Associate Professor, Bioengineering & Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation University of Pittsburgh Phone: (412) 647-4531 Fax: (412) 692-4531 Email: djw50@pitt.edu Website: http://www.engr.pitt.edu/rnel/

Ph.D., Arizona State University

Research Interests

Research in the my lab aims to understand the role and nature of somatosensory feedback in motor learning and control and to apply this knowledge to the development of neuroprostheses, devices that interface directly with the nervous system to restore sensorimotor function. We are particularly interested in the neural coding of limb-state by muscle and cutaneous afferent neurons. These neurons are the mechanical sensors that provide us with sensations of touch, body position and movement -- our so-called "Sixth Sense". In addition, this feedback is vital for producing stable, coordinated movement of our limbs. By recording simultaneously from several muscle spindle afferents in the leg, we can obtain online estimates of the position and velocity of the limb, which can be used as feedback for controlling a neuroprosthesis. Conversely, we can stimulate these sensory neurons to provide touch and movement sensations for a prosthetic limb. Both applications require a fundamental understanding of the neural coding of limb state by neurons in the somatosensory system.

Recent Publications

• Donelan JM, Li Q, Naing V, Hoffer JA, Weber DJ, Kuo AD: Biomechanical energy harvesting: generating electricity during walking with minimal user effort. Science 319: 807-810, 2008.

• Przysucha EP, Taylor MJ, Weber D: The Nature of Control in Postural Adaptations of Boys with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder. Adapt Phys Activ Q 25(1): 1-15, 2008.

• Weber DJ, Stein RB, Everaert DG, Prochazka A: Limb-state feedback from ensembles of simultaneously recorded dorsal root ganglion neurons. J Neural Eng 4, S168-180, 2007.

• Schwartz AB, Cui XT, Weber DJ, Moran DW: Brain-controlled interfaces: movement restoration with neural prosthetics. Neuron 52: 205-220, 2006.

• Weber DJ, Stein RB, Everaert DG, Prochazka A: Decoding sensory feedback from firing rates of afferent ensembles recorded in cat dorsal root ganglia in normal locomotion. IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng 14: 240-243, 2006.