Electroencephalography System for Sensory and Cognitive Neuroscience

随着我们对大脑的了解越来越多，我们了解到我们的神经系统是多么的复杂，然而又是多么的精致。即使是一些看起来很简单的任务，比如识别一张脸，计划一个手部动作，或者把注意力集中在一个咖啡杯上，我们的大脑也会让数十亿个神经元通过数万亿个连接一起工作。在一个如此复杂的系统中，每个动作电位的时间都是至关重要的，毫秒级的延迟会导致感知，认知和运动行为的巨大变化。幸运的是，现代神经科学可以使用脑电图等技术来监听神经元，该技术使用舒适地放置在个人头部的一组密集电极来测量大脑深处大量神经元的电荷。感觉和认知神经科学的脑电图系统将使来自麦克马斯特心理学，神经科学与行为系的四位加拿大领先的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，按需的培训基地。通过整合各研究小组的资源，联合运作的系统还将促进新的合作，以提高我们对基础科学的认识，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.