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NIH grant awarded to Ferris for groundbreaking study of the brain during locomotor adaptation

Daniel Ferris | Via University of Florida | March 21, 2018

Humans possess the ability to walk in a variety of situations – from navigating through crowds to traversing tightropes. However, due to limitations in brain imaging technology, the inner workings of the brain during adaptation of walking patterns have largely remained a mystery.

“You walk in different ways all the time. You deal with terrain, you deal with speed, you deal with dodging other people…but we don’t know how your brain manages it,” said Dr. Daniel Ferris, Robert W. Adenbaum Professor & senior associate chair of the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida.

The National Institutes of Health has recently awarded Ferris $2 million to investigate how the human brain controls locomotor adaptation under varying conditions. Information gained from this study could aid in developing new methods of diagnosis and treatment for gait disabilities… Continue reading.

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