EEG suite for cognitive neuroscience of attention

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Attention modulates processing of incoming sensory information and regulates selection of appropriate goals and responses. In my lab, we study how attention influences complex everyday behaviors. For example, we are interested in discovering why humans automatically look in the direction of where others are looking or how humans pay attention to symbolic visual information (e.g., finger point). A number of recent behavioral studies suggest that attention may be uniquely engaged by these highly meaningful stimuli. This body of data makes a strong prediction that human brain may also be specialized to respond to behaviorally relevant stimuli. The acquisition of a multi-equipment EEG suite, comprised of a high density EEG system (requested in the separate RTI proposal), remote eye tracker, and a double electrically isolated (DEI) enclosure, would provide us with an opportunity to investigate these questions. EEG reveals how attention influences sensory processing as well as the temporal properties of brain activity. Analytical source modeling techniques are used to find general spatial locations of the activated brain structures. When combined with EEG, eye tracking provides a way to control participant's performance. When used independently, it provides a powerful behavioral measure of attention. Housing these two pieces of equipment within a DEI will greatly enhance our research productivity, as the enclosure will assure the reliability and accuracy of EEG acquisition as well as unambiguous data interpretation. This equipment is necessary for the successful completion of the proposed program of research. Due to its unique configuration tailored for the investigations of behavioral and neural properties of human attention, it will enable better understanding of the role of attention in complex behaviors and the facilitate creation of exceptional HQP training opportunities. The field of cognitive science is progressively relying on the application of interdisciplinary methodologies, including behavioral and neuroimaging methods. The combination of these methods has a great potential to address the question of how brain activity enables human behavior.