Dr. Karmali’s research seeks to understand how the brain determines spatial orientation when using senses such as the vestibular system and vision. Most recently, he has been interested in how neural noise results in errors in motion perception, posture, the vestibulo-ocular reflex (eye movements that respond to head movement), and piloting tasks. These errors can be critical to survival, yet our understanding of their origins and our ability to test them clinically are still evolving.

Dr. Karmali has made a number of important findings by working at the intersection of experimental and computational neuroscience, applying techniques such as perceptual thresholds, trial-to-trial variability in motor responses, and Kalman filters.

Dr. Karmali and his collaborators recently elucidated how subclinical inter-subject differences in vestibular function contribute to individual differences in postural control and a piloting task. They have also shown that changes in the vestibular-ocular reflex with age follow a dynamic Bayesian framework, meaning that the brain makes optimal use of degraded sensory information. They have also discovered that a common motion-sickness medication adversely impacts vestibular perception. They found that errors in eye movements and perception are similar across a range of stimulus amplitudes. Finally, they have published the most extensive comparison of vestibular and visual perceptual precision.

Dr. Karmali has led studies funded by the NIH/NIDCD (PI) and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (site PI). He has been invited to speak nationally and internationally and authored many peer-reviewed publications. His recent collaborations include MIT, NASA, University of Colorado Boulder, The Ohio State University, Texas A&M, and University of Houston.

Education
BA, Systems Design Engineering, University of Waterloo
PhD, Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University

Postgraduate Training
Research Fellowship, Sensory Perception, Mass. Eye and Ear

Advisory Boards
Biomedical Engineering Industrial Professional Advisory Committee, Wentworth Institute of Technology

Honors
Research award (R03) from the NIH/NIDCD entitled, "Measuring and isolating imprecision in vestibular perception and action"
Research award from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute to study “Countermeasures to reduce sensorimotor impairment and space motion sickness resulting from altered gravity levels” in collaboration with MIT (site PI)

• Harvard Catalyst
• Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory