Since the early 2000’s, Neuroergonomics, the intersection of Neuroscience, Cognitive Engineering, Artificial Intelligence and Human Factors, aims at investigating the cerebral mechanisms in complex real-life situation. This discipline is defined by his founder, Prof Raja Parasuraman, as the “scientific study of the brain mechanisms and psychological and physical functions of humans in relation to technology, work and environments”. Neuroergonomics constitutes a paradigm shift away from the reductionist approach to neuroscience and from the lack of objective measures from field studies as conducted by human factors practitioners. Indeed, this discipline postulates that in order to investigate complex real-world behavior it is necessary to understand the processes within the context of the underlying interacting brain networks rather than under reduced isolated conditions that only occur in the laboratory. To that end, Neuroergonomics research takes advantage of recent technological development in the field of mobile brain imaging to measure the brain out of the lab in a variety of situations such as walking, sport activity, flying, driving cars or operating robots. The objective of this presentation is to show that Neuroergonomics is relevant to better understand failure of attention, decision making, social and assessing human performance. We will discuss the challenges of implementing this approach in the real world as well as future directions such as the implementation neuroadaptive technology for more efficient and safer operations.

Bio: Frédéric Dehais received a PhD in Cognitive Science at Onera - Toulouse (France) in 2004 and obtained his HDR (Habilitation à Diriger les Recherches) in 2012. He is a full professor at ISAE-SUPAERO, University of Toulouse, since 2012 and holder of the 20-year AXA Research Fund-chair "Neuroergonomics", a rare credit attributed to less than 40 researchers in the world and holder of the ANITI Chair “Neuroadaptive technology” (ANITI, Toulouse). His research deals with the understanding of the neural correlates of human error in real life situation and the implementation of neuro-adapative technology to enhance human machine-symbiosis. He is leading the Neuroergonomics Center composed of 25 members with an interdisciplinary expertise in Neuroscience, Signal Processing, Computer Science, and Human Factors. His team has developed a unique methodology from basic research using fMRI in well controlled environments to experiments conducted out of the lab using cutting edge portable brain imaging techniques. He is the co-chair of the International Neuroergonomics conference and co-chief editor of Frontiers in Neuroergonomics. He also co-founded Hinfact, a spin-off dedicated to implement monitoring technology for safer operations.