Official site of the Laboratory for Brain Recovery and Function

Congratulations to MSc student Jack Solomon who was awarded a Nova Scotia Graduate Scholarship (NSGS) to support his PhD studies, which he will begin this coming September. Jack’s PhD work will expand on his current studies, looking deeper into the network of brain regions involved in learning. The NSGS is open to research graduates at Nova Scotia universities for innovative work aligned with or advancing Nova Scotia research priorities. The objectives of this award are to attract and retain top-quality research graduates, as well as to encourage exploration, discovery, and innovation. The awards are funded by the Provincial government. Congrats Jack!

No, this picture has nothing to do with science or the award – but it does show how beautiful the province is! Peggy’s Cove at sunset.

Congratulations to Chris Friesen on his first, 1st author publication. The paper, published in Frontiers of Human Neuroscience, reports on Chris’s MSc work examining a new NFB system for modulating brain activity during combined action observation and motor imagery. The study used a novel design, including ‘gaming’ features, in an attempt to improve user engagement. Congrats to Chris!

Congratulations to PhD students Tony Ingram and Chris Friesen who won the recent Collider (http://bit.ly/2gtw6Bm) pitch competition for their company Axem. The Collider is a designated space for student teams, faculty members and community mentors to come together and collaborate on start-up projects, giving a boost to entrepreneurship and innovation at Dalhousie.

Tony and Chris launched Axem along with PhD student Mike Lawrence. Axem looks to commercialize an fNIRS based portable device to aid with motor imagery training in athletes. Congrats to Tony and Chris!

Congratulations again to recent MSc grads Hawazin Khan (MScRRPT), Kerry McInnes (MScRRPT) and Chris Friesen (MSc Neuroscience). A great shot below of Hawazin and Lab Director Shaun Boe post-convocation.

PhD student Sarah Kraeutner was recognized as the top Killam Predoctoral award winner at last nights Killam Awards Reception, receiving the Dr. George Cooper Killam Prize. Sarah is the inaugural recipient of this award, which is named after Dr. George Cooper, a longstanding member and head of the Killam Board of Trustees. Killam awards are the most prestigious scholarship awarded by the University, recognizing the very best in graduate and postgraduate education. Dalhousie is one of only four universities in Canada to award Killam Scholarships and Prizes. Funding from the Killam scholarship provides support for Sarah as she pursues her doctoral work, which focuses on better understanding how imagined movements can be used to aid in the acquisition of motor skills and how they might be used in rehabilitation to help with recovery of movement after brain injury, such as stroke. Congratulations Sarah on a well-deserved award!

Congratulations to lab member Sarah Kraeutner, whose MSc work was recently recognized by the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA). Established in 1999, the Programme of Certificates of Academic Excellence recognizes outstanding achievements made by students at all levels of study in each Canadian department of psychology.

Nominated by the Psychology & Neuroscience Department at Dalhousie, Sarah is this years award winner at the Master’s level. Congratulations Sarah!

And one more just for fun…congratulations to lab member Chris Friesen, who joins Kerry McInnes and Hawazin Khan as our most recent MSc graduates. Chris’s MSc work involved developing and testing a neurofeedback system involving ‘imagined imitation’, which includes both the imagination and observation of movement. Chris will be continuing this line of work as he pursues his PhD in the lab starting this September. Congrats Chris and the rest of our MSc graduates!

Congratulations to lab member Hawazin Khan who has successfully defended her MSc thesis. Hawazin’s work used non-invasive brain stimulation to examine the effect of aerobic exercise on brain excitability – overall Hawazin’s study shows that low levels of aerobic exercise can still drive brain excitability. Hawazin’s results have implications for the use of aerobic exercise to prime the brain before rehabilitation in patients with brain injury.  Congratulations again Hawazin on a great job!

Kerry McInnes is the newest MSc ‘product’ of the lab, having successfully defended her MSc thesis July 15. Kerry’s thesis work examined the incidence of cognitive impairment in in individuals experiencing a single mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Kerry’s primary finding is that a greater proportion of people with a single mTBI experience cognitive impairments than previously established in the literature. Congratulations Kerry on this fantastic work!