Our Team

  • Jonathan A. Michaels

    Jonathan A. Michaels, PhD (Principal Investigator)

    I’m a neuroscientist and Assistant Professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Sciences at York University. My goal is to understand how the brain controls movement, from simple everyday behaviours like opening a door, to complex feats like playing piano. I am working to accomplish this goal through a combination of research in human behaviour, primate electrophysiology, computational modelling, and by building skilled artificial systems that interface with brains and environments.

    I did my PhD at the University of Göttingen with Hans Scherberger, a postdoc at Stanford University with Krishna Shenoy, and a postdoc at Western University with Andrew Pruszynski.

    Email

  • Sujaya Neupane, PhD (Connected Minds Postdoctoral Fellow)

    I am a postdoc working on new methods for tracking populations of neurons over long timescales (weeks to months). I am specifically curious about the idea of an internal ‘cognitive map’, which is thought to be the basis of flexible behavior. I am using primate neurophysiology and computational modeling to study if and how such a map implemented in the brain.

    I obtained a PhD from McGill University at the Montreal Neurological Institute with Chris Pack, where I studied the activity of visual neurons during eye-movement in primates, and a postdoc with Mehrdad Jazayeri at MIT where I studied cognitive maps in the hippocampus.

    Personal Website

  • Dan Mulla (NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow / Connected Minds Postdoctoral Fellow)

    I am a postdoc investigating the neural basis for motor learning and control. Specifically, I am interested in identifying algorithms that best represent the neural computations underlying how individuals learn to perform tasks and to use these algorithms to accelerate motor learning, whether it be adapting existing behaviours to break out of a bad habit or acquiring new skills.

    I obtained my PhD at McMaster University with Peter Keir, where I used computational biomechanical models to quantify solution spaces of muscle activations and compared with experimental recordings of muscle activity to identify how individuals confront the degrees of freedom problem.

  • Amir-Ali Motaghedy (Master's Student)

    I am a Master’s student in EECS who will work on neural data analysis and computational modelling techniques for understanding motor control.

    I recently completed a BSc in Computer Science at Amirkabir University of Technology in Iran.

Alumni

Mahdiyar Shahbazi, Research Assistant, 2024. (Currently – Harvard Neuroscience PhD Program)

Collaborators

  • Dr. Andrew Pruszynski

    Associate Professor
    Western University

  • Dr. Liya Ma

    Assistant Professor
    York University

  • Dr. Jörn Diedrichsen

    Professor
    Western University

  • Dr. Paul Gribble

    Professor
    Western University

  • Dr. Marieke Mur

    Assistant Professor
    Western University

  • Dr. Jonathan Lau

    Assistant Professor
    Western University

  • Dr. Paul Cisek

    Professor
    Université de Montréal

 

In February, 2025, the lab will relocate to the new Neuroscience Extension of the Sherman Health Science Research Centre