Taylor, Dawn, PhD

Many assistive devices are available to help severely paralyzed individuals interact with the world (e.g. wheelchair-mountable robotic arms, neuroprosthetic systems that restore movement to one’s own arm, assistive computer software, etc.).

Severely paralyzed individuals have limited options for telling their assistive devices what movement or actions to make. One of my research areas focuses on developing the technology to allow paralyzed individuals to use their natural thoughts of movement to control their assistive devices.

After paralysis, one’s intended movements can be decoded in real time from recorded brain signals and then used to control various devices, such as an upper limb neuroprosthesis for restoring arm and hand function. In this case, extracting movement commands from the brain would allow paralyzed individuals to move their limbs the same way everyone else does – just by thinking of doing so.

I am investigating ways to extract one’s intended arm and hand movements from brain recordings collected from tiny microelectrode arrays inserted a few millimeters into the cortex. While others and I have been able to decode intended arm position or velocity for decades now, we are looking into decoding additional useful aspects of limb function such as limb stiffness and muscle force to further improve the stability and usefulness of these brain-controlled neuroprosthetic systems.

Additionally, my lab is complementing this research on restoring motor function with additional studies on how to return proprioception—specifically the sense of muscle force—back to the brain. Here we are using stimulation in the sensory cortex to generate perceptions of limb movement and muscle activity.

Reliably recording the tiny electrical signals of the brain is a challenge because of noise artifacts from many sources. My lab is also working on optimizing noise removal algorithms which will make all brain-controlled devices work better.

My lab is also using EEGs on the scalp surface to assess brain function and improve treatments for other diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and stroke. To that end we are working to develop better non-invasive electrodes that are more reliable for people with a range of different hair types.

Research Programs

• Restoring arm function after paralysis using brain-controlled functional electrical stimulation
• Restoring proprioception after paralysis via intracortical microstimulation
• Improving intracortical recording technology through better signal processing methods
• Using EEGs to understand and refine novel treatments for Parkinson’s disease and stroke
• Developing more reliable EEG electrodes and recording systems