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Santaniello, Sabato

santaniello1
Sabato Santaniello, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Research Interests:
Deep Brain Stimulation; Movement Disorders; Epilepsy; Seizure Onset Detection; Brain Computer Interface; Neural Prosthetics; Computational Neuroscience.
Address:
Bronwell 308
260 Glenbrook Road
Storrs CT 06269
Office Phone: (860) 486-4701
Office Fax: (860) 486-2500
Education:
Laurea University of Napoli “Federico II” (Italy)
Ph.D. University of Sannio (Italy)
Postdoc Johns Hopkins University

Research Summary:

One research thrust focuses on the development of modeling tools and analyses to understand the effects of neural disorders on the brain’s electrophysiology, from single units to neural populations. A second thrust focuses on designing control algorithms for adaptive, robust, and optimal neural prostheses, with application to Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, deep brain stimulation, and brain-computer interface. One ongoing project aims at developing algorithms for automatic localization of the epileptogenic onset zone and seizure onset detection in drug-resistant epilepsy patients. The project investigates the dynamics of the brain network as a seizure approaches by combining multivariate statistics, Bayesian estimation, and optimal control. The goal is to use intracranial EEG recordings to (i) reconstruct and track the topology of the brain network over time, and (ii) identify topological signatures that are specific of the seizure state and uniquely localize the epileptogenic onset zone. The rule that detects these signatures from sequential intracranial EEG measurements is adaptive and optimizes the trade-off between specificity and sensitivity by minimizing a cost function of both the detection delay and the probability of false positives. Another ongoing project aims at understanding the role of stimulation-elicited resonant effects in the motor striatum in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease via high frequency deep brain stimulation.

Selected Publications:

Google Scholar Citations Link

  1. Santaniello S, McCarthy MM, Montgomery EB Jr., Gale JT, Kopell N, Sarma SV (2015) Therapeutic Mechanisms of High Frequency Stimulation in Parkinson’s Disease and Neural Restoration via Loop-based Reinforcement,Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 112(6):E586-95. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1406549111
  2. Kang X, Sarma SV, Santaniello S, Schieber M, Thakor NV (2015) Task-Independent Cognitive State Transition Detection from Cortical Neurons during 3D Reach-to-Grasp Movements, IEEE Trans. Neural Syst. Rehabil. Eng., in press. DOI: 10.1109/TNSRE.2015.2396495
  3. Yaffe RB, Borger P, Megevand P, Groppe DM, Kramer MA, Chu CJ, Santaniello S, Meisel C, Mehta AD, Sarma SV (2015) Physiology of Functional and Effective Networks in Epilepsy, Clin. Neurophysiol., vol. 126(2):227-36. DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2014.09.009
  4. Burns SP, Santaniello S, Yaffe RB, Jouny CC, Crone NE, Bergey GK, Anderson WS, Sarma SV (2014) Network Dynamics of the Epileptic Brain and the Influence of Seizure Focus, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 111(49):E5321-30.DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1401752111
  5. Santaniello S, Sherman DL, Thakor NV, Eskandar EN, Sarma SV (2012) Optimal Control-based Bayesian Detection of Clinical and Behavioral State Transitions, IEEE Trans. Neural Syst. Rehabil. Eng., vol. 20(5):708-19. DOI: 10.1109/TNSRE.2012.2210246