 Liam Paninski |
Liam Paninski, assistant professor of statistics at Columbia University, has been selected as one of the year’s 35 outstanding innovators under age 35, by MIT's Technology Review.
For the past eight years, TR’s editors have been selecting the year’s 35 outstanding innovators under age 35, whose “work is changing our world.” Previous TR35 winners include SixApart co-founder Mena Trott, Geekcorps creator Ethan Zuckerman, Digital Divide Network director Andy Carvin, BitTorrent developer Bram Cohen and Friendster founder Jonathan Abrams.
The 28-year-old Paninski was cited for his use of statistics to decipher electrical signals from the brain—work that is helping to make “mind reading” close to becoming reality.
Until recently, neuroscientists were struggling with a fundamental question: given some input stimulus, what is the probability of a neural response? With so many possible stimuli and responses, “there has generally been no efficient way to make sense of a flood of neuroscientific data gained from in vivo and in vitro studies," Paninski explained.
Nowadays, however, statistics are coming to the rescue. "The applicability of statistics to neuroscience is exploding in a way similar to the applicability of stats to Google," Paninski explained, adding that the use of algorithms to estimate the way neurons code things could eventually explain the difference between normal and abnormal brain processing.
As an undergraduate at Brown University, Paninski developed an algorithm that decodes arm-movement commands from the brain. Equipped with this neural code, Brown neuroscientist John Donoghue developed an implant that lets paralyzed people use their minds to control a robotic arm, manipulate a cursor, or play video games.
Since coming to Columbia, Paninski has been using statistical methods to decode vision and work on epilepsy. He looks forward to the day when the blind can have their sight restored though an implant of a “video card” that translates digital images into neural patterns. Likewise, he is aiming to create a complete map of normal brain activity so that researchers can detect deviations such as epileptic events. He envisions a warning device that will recognize abnormal events early, so that epileptic patients can take drugs to stave off a seizure—or at least get to a safe place before it begins.
Paninski picks up his “top innovator” award on Sept. 27, at the magazine's annual Emerging Technology Conference on the MIT campus. |
