Prior to coming to APU, Wood conducted research in clinical (Legacy Health Systems, Portland, Oregon), military (Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory, Pensacola, Florida) and space (NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas) laboratories. His area of expertise is in the field of neuroscience, with emphasis on sensory systems physiology and sensorimotor control.
Wood’s research focuses on how the central nervous system resolves ambiguous sensory cues regarding orientation and motion in order to maintain accurate spatial awareness. Sensorimotor function depends on a learned ability to interpret multiple sensory signals. This wonderfully redundant network means that one system can compensate for limitations in another. This redundancy also sets up the possibility for sensory conflict when input from one system becomes different, either through aging, pathology or environmental change.
His principal research goal is to understand the mechanisms of multisensory integration and neural plasticity and apply this knowledge to improve rehabilitation strategies and optimize human performance.
Education
Ph.D., Baylor College of Medicine
B.S., Texas A&M University
Department
- College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Expertise
- Balance Disorders
- Learning and Memory
- Sensorimotor
- Space Physiology
- Spatial Orientation
Courses Taught
PSYC 362 – Research Methods in Psychology
PSYC 470 – Introduction to Neuroscience: Brain and Behavior
PSYC 475 – Research Methods Practicum I
Office Hours
MWF 1-2 p.m., or by appointment
Office Location
Carl E. Wynn Academic Center, Room 100-C, East Campus
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