Personnel

Dr. Clementz’ research has two general goals. The first is to understand how accurate sensory processing is maintained even within the context of changing environmental circumstances, as assessed using multiple brain imaging technologies. This involves discerning how neural activities in a “controlled” system (e.g., sensory cortices that initially register incoming information from the environment) are influenced by a “controlling” system (e.g., prefrontal cortex, the part of brain that interprets instructions and discerns differences in environmental situations) – a phenomena that is termed “top down control”. Understanding interactions between regulation of sensory input and the ability to use learned rules to guide behavior via input from higher level (e.g., prefrontal) cortices is crucial when studying clinical populations because deviations at any stage (sensory registration, ability to bias sensory input given situational demands, attentional selection, ability to appropriately manipulate sensory information to select context-appropriate responses) can cause abnormalities observed in behavior and brain functioning. The second goal is to understand neurobiological distinctions between different subgroups of brain diseases called the psychoses. Psychosis is defined clinically by the presence of hallucinations, delusions, and disorders of cognitive functions, and they have been demonstrated, at least for the majority of cases and in large measure, to have a substantial genetic diathesis. For Dr. Clementz, the first goal, which often involves the study of the healthy brain, informs the second goal of understanding deviations in brain functions associated with manifestation of psychosis in order to facilitate improved diagnosis and treatment of severe psychiatric disorders. The methodological core of Dr. Clementz’ research involves use of simple and complex behavioral paradigms combined with use of neuroimaging technologies including electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), and structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). He uses the most modern and sophisticated approaches to analyzing data collected with these technologies and is known for developing innovative analysis techniques.

Research in the Karumbaiah lab is focused on identifying shared mechanisms by which brain glycosaminoglycans influence brain tumor progression and traumatic brain injury pathophysiology. Findings from these studies have led to the development of novel glycomaterial implants for brain tissue repair, as well as cytostatic approaches to block invasion promoting glycosaminoglycan signaling in the brain tumor microenvironment. Ongoing work is focused on (1) the development of an integrative regenerative rehabilitation approach to accelerate functional recovery following severe traumatic brain injuries; and (2) the design and development of in vitro therapeutic potency testing platforms and therapeutic approaches to stem tumor invasion and enhance the effectiveness of standard-of-care therapeutics.

Dr. Barany received her Ph.D. in Dynamical Neuroscience at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and completed postdoctoral fellowships focusing on stroke neurorehabilitation at Emory University and sensorimotor neuroscience at UGA. She joined the faculty in the Department of Kinesiology at UGA in 2020, and is currently the director of the Brain and Action Laboratory and co-director of the Neurostimulation Laboratory. She also teaches in the pre-clinical curriculum at UGA’s School of Medicine. Dr. Barany’s research focuses on the neural control of goal-directed movement, using a combination of behavioral (movement kinematics, augmented reality, eye-tracking), neuroimaging (functional MRI, magnetic resonance spectroscopy) and neurostimulation (transcranial magnetic stimulation) methods. Ongoing research projects include (1) understanding neural representations for manual interception of moving objects and (2) corticospinal excitability during complex action preparation.  The long-term goal this work is to establish a mechanistic framework rooted in basic human motor neuroscience to investigate impairments in goal-directed movements prevalent in neurological disease or after brain injury.