Assistant Professor, Bioengineering University of Pittsburgh Phone: (412) 383-5394 Email: apb10@pitt.edu   Individual Website: http://www.engr.pitt.edu/bioengineering/main/people/faculty/batista_aaron.html

Ph.D., California Institute of Technology

Research Interests

My laboratory explores the neural mechanisms of sensory-motor integration. We study how visually-guided arm and eye movements are orchestrated by the cerebral cortex. We then apply new discoveries in neurophysiology to help improve neural prosthetics - devices that can provide motor control to paralyzed individuals.

There are two chief research directions in the lab: neural prosthetics and basic neuroscience. In the first, we are exploring a new way to provide sensory feedback to the user of a neural prosthesis: cortical microstimulation. By providing the brain with a direct representation of the position of the prosthesis, we hope to improve its controllability. Such fast, acurate feedback may create the sensation that the prosthesis is "embodied": incorporated into the user's body.

Our second research domain is to understand how movements of our eyes are controlled, and how these movements change our sensory experience. For example, every time we move our eyes, a different image is sent from the retina to the brain. This change is anticipated by the brain, and is accounted for rapidly, to create a seamless visual experience. How is visual information rapidly passed between neurons to permit accurate goal-directed reaching even while the eyes are moving.

Recent Publications

• Batista AP, Yu BM, Santhanam G, Ryu SI, Afshar A, Shenoy KV: Cortical neural prosthesis performance improves when eye position is monitored. IEEE Tran Neural Syst Rehabil Eng 16(1):24-31, 2008.
• Batista AP, Santhanam G, Yu BM, Ryu S, Afshar A, Shenoy KV: Reference frames for reach planning in macaque dorsal premotor cortex. J Neurophysiol 98: 966-983, 2007.
• Chestek CA, Batista AP, Santhanam G, Yu BM, Afshar A, Cunningham JP, Gilja V, Ryu SI, Churchland M, Shenoy KV: Single-neuron stability during repeated reaching in macaque premotor cortex. J Neurosci 27: 40, 2007.
• Batista AP, Buneo CA, Snyder LH, Andersen RA. Reach lans in eye-centered coordinates. Science 285: 257-260, 1999.
• Snyder LH, Batista AP, Andersen RA. Coding of intention in the posterior parietal cortex. Nature 386: 167-170, 1997.