Neuroergonomics: Observing “Brain at Work” in Everyday Life
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
4:00 PM-5:30 PM
BIOMED Seminar
Title:
Neuroergonomics: Observing “Brain at Work” in Everyday Life
Speaker:
Hasan Ayaz, PhD
Associate Professor
School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems
Drexel University
Details:
The understanding of the brain functioning in the real world is the next frontier. Although science and engineering enabled our understanding of subatomic particles, the formation of solar systems, and the molecular building blocks of nerve cells, it has yet to explain how natural intelligence and complex cognitive skills emerge from the electrical and chemical activity of neurons. Existing studies with traditional neurotech have accumulated overwhelming knowledge, but are limited in scope, i.e., only in artificial lab settings and with simplified tasks. Hence, accurate measurement and precise modulation of the brain activity in a diverse array of “everyday tasks” is an urgent and needed capability to move neuroengineering and neuroscience to the next level: that is, to enable practical clinical and translational research that will form the basis of an entirely new industry of neurotechnologies.
As an interdisciplinary new field, neuroergonomics aims to fill this gap: Understanding the brain in the wild, its activity during unrestricted real-world tasks in everyday life contexts, and its relationship to action, behavior, body, and environment. With the advent of portable neuroimaging and neurostimulation, significant progress has been made in recording and altering brain activity without restricting body movements and without limiting research to laboratory environments or short periods.
This talk will discuss the recent progress in neuroergonomics, with emerging applications over a broad spectrum, including human-to-human and human-machine interaction. Recent and ongoing clinical studies with translational potential in mental health and neurological conditions will also be highlighted. As a rapidly growing field, neuroergonomics has the potential to advance our understanding of the brain with practical implications in diverse sectors, such as healthcare, education, transportation, manufacturing, entertainment, communication, and everyday life at large.
Biosketch:
Hasan Ayaz, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems at Drexel University, with affiliations in Drexel's Department of Psychology, as well as adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania and associate fellow at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP); core member of the Cognitive Neuroengineering and Quantitative Experimental Research Collaborative (CoNQuER) and a Provost Solutions Fellow at the Drexel Solutions Institute. His research focuses on understanding human brain using mobile neuroimaging and body sensing in realistic and real-world environments with complex cognitive tasks, across the lifespan and from healthy (typical to specialized groups) to diverse clinical conditions (mental health to neurological). Dr. Ayaz's lab is in the Cognitive Neuroengineering and Quantitative Experimental Research (CoNQuER) Collaborative (drexel.edu/conquer), a brain observatory that is equipped with state-of-the-art brain and body sensors, and has expertise in fNIRS, EEG, as well as physiological sensors.
Dr. Ayaz has over 200 publications (70 journal papers) with an h-index of 38. He is a leading advocate of Neuroergonomics, has co-chaired the inaugural and the 2nd International Neuroergonomics Conferences (Paris, 2016; Philadelphia, 2018), has chaired/co-chaired multiple tracks at the Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics Conferences (2018-2021), co-edited 5 journal special issues, as well as a comprehensive book on Neuroergonomics with Dr. Frederic Dehais, published by Elsevier. He is also the co-founding Field Chief Editor of the new journal: Frontiers in Neuroergonomics, with an editorial board of over 340 editors and leading scientists from around the world.
Contact Information
Lisa Williams
ltw22@drexel.edu