Publications by authors named "Tafadzwa Sibindi"

We present a working model of the compensatory eye movement system in mice. We challenge the model with a data set of eye movements in mice ( =34) recorded in 4 different sinusoidal stimulus conditions with 36 different combinations of frequency (0.1-3.

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This paper presents a novel sparse ensemble based machine learning approach to enhance robustness of intracortical Brain Machine Interfaces (iBMIs) in the face of non-stationary distribution of input neural data across time. Each classifier in the ensemble is trained on a randomly sampled (with replacement) set of input channels. These sparse connections ensure that with a high chance, few of the base classifiers should be less affected by the variations in some of the recording channels.

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Fully-implantable wireless intracortical Brain Machine Interfaces (iBMI) is one of the most promising next frontiers in the nascent field of neurotechnology. However, scaling the number of channels in such systems by another 10× is difficult due to power and bandwidth requirements of the wireless transmitter. One promising solution for that is to include more processing, up to the decoder, in the implant so that transmission data-rate is reduced drastically.

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Anodal direct current stimulation (DCS) of the cerebellum facilitates adaptation tasks, but the mechanism underlying this effect is poorly understood. We have evaluated whether the effects of DCS effects depend on plasticity of cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs). Here, we have successfully developed a mouse model of cerebellar DCS, allowing us to present the first demonstration of cerebellar DCS driven behavioral changes in rodents.

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Objective: To investigate whether mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) inhibitors could reduce seizure frequency in children with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC).

Methods: Due to slow inclusion rate, target inclusion of 30 children was not reached. Twenty-three children with TSC and intractable epilepsy (age 1.

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Purpose: Compensatory eye movements (CEM) maintain a stable image on the retina by minimizing retinal slip. The optokinetic reflex (OKR) and vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) compensate for low and high velocity stimuli, respectively. The OKR system is known to be highly nonlinear.

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When arm and trunk segments are involved in reaching for objects within arm's reach, vestibulospinal pathways compensate for trunk motion influence on arm movement. This compensatory arm-trunk synergy is characterised by a gain coefficient of 0 to 1. Vestibular patients have less efficient arm-trunk synergies and lower gains.

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