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August 2012 - SMoRG postdoctoral researcher Remy Wahnoun's research was featured in a recent video about the Barrow Neurological Institute at Phoenix Children's Hospital. Remy uses electrocorticography (ECoG) to identify regions of the brain that induce seizures in epileptic patients and map out areas that are critical for speech, movement, and sensation. The video can be viewed here.
December 2011 - The Arizona Republic interviewed Remy Wahnoun and David Adelson about their research regarding electrocorticography (ECoG) implants in epileptic patients at the Phoenix Children's Hospital. The purpose of the research, a $500,000 grant-funded project from the Arizona Biomedical Research Commission, is to record sensory information necessary to develop proprioceptive feedback in neuroprosthetics. The full article can be read here or viewed on the Arizona Republic's website.
November 2011 - Students had an opportunity this November to present their research at the Society for Neuroscience 2011 in Washington D.C.
Cynthia Overstreet presented her poster: "Discrimination of Electrical Stimulation in the Primate Somatosensory Cortex" in which she described NHPs reporting the location of sensation elicited by micro-stimulation of the somatosensory cortex.
This was Michelle Armenta Salas' first Neuroscience convention; she reported her research regarding a NHP's correctional movement provided with VR feedback in: "Kinematics of a Monkey Reach-to-Grasp in a Robot-Enhanced Virtual Environment."
October 2011 - Two SMoRG members Rachele Valente and Jennapher Lingo, will be attending the 62nd American Association for Laboratory Animal Science National Meeting. They will present a poster that outlines an innovative design method that allows personalization of recording chambers. The ability to cater a chamber to the skull's contour decreases surgical implantation time, minimizes hygiene issues, and increases accuracy in locating and recording interest areas in the brain. This method has drastically increased results and data acquisition within the lab.
SMoRG Graduates Pursue Higher Education
August 2011 - Stephanie Naufel Naufel will be attending Northwestern University to continue sensory-motor research and obtain her Doctorate in Biomedical Engineering. Although she is widely traveled, this will be Stephanie's second opportunity to reside outside of Arizona, and she is very excited for the opportunity to conduct research with Dr. Lee Miller and his lab. 
Ben Teplitzky will be earning his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. In his first year, Ben will be doing rotations with Dr. Tay Netoff, Dr. Hugh Lim, and Dr. Matt Johnson. Ultimately, Ben will continue to study the brain sensory and motor systems with an emphasis on movement disorders and sensory impairments.
Amber Dunning plans to obtain her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Southern California. She has worked in the SMoRG lab for several years, and is looking forward to developing new research experiences.
Brian Dekleva will also be working towards his Ph.D. at Northwestern University with Dr. Lee Miller.
SMoRG will miss these students and we wish them all great horizon-broadening experiences!
Summer 2011 - Long-time SMoRG researcher, Liliana Rincon, is currently attending the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) world congress in Florence, Italy where she is presenting a poster on her research: "The Proprioceptive Map of the Arm is Systematically and Individually Constructed". Liliana is able to attend the conference due to a Society for Neuroscience travel award and also to NSF's MGE program at ASU. While in Europe, she is also presenting her research at four labs that are potential Post-Doctoral research opportunities.
David Adelson
SBHSE Adjunct Professor
2010 - SMoRG's director, Stephen Helms Tillery, along with David Adelson, Director of Children's Neuroscience Institute, Phoenix Children's Hospital, was awarded funds to develop a practical brain-computer interface based on micro-ECoG technology. Under this grant, a prior collaborator with the laboratory, Remy Wahnoun, will conduct ECoG studies at Phoenix Children's Hospital, on patients with epilepsy. "Our goals are to improve cortical mapping, and to gain insights on cortical learning and adaptation."
December 2010 - Researchers at Arizona State University and Phoenix Children's Hospital are working on a brain-computer interface that will allow people to control electronic devices directly with their brain. Stephen Helms Tillery of the ASU School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering will discuss the research on a special Technology and Innovation segment.
In the next phase of the research, a robot will present the subject with real objects to grasp. Researchers hope to then be able to monitor the signals that are associated with touching real objects versus the signals involved in touching virtual objects. "We can look at all the signals that are interrelated and then try to tease out the signals that are related to touching objects," Helms Tillery said. Ultimately, the researchers would like to incorporate these signals in building a state-of-the-art prosthetic hand.