Masters Students​​

Tushar joined the lab as a MS BME student in 2004. He studied reach adaptation from a new perspective: learning in order to optimize performance, and not simply cancel a disturbance. He was part of the team that performed the first fMRI experiments on reach adaptation using a robotic arm. He subsequently joined the BME PhD program at Johns Hopkins University. For his outstanding research as a doctoral student, Tushar was named a Siebel Scholar.
​​Neural correlates of reach errors. J Diedrichsen, Y Hashambhoy, T Rane, and R Shadmehr (2005) Journal of Neuroscience 25:9919-9931. 

Motor adaptation as a process of reoptimization.  J Izawa, T Rane, O Donchin, and R Shadmehr (2008) Journal of Neuroscience 28:2883-2891. Supplementary-material 


Publications

Tushar Rane

Christine joined the lab as a MS BME student in 2004, after completing her BS from Harvard University. She used transcranial magnetic stimulation to uncover the function of the human motor cortex during reach adaptation. After completing her MS, she joined the MD/PhD program at Stanford University.
Impairment of retention but not acquisition of a visuomotor skill through time-dependent disruption of primary motor cortex. A Hadipour-Niktarash, CK Lee, JE Desmond, and R Shadmehr (2007) Journal of Neuroscience 27:13413-13419. 

Time-dependent contribution of primary motor cortex to visuomotor memory retention. Christine Lee (2006) MS Thesis Johns Hopkins University.

Publications

Christine Lee

Vincent joined the lab as a MS BME student in 2006. Vincent received his undergraduate training in Physics and Mathematics in the École Polytechnique of Montreal, and then at the École Polytechnique of Paris. Vincent’s work focused on using principles of optimal control to quantify changes in human saccade trajectories during adaptation. He subsequently became a project manager at Siemens MRI in Japan, and then joined the MBA program at INSEAD in Singapore.

Changes in control of saccades during gain adaptation. V Ethier, DS Zee, and R Shadmehr (2008) Journal of Neuroscience 28:13929-13937. 

Spontaneous recovery of motor memory during saccade adaptation. V Ethier, DS Zee, and R Shadmehr (2008) Journal of Neurophysiology 99:2577-2583.  

Adaptive control of saccades via internal feedback. H Chen-Harris, WM Joiner, V Ethier, DS Zee, and R Shadmehr (2008) Journal of Neuroscience 28:2804-2813. 

Signature of the multiple timescales of memory in adaptive control of human saccades.  Vincent Ethier (2008) MS Thesis, Johns Hopkins University.

Publications

Vincent Ethier

Aymeric joined the lab in 2011 as a graduate student in the BME MS program, after completing an undergraduate program in engineering from EcolePolytechnique, Paris.  He worked on the interactions between the declarative memory and motor memory systems, looking for shares resources. He completed his thesis in 2013 and went on to become an engineer with Mauna Kea Technologies, France.

Aymeric Blanc

Nikhil joined the lab in 1996 as our second MS BME student. Nikhil investigated the role of forward models in motor adaptation. Using a theoretical approach that looked for signatures of the forward and inverse models, Nikhil was able to infer that during motor adaptation, the rate of change in the forward model appears to be significantly faster than the change in the inverse model. He subsequently joined Medtronic Corp.
Computational nature of human adaptive control during learning of reaching movements in force fields. N Bhushan, and R Shadmehr (1999) Biological Cybernetics 81:39-60. Abstract  Citations

Evidence for a forward dynamics model in human adaptive motor control. N Bhushan and R Shadmehr (1999) Adv Neural Inform Proc Systems 11:3-9.  Abstract Citations

A Computational Approach to Human Adaptive Motor Control. Nikhil Bhushan (1998) MS Thesis, Johns Hopkins University.

Publications

Nikhil Bhushan

Kasra joined the lab in 1996 as our first MS student. He built the electronics that measure angular velocities of our first robot, a circuit that continues to function flawlessly after more than 25 years of continuous use.  He participated in the PET imaging experiments in which we took our robot to the imaging center and quantified neural correlates of motor learning.  He subsequently joined Hughes Electronics Corp. as a research engineer. 

Kasra Akhavan-Toyserkani

Reza joined the lab in 1998 as a student in the MS program in BME.  His research focused on brain imaging, performing long-term PET studies that tracked changes in the brain as motor memories were formed and consolidated. He subsequently joined the BME PhD program at Johns Hopkins. He is currently Professor of Cardiac Imaging at Harvard University,.


Long-Term Adaptation to Dynamics of Reaching Movements: A PET Study. R Nezafat, R Shadmehr, and HH Holcomb (2001) Experimental Brain Research 140:66-76.

Publications

Reza Nezafat

Greg joined the lab in 1999.  He was a MS BME student who focused on quantifying adaptation of forward models.  His tool was saccadic eye movements as a proxy for the forward model during reach adaptation.  He is currently Senior Project Engineer, MPR Associates Inc.


Learning dynamics of reaching movements results in the modification of arm impedance and long-latency perturbation responses. T Wang, GS Dordevic, and R Shadmehr (2001) Biological Cybernetics 85:437-448. 

Control force change due to adaptation of forward model in human motor control. Tie Wang (2000) MS Thesis, Johns Hopkins University.

Publications

Tie Wang

Greg joined the lab in 1999.  He was a MS BME student who focused on quantifying adaptation of forward models.  His tool was saccadic eye movements as a proxy for the forward model during reach adaptation.  He is currently Senior Project Engineer, MPR Associates Inc.


A real-time state predictor in motor control: study of saccadic eye movements during unseen reaching movements. G Ariff, O Donchin, T Nanayakkara, and R Shadmehr (2002) Journal of Neuroscience 22:7721-7729.  

Publications

Greg Ariff

Stephanie joined the lab in 2000.  She was a MS BME student who used state-space models to quantify encoding of contextual cues during motor adaptation.  She subsequently became an engineer with Engineer, Directed Technologies, Washington DC. 

Internal models and contextual cues: encoding serial order and direction of movement. SK Wainscott, O Donchin, and R Shadmehr (2005) Journal of Neurophysiology 93:786-800.

Publications

Stephanie Wainscott

Maneesh joined the lab as a MS BME student in 2000, after completing a BS from IIT Kharagpur, India.  He worked on the design and construction of the fMRI robot, computing the configuration space and force properties of the device.  The device was built and allowed our lab to perform the first fMRI experiments in which the neural basis of reaching movements in humans could be investigated.  After completing his MS, he enrolled in the Computer Science PhD program at Johns Hopkins, working in the Computational Interaction and Robotics Lab.  He subsequently became a Research Scientist at Siemens Medical Solutions.

M Dewan. Design, Construction and Testing of an fMRI Compatible Robotic Arm. MS thesis, August 2002, Johns Hopkins University.​

Publications

Maneesh Dewan

Siavash joined the lab as a MS BME student in 2004.  He worked on saccadic remapping of reach target.  He made an important observation: the brain combines predicted sensory consequences of motor commands with actual sensory feedback to produce an estimate that is better than either source of information.  That is, as the brain predicts consequences of movements, it acquires the ability to sense the world better than is possible from the sensors alone.  He demonstrated that we see the world better than what our eyes tell us because we can predict what we should see.  After completing his MS, he joined the PhD program in BME at Johns Hopkins, working in the area of cortical neurophysiology.  Following completion of PhD, Siavash accepted a position as Scientific Research Analyst at NIH.

Why does the brain predict sensory consequences of oculomotor commands?  Optimal integration of the predicted and the actual sensory feedback. S Vaziri, J Diedrichsen, and R Shadmehr (2006) Journal of Neuroscience, 26:4188-4197.  Abstract 

Saccadic remapping of reach targets.  Siavash Vaziri (2006) MS Thesis, Johns Hopkins University.

Publications

Siavash Vaziri

Courtney joined the lab as a MS BME student in 2008.  She worked on the motor function of children with autism, and discovered that the patterns of generalization in these children suggested a stronger than normal dependence on proprioception.  She subsequently became a Research Programmer at the Brain Imaging Program at Duke University.

Representation of internal models of action in the autistic brain. C Haswell, J Izawa, L Dowell, SH Mostofsky, and R Shadmehr (2009) Nature Neuroscience 12:970-972

Publications

Courtney Haswell