Friday, November 30, 2007

New Feature! Productivity Software!

Da Feature: Caught this on TechRIVET (awesomeness glazed in a sweet html sauce). Windows Live! Translate makes reading DNI in your native language a snap, which is a good thing because I no speak-o the funny-o languages-o. To the right you'll see a drop down. Click it, select your language and off you go.

Of course, you can always use Google Translate and bookmark the site in your native tongue as well. For example, here I am in Italian!


Da Productivity Software: While we're on the topic of Windows Live! Here's a nice organization/productivity tip. Sign up for FolderShare, another Live! service. Works on PCs and Macs. You basically set up a syncing relationship between specific folders on a several computers, run the application in the background, and voila! Your folders are kept auto'magically' synchronized. I love it love it love it. I write a couple new lines of code, download a new paper or two, and save meeting notes on my laptop, and within seconds, they are on my desktop. Yesterday I added a new lines of code to a MatLab script, saved the file, logged into my desktop PC using VNC, and the new version was waiting for me, ready to run.

The only drawbacks are:
A) You have to be running the program (very low memory and cpu footprint - I leave it on even when I play online games). You can close it, but if you edit the same file on both computers while the program is off it will keep two copies of the file renamed in the same folder.
2) There is a limit to the number of folders you can sync, and that limit is pretty low. Somewhere around 8. As far as files, no idea. I'm syncing my "papers" folder, which is 1,200 documents. 2GB file max size.
III) You can't sync some 'special' folders, like your music folder. They basically are making sure this remains a productivity app, and not a music sharing service.
v.4) I don't think transfers are encrypted.

Once installed and running, though, you can access any file on either PC from a browser (if you have the password). You can also invite others to download share files, though they need the software installed (it's free and sign up is 30 seconds). You can also set each folder to sync automatically or on demand.

Another nice bit of software is SyncBack, for offline syncing. The setup is a little long, because it has a million options that's you'll read about when you go through the first folder setup, but you have total control of everything (plus an easy wizard). I use this for syncing to my portable drive and flash drive. It can be set up to sync everything in one click. Oh yeah, the SE version is $30USD (what i that now? .02 Euros?), but the freeware version is great (and spyware/adware free). (PC only)

And last, but not least, for those 'sensitive' files, there's TrueCrypt. Free and powerful. You can create virtual volumes, encrypted partitions, and the the options are mind boggling. All I know is that you'd have to run all the world's computers for 3,000 years to get at my data files. I'm sure I won't care by then. Open source and stable. Using the entirely encrypted drive option is a little finicky and if set up wrong you'll find yourself reformatting in order to make it more usable. I did that, so just think about how you'll use it. For instance, if the whole drive is encrypted, then you always have to have a system with the software installed, or a flash drive with it. You can also copy a lightweight version to the drive with an encrypted file so that the software is accessible on any PC.

I have found that the best blend of security and usability is to leave the drive formatted as by your PC and create an encrypted virtual volume, which appears as a file on the drive. Keep the lightweight version copied to the drive somewhere and leave a little room for less sensitive files you access regularly. The downside is that if the drive is stolen, people can see that there's something special on the drive, because you have that huge honkin file. But, they will be unable to access whatever is on that virtual volume. Basically, it's always more secure to make it look like there's nothing out of the ordinary, but sometimes that isn't practical.

Couple quick notes: Remember that FAT has a low max file size (4GB?), and your volume will essentially be a file on the drive. NTFS isn't natively supported on Macs or Linux, but support can be 'added'. There have been some reports that the current ways of writing to NTFS from either can cause data corruption, but reading should be fine. ext3 isn't supported on Windows, though ext support can be added (don't worry about ext2 versus ext3 - they are compatible with each other (ext3 adds journaling)). I use Ext2FSD for messing with my Linux partition from Windows Vista without any problems. For reading a Mac drive, you'll have to shell out for something like MacDrive, which is obnoxious in general. Yes, it works, but why can't Apple jsut play nice with the other 95% of the world? And why can't Microsoft just release the some sort of NTFS spec? (PC and Linux)

And last but not least. Everyone has a flash drive now. So why not install some of your favorite apps on it, so they're always available? PortableApps has a nice package of free software. Various torrent sites also have portable-ized pay-for apps (like MS Office and Norton). Just FYI. And here's some love for you Mac users.

Required reading


I think I mentioned it here before, but everyone in BCI should read The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Phil Kennedy made me read it back during my days and Neural Signals Inc, and while it isn't particularly stirring or eloquently written, the time you take reading it forces you to take the perspective of a locked-in patient. Looks like they have made a movie out of the book, and Slate has the review (spoiler: the reviewer liked it). (IMDb link) Netflix subscribers can save it to their queue so that it is added when available on DVD (I just did).

SNL does BCI



Brain in a Vat found a BCI related short from Saturday Night Live. I particularly like the neural probe they use.

Mmmmm Mmmmm Papers!

A Principle for Learning Egocentric-Allocentric Transformation.
Byrne P, Becker S.
Neural Comput. 2007 Nov 28 [Epub ahead of print] (Couldn't find a link)

Bayesian spiking neurons I: inference.
Deneve S.
Neural Comput. 2008 Jan;20(1):91-117.

Bayesian Spiking Neurons II: Learning.
Deneve S.
Neural Comput. 2008 Jan;20(1):118-45.

Self-initiation of EEG-based brain–computer communication using the heart rate response
R Scherer et al 2007 J. Neural Eng. 4 L23-L29
R Scherer, G R Müller-Putz and G Pfurtscheller

Congruent activity during action and action observation in motor cortex.
Tkach D, Reimer J, Hatsopoulos NG.
J Neurosci. 2007 Nov 28;27(48):13241-50.

EEG-informed fMRI reveals spatiotemporal characteristics of perceptual decision making.
Philiastides MG, Sajda P.
J Neurosci. 2007 Nov 28;27(48):13082-91.

A computational model for redundant human three-dimensional pointing movements: integration of independent spatial and temporal motor plans simplifies movement dynamics.
Biess A, Liebermann DG, Flash T.
J Neurosci. 2007 Nov 28;27(48):13045-64.

Ubiquitous plasticity and memory storage.
Kim SJ, Linden DJ.
Neuron. 2007 Nov 22;56(4):582-92.

Neural substrates of visuomotor learning based on improved feedback control and prediction.
Grafton ST, Schmitt P, Van Horn J, Diedrichsen J.
Neuroimage. 2007 Oct 12 [Epub ahead of print]

Motor cortex gates vibrissal responses in a thalamocortical projection pathway.
Urbain N, Deschênes M.
Neuron. 2007 Nov 22;56(4):714-25.

Machine learning for real-time single-trial EEG-analysis: From brain-computer interfacing to mental state monitoring.
Müller KR, Tangermann M, Dornhege G, Krauledat M, Curio G, Blankertz B.
J Neurosci Methods. 2007 Sep 29;167(1):82-90 [Epub ahead of print]

Social comparison affects reward-related brain activity in the human ventral striatum.
Fliessbach K, Weber B, Trautner P, Dohmen T, Sunde U, Elger CE, Falk A.
Science. 2007 Nov 23;318(5854):1305-8.

Long-term speeding in perceptual switches mediated by attention-dependent plasticity in cortical visual processing.
Suzuki S, Grabowecky M.
Neuron. 2007 Nov 22;56(4):741-53.

Motor cortex gates vibrissal responses in a thalamocortical projection pathway.
Urbain N, Deschênes M.
Neuron. 2007 Nov 22;56(4):714-25.

Cortex mediates multisensory but not unisensory integration in superior colliculus.
Alvarado JC, Stanford TR, Vaughan JW, Stein BE.
J Neurosci. 2007 Nov 21;27(47):12775-86.

Can the human brain predict the consequences of arm movement corrections when transporting an object? Hints from grip force adjustments.
Danion F, Sarlegna FR.
J Neurosci. 2007 Nov 21;27(47):12839-43.

The representation of behavioral choice for motion in human visual cortex.
Serences JT, Boynton GM.
J Neurosci. 2007 Nov 21;27(47):12893-9.

Resonant or not, two amplification modes of proprioceptive inputs by persistent inward currents in spinal motoneurons.
Manuel M, Meunier C, Donnet M, Zytnicki D.
J Neurosci. 2007 Nov 21;27(47):12977-88.

The golden beauty: brain response to classical and renaissance sculptures.
Di Dio C, Macaluso E, Rizzolatti G.
PLoS ONE. 2007 Nov 21;2(11):e1201.

Simultaneous sensorimotor adaptation and sequence learning.
Overduin SA, Richardson AG, Bizzi E, Press DZ.
Exp Brain Res. 2007 Nov 21 [Epub ahead of print]

Combining modules for movement.
Bizzi E, Cheung VC, d'Avella A, Saltiel P, Tresch M.
Brain Res Rev. 2007 Sep 5 [Epub ahead of print]

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Lines Derived from Human Somatic Cells.
Yu J, Vodyanik MA, Smuga-Otto K, Antosiewicz-Bourget J, Frane JL, Tian S, Nie J, Jonsdottir GA, Ruotti V, Stewart R, Slukvin II, Thomson JA.
Science. 2007 Nov 20 [Epub ahead of print]

The origins of human bipedalism.
Schwartz JH.
Science. 2007 Nov 16;318(5853):1065.

Comment on "Origin of human bipedalism as an adaptation for locomotion on flexible branches".
Begun DR, Richmond BG, Strait DS.
Science. 2007 Nov 16;318(5853):1066.

Self-organization, embodiment, and biologically inspired robotics.
Pfeifer R, Lungarella M, Iida F.
Science. 2007 Nov 16;318(5853):1088-93.

Learning in and from brain-based devices.
Edelman GM.
Science. 2007 Nov 16;318(5853):1103-5.

Concept-based behavioral planning and the lateral prefrontal cortex.
Tanji J, Shima K, Mushiake H.
Trends Cogn Sci. 2007 Nov 13 [Epub ahead of print]

Prediction of arm movement trajectories from ECoG-recordings in humans.
Pistohl T, Ball T, Schulze-Bonhage A, Aertsen A, Mehring C.
J Neurosci Methods. 2007 Oct 10 [Epub ahead of print]

Model-based development of neural prostheses for movement.
Davoodi R, Urata C, Hauschild M, Khachani M, Loeb GE.
IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2007 Nov;54(11):1909-18.

HermesB: a continuous neural recording system for freely behaving primates.
Santhanam G, Linderman MD, Gilja V, Afshar A, Ryu SI, Meng TH, Shenoy KV.
IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2007 Nov;54(11):2037-50.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

In da newz

Ah vacation. So nice. Here's what hit my radar the past few days...

The technique used by Dr Kuiken at Northwestern for control a robotic limb has been turned on its head, and used to supply touch sensation. Place some haptic sensors on the artificial arm, wire them up to various DRG afferents/efferents, and supply a little juice. (2nd report here.)

MIT, trying to map the whole damn brain. Pffft. Amateurs. Why don't they just stick to wearable motion capture systems?



Ah exoskeletons. How be-est the so rad? (Play the video above.)

DLR had their wares in the news a bit. Yay robots!

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Thanksgivin's

Well, it's Thanksgiving time here in the US, so I am home visiting family in Chicago. The 'rents redesigned their living room with many new tech gadgets that they don't know how to use, so I have alot of work to do.

I'm thankful for all my loyal readers! Awwwww....

Monday, November 19, 2007

Can I call it or what?

Hours after I post my little Sony vs Amazon ebook comparison, admittedly a quick rundown, Gizmodo posts a more formal point by point comparison. Like I said, the Amazon Kindle is nice if you want to just read novels and don't mind paying (ie-have no content already), but the Sony wins out on most fronts.

Linky.

Escher

This was too cool not to post...
first from Guerillartivism

Readins

So, I thought I would post a quickie on ebooks. I have, through various sources accumulated thousands of electronic books in various formats (PDF, doc, html, djvu). So, as a technogeek, I have been anxiously awaiting a nice ebook reader that it light and powerful. There have been a couple players tat have entered the market int he last few months, so I thought I would post some quick impressions.


First, the big news maker today is the Amazon Kindle. It looks slick, has a keyboard and neat-o bookmarking and high lighting slider. It ieven has built in EVDO, so yo can buy books directly over the ether for anywhere from $1 (for free Gutenburg works) to $10 for new releases. There's even the ability to upload you own books and convert them to the native format. AND you can submit your own work and even blog (ahem!) to be downloaded via the internal RSS reader. Also, there's an SD expansion slot. 30 hours of reading per charge, using epaper/eink technology.

Downsides? A) Proprietary format with a charge to convert it. Yuck! B) Only SD, but the newer high density version. C) Version 1.0 - who knows what bugs will turn up, or if it will catch on and be viable in a year.


And second, the Sony Ebook reader PRS-505 - the second ebook reader from Sony in a year. New, and improved digital ink for faster page turns (big problem with the old version), MS Pro Duo for expansion, RSS reader and podcast support (mp3 playback, same as the Kindle), multiple formats (PDF, DOC, TXT, RTF), integrated cover, smaller profile, no keyboard.

Downsides? No html, no wireless, must purchase from Sony ebook store for purchased materials.

So, which is the better bet? If you have a big collection, like me, the Sony ebook reader is obviously better. You don't have to pay to convert, you can just throw everything on a memory stick, and is a more 'open' option. Plus it is a slightly more mature platform. If, however, you want to use this as a regular, everyday reader, the kindle might be the better bet. Purchasing is quick and easy, it supports a more community driven approach, and offers a much larger purchasing selection.

Just something to think about. Ebook readers are really starting to look appealing, and these are the two big players. It is probably worth waiting for the next generation before pouncing, but I might try to grab one for review at Digital Trends (I'll post here if I do).

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Super Paper Friday Night

Yeah, big party animal here. Wooo woooooooooo! Woo. w... w... ah just read the damn papers!

A synaptic memory trace for cortical receptive field plasticity.
Froemke RC, Merzenich MM, Schreiner CE.
Nature. 2007 Nov 15;450(7168):425-429.

Mental Simulation of Action in the Service of Action Perception.
Raos V, Evangeliou MN, Savaki HE.
J Neurosci. 2007 Nov 14;27(46):12675-12683.

There are a number here, as well, but I won’t link to each one:
Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2007

Of course, I would expect nothing less than an article title by Nicolelis in nothing but caps!
DECODING OF TEMPORAL INTERVALS FROM CORTICAL ENSEMBLE ACTIVITY.
Lebedev MA, O'Doherty JE, Nicolelis MA.
J Neurophysiol. 2007 Nov 14; [Epub ahead of print]

Gradual changes in hippocampal activity support remembering the order of events.
Manns JR, Howard MW, Eichenbaum H.
Neuron. 2007 Nov 8;56(3):530-40.

Defining cortical frequency tuning with recurrent excitatory circuitry.
Liu BH, Wu GK, Arbuckle R, Tao HW, Zhang LI.
Nat Neurosci. 2007 Nov 11; [Epub ahead of print]

Towards an executive without a homunculus: computational models of the prefrontal cortex/basal ganglia system.
Hazy TE, Frank MJ, O'reilly RC.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2007 Sep 29;362(1485):1601-13.

Visual grouping in human parietal cortex.
Xu Y, Chun MM.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Nov 12; [Epub ahead of print]

An oscillator theory of motor unit recruitment.
Prashanth PS, Chakravarthy VS.
Biol Cybern. 2007 Nov 10; [Epub ahead of print]

Mental Simulation of Action in the Service of Action Perception.
Raos V, Evangeliou MN, Savaki HE.
J Neurosci. 2007 Nov 14;27(46):12675-12683.

And some general interest papers….

Hearing Illusory Sounds in Noise: Sensory-Perceptual Transformations in Primary Auditory Cortex.
Riecke L, van Opstal AJ, Goebel R, Formisano E.
J Neurosci. 2007 Nov 14;27(46):12684-12689.

Cortical interference effects in the cocktail party problem.
Narayan R, Best V, Ozmeral E, McClaine E, Dent M, Shinn-Cunningham B, Sen K.
Nat Neurosci. 2007 Nov 11; [Epub ahead of print]

Down-regulation of neurosteroid biosynthesis in corticolimbic circuits mediates social isolation-induced behavior in mice.
Agís-Balboa RC, Pinna G, Pibiri F, Kadriu B, Costa E, Guidotti A.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Nov 14; [Epub ahead of print]

Producing primate embryonic stem cells by somatic cell nuclear transfer.
Byrne J, Pedersen D, Clepper L, Nelson M, Sanger W, Gokhale S, Wolf D, Mitalipov S.
Nature. 2007 Nov 14; [Epub ahead of print]

'Trapped rainbow' storage of light in metamaterials.
Tsakmakidis KL, Boardman AD, Hess O.
Nature. 2007 Nov 15;450(7168):397-401.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy identifies neural progenitor cells in the live human brain.
Manganas LN, Zhang X, Li Y, Hazel RD, Smith SD, Wagshul ME, Henn F, Benveniste H, Djuric PM, Enikolopov G, Maletic-Savatic M.
Science. 2007 Nov 9;318(5852):980-5.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Being heard

Phil Kennedy's work is in the news again. He's been working on using his Neurotrophic Electrode to decode phonemes from Broca's area of a locked-in patient. He did have a number of posters at SfN (right next to mine, too), and the work seems to be moving along steadily. Having talked with him, I know his philosophy is to write papers only when there is a major, major finding, but I would like to see a few technique or preliminary result papers in a peer reviewed journal, like J Neural Engineering. Still, I'll always cheer on the guy that just forges ahead, blazing a path for others.

Unfortunately, the article is at New Scientist, which requires a subscription, which I don't have, but there is a BBC report as well.

The Neurotrophic Electrode is something Phil developed and has been used in several locked-in patients. When I worked with him, we were focused on ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and spinal cord injury (SCI), and implanting MI. The electrode is essentially a glass cone with a bit of sciatic nerve and neurotrophic factor that is just pushed into the cortex. The damage causes neurons to sprout new processes, which are attracted to the trophic factor and grow through the cone. There is no information on the types of cells attracted to the trophic factor, and while units are seen after a couple dozen weeks, the identity of the cells is unknown. While the cone tip is lined up to grab pyramidal cells, the patients need a 'warm up' period in order to activate the cells, which is somewhat suspicious. Other studies using traditional electrodes show instantaneous control, and the fact that a warm up period is necessary could mean that what is actually being grabbed are ascending cholinergic fibers from the RAS or possibly local interneurons active during learning. Either way, information about the associated function is still present, but some basic histology showing more than myelinated fibers in the cone are really needed. Just a few thoughts that I've had since leaving...

Neurart


Shelley over at the Retrospectacle pointed out that the above confocal image of the cochlea won 4th place in the Olympus Bioscapes Digital Imaging Competition. 1st Place was the Brainbow (which is my current wallpaper on my desktop PC), but I actually like this more. I just wish they would post some nice, high-res versions (like 1920x1200 or 1600x1200). I had to piece the Brainbow one together by hand from the study pdf.

Two upcoming events

I wish I could go to both, but I just don't have time...

First, back in Rome, Italy, there is:
NEUROREHABILITATION AND ROBOTICS. Changing environment to train the function, Dec 13-14. I couldn't find a site that linked directly to the program I received, but here is the Children's Hospital it is associated with.

- I'll be the jerk to say it. Please run titles past native English speakers. This title makes no sense, but I think we get the idea, kinda. Is this supposed to be changing the function of the environment by changing said environment, or changing the environment to change some other 'function'? I think the idea is changing the user's environment such that it assists techniques unique to neurorehabilitation. Either way, it would be nice to get back to Italy, but there's no way I'll be able to make it.

Next, in Naples, FL, there is:
The Neural Control of Movement Society meeting, April 28-May 4 (abstract submission open now)

- I might try to go to this one, but we'll see.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

TMR going far


And last one for tonight, Natalia pointed out that Dr. Kuiken's work in Chicago has been in the news again, thanks to some advancements that led to a J Neurophys paper. You'll remember the work (targeted muscle reinnervation) from the big media blitz a couple years ago.

Long story short, they reroute nerves that were going to an amputated limb, to muscles on the chest, side, and abdomen. Patients think about moving the non-existent limb, causing the fibers to fire, thereby eliciting a EMG detectable twitch of the new target muscle. That activity is then translated into movement of a robotic arm. The new paper discusses nerve targets, and more electrodes, making movement detection 95% accurate for 16 movements.

Paper found here.

Exoskeletons and love

BoingBoing has a short story about finding exoskeletons and finding love... awwww. Cool part is that it is based on an actual exoskeleton project at GE back in the 60's.

BoingBoing, and the story.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

B2B v2: Brain To Bot


The EU has been hearing the call of BCI, and upping the funding for non-invasive systems left and right. One project to make the news this last week is the Brain2Robot initiative at the Frauenhofer Institute and Charite hospital in Berlin. Not much too new to report here, just a new funding source for another collaboration, but worth noting, of course. The new arm to come out of the collaboration should be shown off... oh... today in Dusseldorf.

DARPA's readin my thoughts, man!


Ah DARPA. When will you stop burrowing through my psychic defenses to sap the sweet, sweet nectar of my thoughts? *sigh*

Apparently the defense department financial juggernaut is funding companies like Honeywell, who are working on harnessing the quasi-subconscious precessing detectable by EEG (okay, yes, I know, that's a crappy description, but you get the idea) to automatically weed out or identify visually perceived objects of interest. Not an entirely new idea, the whole process might make it possible, in the absence of reliable image recognition software, the ability to breeze though crime suspect images at 1 per 50 millisecond, or quickly scanning large landscapes in front of analysts target extraction/identification at high speeds.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Super Paper Friday Shazzam!

In no particular order...

A new thalamic pathway of vibrissal information modulated by the motor cortex.
Urbain N, Deschênes M.
J Neurosci. 2007 Nov 7;27(45):12407-12.

Reconfiguration of a vertebrate motor network: specific neuron recruitment and context-dependent synaptic plasticity.
Li WC, Sautois B, Roberts A, Soffe SR.
J Neurosci. 2007 Nov 7;27(45):12267-76.

The Motor Cortex and Its Role in Phantom Limb Phenomena.
Reilly KT, Sirigu A.
Neuroscientist. 2007 Nov 7; [Epub ahead of print]

Adaptation reveals independent control networks for human walking.
Choi JT, Bastian AJ.
Nat Neurosci. 2007 Aug;10(8):1055-62. Epub 2007 Jul 1.

Gain mechanisms for contextually guided visuomotor transformations.
Brozović M, Gail A, Andersen RA.
J Neurosci. 2007 Sep 26;27(39):10588-96.

Reading and controlling human brain activation using real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging
R. Christopher deCharmsa
Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7 November 2007.

Connected Corticospinal Sites Show Enhanced Tuning Similarity at the Onset of Voluntary Action
Yuval Yanai, Nofya Adamit, Ran Harel, Zvi Israel, and Yifat Prut
Journal of Neuroscience, November 7, 2007, 27(45):12349-12357

Flexible Coding for Categorical Decisions in the Human Brain
Sheng Li, Dirk Ostwald, Martin Giese, and Zoe Kourtzi
Journal of Neuroscience, November 7, 2007, 27(45):12321-12330

Trade-Off between Object Selectivity and Tolerance in Monkey Inferotemporal Cortex
Davide Zoccolan, Minjoon Kouh, Tomaso Poggio, and James J. DiCarlo
Journal of Neuroscience, November 7, 2007, 27(45):12292-12307

Trusting Our Memories: Dissociating the Neural Correlates of Confidence in Veridical versus Illusory Memories
Hongkeun Kim1 and Roberto Cabeza
Journal of Neuroscience, November 7, 2007, 27(45):12190-12197

Neural Ensembles in CA3 Transiently Encode Paths Forward of the Animal at a Decision Point
Adam Johnson1 and A. David Redish
Journal of Neuroscience, November 7, 2007, 27(45):12176-12189

Human Motor Corpus Callosum: Topography, Somatotopy, and Link between Microstructure and Function
Mathias Wahl, Birgit Lauterbach-Soon, Elke Hattingen, Patrick Jung, Oliver Singer, Steffen Volz, Johannes C. Klein, Helmuth Steinmetz, and Ulf Ziemann
Journal of Neuroscience, November 7, 2007, 27(45):12132-12138

The random electrode selection ensemble for EEG signal classification
Shiliang Suna, Changshui Zhangb and Yue Lua
Pattern Recognition, Volume 41, Issue 3 (March 2008)

Superior temporal and premotor brain areas necessary for biological motion perception.
Saygin AP.
Brain. 2007 Sep;130(Pt 9):2452-61. Epub 2007 Jul 26.

Poetry in motion.
Churchland P.
Nature. 2007 Nov 1;450(7166):29-30.

Posterior parietal cortex encodes autonomously selected motor plans.
Cui H, Andersen RA.
Neuron. 2007 Nov 8;56(3):552-9.

To touch or not to touch: posterior parietal cortex and voluntary behavior.
Lee D.
Neuron. 2007 Nov 8;56(3):419-21.

Brain-computer interfaces in the continuum of consciousness.
Kübler A, Kotchoubey B.
Curr Opin Neurol. 2007 Dec;20(6):643-9.

Biomimetic brain machine interfaces for the control of movement.
Fagg AH, Hatsopoulos NG, de Lafuente V, Moxon KA, Nemati S, Rebesco JM, Romo R, Solla SA, Reimer J, Tkach D, Pohlmeyer EA, Miller LE.
J Neurosci. 2007 Oct 31;27(44):11842-6.

Premotor inhibitory neurons carry signals related to saccade adaptation in the monkey.
Kojima Y, Iwamoto Y, Robinson FR, Noto CT, Yoshida K.
J Neurophysiol. 2007 Oct 31; [Epub ahead of print]

Influences of sensory input from the limbs on feline corticospinal neurons during postural responses.
Karayannidou A, Deliagina TG, Tamarova ZA, Sirota MG, Zelenin PV, Orlovsky GN, Beloozerova IN.
J Physiol. 2007 Nov 1; [Epub ahead of print]

Towards unravelling task-related modulations of neuroplastic changes induced in the human motor cortex.
Antal A, Terney D, Poreisz C, Paulus W.
Eur J Neurosci. 2007 Nov 1;26(9):2687-2691. Epub 2007 Oct 26.

Cells in somatosensory areas show synchrony with beta oscillations in monkey motor cortex.
Witham CL, Wang M, Baker SN.
Eur J Neurosci. 2007 Nov;26(9):2677-86. Epub 2007 Oct 23.

Comparing natural and constrained movements: new insights into the visuomotor control of grasping.
Begliomini C, Caria A, Grodd W, Castiello U.
PLoS ONE. 2007 Oct 31;2(10):e1108.

Different Effects of Voluntary and Involuntary Attention on EEG Activity in the Gamma Band
Ayelet N. Landau, Michael Esterman, Lynn C. Robertson, Shlomo Bentin, and William Prinzmetal
Journal of Neuroscience, October 31, 2007, 27(44):11986-11990

Differential Modulation of Motor Cortical Plasticity and Excitability in Early and Late Phases of Human Motor Learning
Karin Rosenkranz, Aleksandra Kacar, and John C. Rothwell
Journal of Neuroscience, October 31, 2007, 27(44):12058-12066

Spinal Cord Injury: Time to Move?
Serge Rossignol, Martin Schwab, Michal Schwartz, and Michael G. Fehlings
Journal of Neuroscience, October 31, 2007, 27(44):11782-11792

Cerebellar motor learning: when is cortical plasticity not enough?
Porrill J, Dean P.
PLoS Comput Biol. 2007 Oct 26;3(10):1935-50.

Temporal Coding of Time-Varying Stimuli
Maoz Shamir, Kamal Sen, H. Steven Colburn
Neural Computation 2007 19:12, 3239-3261

Development of continuous and discrete neural maps.
Luo L, Flanagan JG.
Neuron. 2007 Oct 25;56(2):284-300.

Assembly of motor circuits in the spinal cord: driven to function by genetic and experience-dependent mechanisms.
Ladle DR, Pecho-Vrieseling E, Arber S.
Neuron. 2007 Oct 25;56(2):270-83.

Classifying EEG for Brain Computer Interfaces Using Gaussian Processes
Mingjun Zhong, Fabien Lotte, Mark Girolami and Anatole Lécuyer
Pattern Recognition Letters, In Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available online 24 October 2007

Dorsal Premotor Cortex Exerts State-Dependent Causal Influences on Activity in Contralateral Primary Motor and Dorsal Premotor Cortex.
Bestmann S, Swayne O, Blankenburg F, Ruff CC, Haggard P, Weiskopf N, Josephs O, Driver J, Rothwell JC, Ward NS.
Cereb Cortex. 2007 Oct 26; [Epub ahead of print]

Neural substrates of intermanual transfer of a newly acquired motor skill.
Perez MA, Tanaka S, Wise SP, Sadato N, Tanabe HC, Willingham DT, Cohen LG.
Curr Biol. 2007 Nov 6;17(21):1896-902. Epub 2007 Oct 25.

Serial organization of human behavior in the inferior parietal cortex.
Jubault T, Ody C, Koechlin E.
J Neurosci. 2007 Oct 10;27(41):11028-36.

Preparatory suppression of the human primary motor cortex induced by repetition of simple and choice reaction time tasks: A transcranical magnetic stimulation study.
Kinoshita H, Yahagi S, Kasai T.
Brain Res. 2007 Oct 1; [Epub ahead of print]

Hold Your Horses: Impulsivity, Deep Brain Stimulation, and Medication in Parkinsonism.
Frank MJ, Samanta J, Moustafa AA, Sherman SJ.
Science. 2007 Oct 25; [Epub ahead of print]

And general interest papers:

Social decision-making: insights from game theory and neuroscience.
Sanfey AG.
Science. 2007 Oct 26;318(5850):598-602.

Decision theory: what "should" the nervous system do?
Körding K.
Science. 2007 Oct 26;318(5850):606-10.

Novelty and collective attention.
Wu F, Huberman BA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Nov 6;104(45):17599-601. Epub 2007 Oct 25.

Mapping Behavioral Repertoire onto the Cortex.
Graziano MS, Aflalo TN.
Neuron. 2007 Oct 25;56(2):239-51.

The magnificent compromise: cortical field evolution in mammals.
Krubitzer L.
Neuron. 2007 Oct 25;56(2):201-8.

Intracortical circuits modulate transcallosal inhibition in humans.
Avanzino L, Teo JT, Rothwell JC.
J Physiol. 2007 Aug 15;583(Pt 1):99-114. Epub 2007 Jun 7.

Cognitive Signals in the Primate Motor Thalamus Predict Saccade Timing
Masaki Tanaka
Journal of Neuroscience, October 31, 2007, 27(44):12109-12118

Stress-induced alterations in hippocampal plasticity, place cells, and spatial memory.
Kim JJ, Lee HJ, Welday AC, Song E, Cho J, Sharp PE, Jung MW, Blair HT.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Nov 5; [Epub ahead of print]

Socialization between toddlers and robots at an early childhood education center.
Tanaka F, Cicourel A, Movellan JR.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Nov 5; [Epub ahead of print]

The neural correlates of subjective value during intertemporal choice.
Kable JW, Glimcher PW.
Nat Neurosci. 2007 Nov 4; [Epub ahead of print]

Dissecting a circuit for olfactory behaviour in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Chalasani SH, Chronis N, Tsunozaki M, Gray JM, Ramot D, Goodman MB, Bargmann CI.
Nature. 2007 Nov 1;450(7166):63-70.

Transgenic strategies for combinatorial expression of fluorescent proteins in the nervous system.
Livet J, Weissman TA, Kang H, Draft RW, Lu J, Bennis RA, Sanes JR, Lichtman JW.
Nature. 2007 Nov 1;450(7166):56-62.

What can we learn from synaptic weight distributions?
Barbour B, Brunel N, Hakim V, Nadal JP.
Trends Neurosci. 2007 Nov 4; [Epub ahead of print]

Sight and sound

Alright, Super Paper Friday will be tomorrow. I don't have the attention span to compile the whole list right now (about 1/3 done). Instead, here are a few stories...

An interesting idea here. Glasses that have embedded microphones and with attached hearing aids which amplify sounds that the wearer is looking toward and reduce background noise. Not BCI, but neat-o concept. (@ Medgadget)

Again, not BCI, but interface-y, the new JSF (Joint Strike Fighter) helmet prototype "augments skills and the senses". That's all anyone is saying right now. That and that it makes everyone pee themselves in fear. (@ Gizmodo)

And lastly, what robot programmers do when they get bored...

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

No time for love, Dr. Jones!


I thought I would be all good and update during SfN regularly. Nope. Not happening. Check back this Friday. Something about the acute liver cirrhosis and information overload...

I survived my poster presentation and only had a few minor hiccups, so I was happy. I was actually kinda hoping to get grilled a little more, which is disappointing. A few great questions were asked and some good ideas about future directions were discussed. It was nice to meet a few of you folks reading, including kids from the Nicolelis and Schwartz labs, CalTech, and a few others that I don't remember the institutions of.

It is kinda strange presenting, at least for me. I switch from slightly awkward research mode into showmanship mode, and during that time, everything is a blur. At one point Leigh Hochberg was watching me present, and having seen Leigh on at least a weekly basis while in 'research mode', it completely disrupted my flow. I got caught switching states back and forth, and it was oddly paralyzing. (Not his fault, obviously. It was just a very strange feeling.)

It was great to see so may people from Brown stop by just to say, "hi!" And it was also nice to see all of you NIH folks as well (though I missed Ilya's presentation because I had my poster at the same time).

Anyhow, enough rambling. Tonight: Dinner, Grad student/Post-Doc Social, Recovery/Notetaking/Brainstorming.

Oh, and the line for the MIT party was just frickin ridiculous. That venue was just too damn small (but nice inside).

Friday, November 2, 2007

I made it!

Look out San Diego! The air here is horrible, btw. You could see all the scorched ground on arrival.