":"12333","name":"Craig Forest"},{"id":"32711","name":"electrical activity"},{"id":"7276","name":"neuron"},{"id":"1304","name":"neuroscience"},{"id":"32691","name":"patch clamp"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"167377","name":"School of Mechanical Engineering"},{"id":"32701","name":"whole-cell patch clamping"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAbby Robinson\u003Cbr \/\u003E Research News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E 404-385-3364\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}