T Minus 9

Crew Member

Dr. Gordon Binsted, PhD

Dean
Faculty of Health and Social Development
University of British Columbia Okanagan

Dr. Binsted received his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Alberta in 2001. Since then he’s held research appointments at the University of Illinois, the Beckman Institute, and the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Binsted is currently a Professor in the School of Health and Exercise Science at the University of British Columbia (2007-present); he has held the post of Dean in the Faculty of Health and Social Development since 2011.

​Dr. Binsted’s research interests focus on understanding of how the human brain detects and uses sensory information to control movement. Even the simple act of picking up a cup of coffee requires the brain to rapidly perform a complex series of sensory to motor transformations. Specifically, the brain must use visual information to locate the cup, and visual and proprioceptive information (e.g. touch, joint receptors) to locate the hand in space. However, the volume of information necessary to be processed is immense and must be curtailed prior to processing. Further, it is clear that sometimes people are not in intentional control of their actions.