Erin Cressman

Erin Cressman is a full professor at the School of Human Kinetics of the University of Ottawa. She holds a PhD in sensorimotor neuroscience/motor control from the University of British Columbia and completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the renowned Centre for Vision Research at York University.

Professor Cressman uses robotic technology in virtual environments to determine how the brain processes sensory information for goal-directed actions in novel environments. Her research interests focus on how healthy individuals and individuals with neurological disorders modify the way in which sensory and motor information are processed in response to changes in task demands. Establishing the influence of awareness on sensory and motor adaptation has important implications for understanding human interactions with virtual-reality devices, teleoperations and robotics, as well as the design of, and instructions provided during, motor training and rehabilitation programs. 

Professor Cressman is accepting new students for thesis supervision. 

• Sensorimotor neuroscience
• Motor learning and adaptation
• Virtual reality
• Robotic technology
• Neurological impairment
• Perception versus action 

Over the past few minutes, you may have picked up a cup of coffee, used a computer mouse to scroll through a document, or typed a few words. These actions are typically thought of as “simple” and performed without too much thought. However, to carry out these “simple” actions, the brain must perform a complex series of sensory-to-motor transformations.

Professor Cressman’s research has significantly enhanced our understanding of the sensorimotor transformations that underlie goal-directed motor output. By manipulating environments within virtual-reality settings, Professor Cressman has shown that both conscious strategies and unconscious processes play a critical role in how the brain adapts to new task demands or internal changes within the body (e.g., fatigue).  Professor Cressman examines these sensorimotor transformations in healthy individuals and in individuals with neurological disorders (e.g., Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis) to better understand how sensorimotor transformations are disrupted with disease and to develop new interventions. 

See Erin Cressman’s publications.