Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition

The CNBC is the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University’s joint neuroscience research and education program.

Events

Mar
21
Thu
CMU: NI: Victor M. Bearg Neuroscience Lecture: John Krakauer: “Combining novel behavioral training with technology for neurological recovery”
Mar 21 @ 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM

Please join us for the Victor M. Bearg Neuroscience Lecture.


Dr. John Krakauer
John C. Malone Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, 
& Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Director of the Brain, Learning, Animation, and Movement Lab
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine  

Thursday, March 21st
4:00 pm, Roberts Hall, Singleton Room
or join via Zoom:https://cmu.zoom.us/j/99764207187?pwd=Q0gwcUZwaGRuL2hvV3pqUTFWcEVRQT09 
Meeting ID: 997 6420 7187 
Passcode: 898767

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Combining novel behavioral training with technology for neurological recovery
It is becoming increasingly apparent from animal models and human studies that behavioral improvement in the setting of a neurological condition is a function of the dose, intensity, and type of training. Neurotechnology can be used to design new behavioral training experiences and approaches, and to physiologically augment the responsivity of the CNS to training for either neurorestorative effects or better neuroprosthetic use. These interactions between behavior, training and technology are of great interest for both scientific and clinical reasons.

About John Krakauer
Dr. Krakauer is currently John C. Malone Professor, Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Director of the Brain, Learning, Animation, and Movement Lab (www.BLAM-lab.org) at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is also an External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute and a Visiting Scholar at The Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown. He is Chief Medical Advisor to MindMaze. His areas of research interest are: (1) Experimental and computational studies of motor control and motor learning in humans (2) Tracking long-term motor skill learning and its relation to higher cognitive processes such as decision-making. (3) Prediction of motor recovery after stroke (4) Mechanisms of spontaneous motor recovery after stroke in humans and in mouse models (5) New neuro-rehabilitation approaches for patients in the first 3 months after stroke.(6) Philosophy of mind, philosophy of neuroscience.

Dr. Krakauer is also co-founder of the company MSquare Health (acquired by MindMaze) and of the creative engineering Hopkins-based project named KATA. KATA and MSquare are both predicated on the idea that animal movement based on real physics is highly pleasurable and that this pleasure is hugely heightened when the animal movement is under the control of our own movements. A simulated dolphin and other cetaceans developed by KATA has led to a therapeutic game that has been interfaced with an exoskeletal robot in a multi-site rehabilitation trial for early stroke recovery, and with motion tracking for cognitive therapy in the normal aged. Dr. Krakauer was profiled in the New Yorker in 2015 and his book, “Broken Movement: The Neurobiology of Motor Recovery after Stroke” was published by the MIT Press in the November 2017. He is slowly working on a new book on the mind and intelligence for Princeton University Press.  

If you are interested in meeting with Dr. Krakauer, please reach out to Aimee Dorney, adorney@andrew.cmu.edu.

Singleton Room is in Roberts Hall (labeled “REH” in cell C6): https://www.cmu.edu/visit/campus-map-april-2023

The easiest way to this space is to enter the main entrance of Hamerschlag Hall (marked “HH”) from The Mall, walk to the back of the building and take the stairs or elevator to “B level”. From there a short hallway takes you to Roberts Hall and the Singleton Room. 
[Note: To enter The Mall there are several paths. One is across The Cut from Forbes Ave, and another that may be convenient from Pitt is to pass straight through Porter Hall (“PH”) from Frew Street.]

Mar
22
Fri
CNBC Postdoc Writing Group
Mar 22 @ 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

CNBC Postdoc Writing Group

Fridays, 2-4pm

Contact: Andrew Gerlach (arg151@pitt.edu)

Location is typically Zoom: https://pitt.zoom.us/j/5307316889 (Passcode: 1234)

Description: Two hour block dedicated to writing papers, grants, reviews, etc. We use the Pomodoro system of 25 min blocks with 5 min breaks in between to chitchat.

There’s a group of ~10 people who attend semi-regularly. On any given week, it’s typical to have 3-5 people. It’s used for accountability and setting aside a dedicated chunk of time for writing (although some people use it for analysis or whatever else they may need to focus on). It’s also been helpful in building a postdoc community.

Please reach out to Andrew with any questions!

Mar
27
Wed
CMU: BME: Neural Engineering Virtual Seminar: Xing Chen: “Artificial vision via high-channel-count visual cortical stimulation in primates”
Mar 27 @ 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM