Daniel Ferris Pensacola Evening lecture

THE TALK: Measuring Brain Activity in Real World Tasks and Environments

To better understand how the brain functions in the real world, it is necessary to measure brain activity in real world tasks and environments. The vast majority of studies on human brain activity are done with subjects stationary in a sitting or lying posture. Recent technology advances now allow us to measure brain activity while humans walk, run, or even play sports. The new technology is providing new insight into how the brain works when humans interact with other humans, robots, and virtual reality technology. This lecture will discuss ways we can measure brain activity in real world tasks and environments, and how it changes our perceptions of what the human brain does during activities of daily living.

Daniel Ferris is the Robert W. Adenbaum Professor of Engineering Innovation at the University of Florida. His research focuses on human-machine interactions, including both mechanical and electrical dynamics. Current projects in his laboratory include technology development, basic science, and clinical science using mobile brain imaging, immersive virtual reality, robotic lower limb exoskeletons, and bionic lower limb prostheses. Prof. Ferris completed his Ph.D. at UC Berkeley, M.S. at the University of Miami, and B.S. at the University of Central Florida. After completing postdoctoral fellowships at the UCLA Department of Neurology and the University of Washington Department of Electrical Engineering, he joined the faculty at the University of Michigan for 16 years. In 2017, Dr. Ferris moved to the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), American Society of Biomechanics (ASB), American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and National Academy of Kinesiology (NAK).