Neuroscientist

I was in charge of my own research project. I designed my experiments, I scheduled participants and conducted the experiments, I analyzed all the data and wrote the methods, results and discussion of a paper that is pending review for publication.
I used Matlab and Simulink for data analysis. I used a Polhemus 6DOF tracking system for my experiments paired with a handmade glove with copper tips in an electrical system using a National Instrument Data Acquisition System PCI-3036E. For data acquisition i used software packages PiMgr and Quarc.
Part of my other duties were to help other students with their projects, mostly with data acquisition and analysis. For that I learned to use EEG with OpenEEG. Some other projects involved the use of an eye tracking device. A different project needed me to design scripts to construct sound sine waves in real time as the position of a tracking device changed in 3D.

Projects:

Inter-latency of digits before grasping objects and it's feedback coming from the spinal cord.
Abstract:
The recognition of objects through touch has been studied for the last 2 decades. Experiments used to involve mostly the thumb and index but with our techniques it is possible to study the whole hand and some interesting patterns have been found. In this study we employed an electrical mechanism to determine time of digit contacts with a target object. This digit contact system was paired with motion tracking equipment to measure position of each finger in time. Our results indicate that, under our task conditions, subjects grasp the objects in a specific pattern where the latency of the 2nd to 1st finger to make contact is significantly larger than the latency between the 3rd and 2nd finger and between the 4th and 3rd finger. We have also found that on average 31.5 percent of the subjects show an increase in velocity of the 3rd and 4th finger after the 2nd finger touches the object, which would explain the pattern presented previously. While the pattern doesn’t appear in all trials, the complexity of the object and task increases the appearance of this effect. These results suggest a form of feedback control at the spinal cord following the 2nd contact that modifies the velocities of the remaining digits.


What I did at the research lab had to do with haptics and the study of hand preshaping before grasping objects. We used an electrical system and motion tracking where we were able to record the time of contact of each individual finger with an object and their 3D position in time. I recorded all the data, and did the data analysis myself. I wrote the scripts in Matlab. As a side project I worked on developing scripts that paired our motion tracking system with a sound that changes in pitch depending on position. I also helped other students with their projects using motion tracking paired with EEG or with an eye tracking device.

Project:
Individual differences in the open field test predict the outcome of behavioral battery on CB57-BL
Skills learned:
Working with rats and mice.
HPLC
Behavioral experiments for mice and rats (Open Field test, Y-Maze, Elevated Plus Maze, Light/Dark Test, Forced Swim Test)

Other certificate

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