We are delighted to congratulate Yigit Topoglu on the successful defense of his PhD thesis at Drexel University on March 6, 2026. His dissertation, titled “Multimodal Neurocognitive and Neurohormonal Assessment of Human Behavior During Naturalistic Human-Robot Interactions,” marks an important scholarly achievement and a significant contribution to the fields of neuroergonomics, human-robot interaction, and wearable neuroimaging.
Yigit’s dissertation examined how human social, cognitive, and physiological responses unfold during naturalistic interactions with humanoid robots. Using a rich multimodal framework that combined functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), oxytocin measurements, self-report surveys, and behavioral assessments, his work advanced our understanding of how people respond to robot expressiveness, performance, trust, rapport, and collaboration in both short-term and longitudinal interaction settings.
His findings provide valuable insights into the neural, hormonal, psychological, and behavioral mechanisms that shape human-robot interaction, while also offering a roadmap for the design of more socially aware and effective robotic systems. The work further highlights the broader promise of neuroergonomics in studying the brain and behavior in real-world, everyday contexts.
Yigit has been a wonderful member of the Ayaz Lab, and we are very proud of his accomplishments, dedication, and contributions to the lab’s research mission. We congratulate him on this major milestone and look forward to all that lies ahead in his career.
