Event Description
Abstract
Patricia A. Shewokis, PhD, joint faculty professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems and the College of Nursing and Health Professions at Drexel University, will discuss her research for the project titled, "Improved Control and Sensory Feedback in Neuroprosthetics,” which is funded by an NSF Collaborative Research Grant. To work toward realizing the broader impacts and intellectual merit of the grant, several experiments were conducted that investigated the neural correlates of brain adaptation to various forms of feedback (i.e., visual, tactile and force) using non-invasive neural imaging in real and virtual environments. Dr. Shewokis will describe and discuss selected experiments using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIR). In addition, Dr. Shewokis will discuss how she and her team evaluated the impact of sensory feedback on motor learning and the neural correlates of adaptation, including some of the limitations of the experiments. In conclusion, she will recommend how to implement sensory feedback and fNIR in the development of training protocols for application in 21st learning environments (e.g., brain computer interfaces, virtual reality, gaming, simulation, and so forth). For more info, please visit www.biomed.drexel.edu.
Biosketch
Patricia A. Shewokis, PhD, is a professor with appointments in the Nutrition Sciences Department in the College of Nursing and Health Professions; the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems (BIOMED), and the Department of Surgery in the College of Medicine at Drexel University, where she is the Director of Simulation Research and Assessment. In BIOMED, she is a member of the Neural Engineering Major research initiative and the Cognitive Neuroengineering Quantitative Experimental Research (CONQUER) Collaborative. She received her PhD in the Psychology of Motor Behavior with cognates in Statistics and Biomechanics from the University of Georgia, Athens, GA. Her research interests include brain-behavior integration assessments of learning processes, skill acquisition, transfer, brain computer interfaces, simulation, and statistics. |
