Electroencephalography System for Sensory and Cognitive Neuroscience

随着我们对大脑有了更多的了解，我们就会明白我们的神经系统是多么的复杂，但又是多么精致。即使是一些看似简单的任务，比如识别面孔、规划手部动作或将注意力集中在咖啡杯上，我们的大脑也会通过数万亿个连接参与数十亿个神经元的协同工作。在如此复杂的系统中，每个动作电位的时间可能是至关重要的，几毫秒的延迟会导致感知、认知和运动行为的戏剧性变化。幸运的是，现代神经科学可以使用脑电图术等技术来监听神经元，脑电图术使用一组密集的电极舒适地放置在个体的头部来测量大脑深处大群神经元的电荷。用于感觉和认知神经科学的脑电系统将使来自麦克马斯特心理、神经科学和行为系的四位加拿大领先研究人员能够探索神经信号驱动我们的感知、认知和行动的方式，并在感觉和认知神经科学方面取得新的发现。该系统将支持五个不同的NSERC研究项目，并为众多本科生、研究生、博士后研究员和高技能技术人员提供尖端的、按需培训的基地。通过整合研究小组的资源，联合运营的系统还将促进新的合作，以增强我们对基础科学的知识，并使这些研究人员及其学员能够更容易地与国际合作者和行业合作伙伴互动。

As we learn more about the brain, we understand how incredibly complex, yet exquisitely tuned, our neural systems are. Even for what seem to be simple tasks like recognizing a face, planning a hand movement, or focusing attention on a coffee cup, our brains engage billions of neurons working together across trillions of connections. In a system this complex, the timing of each action potential can be critical, with delays on the order of milliseconds leading to dramatic changes in perception, cognition, and motor behaviour. Fortunately, modern neuroscience can listen in on the neurons using techniques such as electroencephalography, which measures the electrical charges of large groups of neurons deep within the brain using a dense set of electrodes positioned comfortably on an individual's head. The Electroencephalography System for Sensory and Cognitive Neuroscience will enable four of Canada's leading researchers from McMaster's Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, to explore the ways in which neural signals drive our perception, cognition, and actions, and to make novel discoveries in sensory and cognitive neuroscience. The system will support five distinct NSERC research projects, and provide a cutting-edge, in-demand training ground for numerous undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and highly skilled technicians. By combining resources across research groups, the jointly-operated System also will foster new collaborations to enhance our knowledge of basic science, and will enable these researchers and their trainees to interact more easily with international collaborators and industry partners.