Researchers study brain’s activity
By Colleen Pohlig
E me aid Associate FcMcv
Inside the small, white sound
attenuating hooth. the nervous
looking subject star«»s straight
ahead, her head held still hv a
c hin rest and her lingers ready
to push one of two buttons.
The button on the right Indi
cates the trait-descriptive word
on the screen applies to her. the
one on the left says she doesn't
identify herself with the word
The subject stares nervously
into the computer, a small video
camera aimed at her head,
where the Geodesic Sensor Net
sits hooked up to a computer
monitor One of the researc h
attendants speaks into the
microphone, which is hooked
up to the booth's speaker. "OK.
here we go." he says.
Tin ked away in corners of
various University laboratories,
faculty and students are hard at
work i (inducting experiments,
studying results, peering into
microscopes and inventing
equipment to be used for
research.
"The nature of a University
education, unlike a liberal arts
education, is that we have real
research going on here at the
UO,” said Don Tucker, a psy
chology professor and the inven
tor of the Geodesic Sensor Net
"Many of the undergraduates
hem are really working with me
to further the field."
One experiment that the Uni
versity psychology department
is working on studies the brain's
electrical activity as it process
es emotionally meaningful infor
mation.
Freshman pre-journalism stu
dent Kara Tison. who was ful
filling an undergraduate require
ment of three experiments for
her psychology class, signed up
to do an experiment. The exper
iments are named only by states,
so the subject usually doesn't
know what the experiment
entails before they arrive.
Tison didn't.
When she arrived at the Neu
ro Imaging lab. or "Cog l-ub," in
the basement of Straub Hall, the
graduate student who conduct
ed this particular experiment,
Phan Luu. explained that she
would have a Geodesic Sensor
Net applied to her head and that
the electrodes, which are
attached to the net. would read
her brain waves onto a comput
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Brett Patterson. a senior In psychology and a research a Marxian t, places the Geodesic Sensor Net on trash
man Kara Tlson s head. The net was Invented by psychology Professor Don Tucker
The University
has been des
gnaleda
research university
by frieOegon
Slate Board ol
Higher Education
The EmtraUw*
look at venous
University research
eipenmentj and
<4 stover res This a
the tost ot an ongo
ing senes
er screen.to
be studied
for research
purposes.
T i so n ,
a d m i 11 i n g
that she was
a little ner
vous hut
wanting to
he a good
sport, said,
laughing. "I
don't know
if I have a
person's brain waves tha!
should t>e studied '
Two research attendants,
seniors Brett Patterson and Paul
Shopodd, carefully applied the
net on top of Tison's head, tak
ing care to keep the tiny
sponges, which the electrodes
sit on, lubricated with a distilled
water solution This provides for
a better conductor to ho able to
read Tison's brain waves, they
said.
"I'm really curious to know
what I look like,'' Tison said "I
I>et I look like the guy from //»•//
miser with all those things stn k
mg out of his head." Patterson
and Shepodd agreed that she
did resemble the horror movie
character.
Luu observed the process and
ensured the not was applied [ier
fer.tly. otherwise they mav not
be ahlt! to read the subject's
brain wove, .is well. He
explained the purpose of the
experiment, o small smile on his
face as he admitted that they
don't quite know what they are
looking for or what results will
come of it
"Since this experiment is still
exploratory, we don't know
what we'll be getting." l.uu said.
"We'll he looking at what hap
pens with the brain waves when
they are negative and when they
are positive, and hopefully, by
studying the waves, we ll be
able to make some typo of infer
ence."
Tucker invented the Geodes
ic Sensor Net three years ago,
and since then, a whole series of
experiments that use the net
have sprung up in the lab.
Tucker explained that the net
is used to map the anatomy of
the brain and to find where emo
tion occurs in the brain
"My particular interest is in
how emotion serves as the basis
for intelligence, and in under
standing the emotional basis in
thinking." Tucker said "The
brum doesn't work automatical
ly — it works when it 's scared or
intrigued or curious and that's
what we want to find out
ulmut
Tu< kor explained iluit a dim
i ally depressed person’s c.ognt
lion nr thinking becomes rela
tively negative, and their
thinking is distorted I tie same
is true for an optiniistii person,
they are able to see tilings more
positively
This is one idea the expert -
merit Tison did shows Howev
er. Tinker said, in the past,
researchers have said only clini
cally depressed people have
negative traits. Tucker lias found
this not to be true Ilis researi li
shows that everyone does
indeed have negative traits, but
some are |ust stronger than oth
ers
Besides the net tiemg used for
various experiments in the (log
Lab currently. Tin ker said he
lias long-term goals for his
invention.
"I wont to see how bash, sci
ence lias Implications how
emotion and intelligence inter
act.’’ Tucker said. "If we can
understand it at a basic level,
then perhaps vve i an redesign
education so students are taught
in a way that they can realty
learn, by being esi itecl or curi
ous."
Tucker, who is currently
teaching a graduate class in i 11n
Tum to RESEARCH. Page 4
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