KEY ONGOING RESEARCH PROJECTS
1. The Embodied Cockpit — Mirror Neurons, Motor Simulation & Aviation Expertise
What actually happens in the brain of an experienced pilot that doesn't happen in a novice? And can understanding that neural signature help us design better training?
This research thread investigates the embodied neural mechanisms underlying flight expertise — asking how the brain's sensorimotor systems, including the mirror neuron network, support the skilled perception and action that define expert piloting. Drawing on EEG-based neurophysiology in simulated flight environments, the work explores how pilots with deep experience appear to "embody" the aircraft — not merely controlling it cognitively, but integrating it into their sensorimotor world in ways that are measurably different from less experienced operators.
The implications reach into some practically important questions: How should simulation be designed to accelerate the development of genuine embodied expertise, rather than surface procedural fluency? What does the neural profile of a skilled operator look like, and can it inform selection and training frameworks? How do we preserve that expertise as automation increasingly mediates the human-machine relationship?
This is foundational science with direct applied relevance, and it invites collaboration with flight training organizations, aviation universities, simulation engineers, and anyone working on the future of human skill in increasingly automated cockpits.
→ See also: Human Performance Optimization, Human Factors & Aerospace Medicine