Proposal

Narrative

The funds requested in this proposal are aimed at providing a critical piece of commercial  software, BrainVision Analyzer 2, to be used in a new research and instructional EEG facility on the Boca Raton campus.  The development of this EEG facility was a joint initiative of several faculty members (including the PI), the Dean of the College of Science,  the chair of the Dept. of Psychology, and the Director of the Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences, in recognition of the burgeoning societal and governmental interest in human neuroscience and the implications with regard to funding and educational opportunities. This new facility will be jointly operated by the Department of Psychology and the Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences and will house a recently purchased 64-channel active electrode EEG recording system (ActiCHamp) within in an electrically shielded room. The facility will be open to shared use by all research faculty and affiliated graduate and undergraduate research associates, providing an outstanding educational resource for students interested in neuroscience research in line with FAU’s recently developed Quality Enhancement Program (QEP).

While the facility will be equipped with advanced hardware for acquiring the EEG signal, it will be lacking industry-standard capabilities for the analysis of these recordings. The Brain Analyzer 2 software package will thus be a significant enhancement to the lab. The package represents the current state-of-the art in EEG analysis, offering comprehensive processing and pre-processing capabilities, direct interface to MATLAB, drag-and-drop functions and several unique features, such as a ‘History Tree’, that allows users to organize, explore, and trace evaluation steps in their data analysis. This software package is currently the most widely used EEG analysis and package in the field. These funds will thus provide an opportunity for both faculty and students to learn and utilize the most advanced and widely used techniques in EEG recording and analysis, significantly enhancing training and funding opportunities.

Multiple labs are expected to participate in use of this facility,  ncluding that of the PI as well as those of Dr. Steven Bressler and Dr. Scott Kelso, of the Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences as well as Dr. Alan Kersten,  Dr. Sang-Wook Hong and Dr. Monica Roselli of the Department of Psychology. These labs employ large numbers of graduate and undergraduate students who will benefit from the research and training opportunities afforded by this equipment. The PI’s lab has 7 graduate students and regularly employs 8 or more undergraduate research assistants participating in Directed Independent Study, who participate in all aspects of the research. Overall, the educational benefits of these funds for both faculty and students is anticipated to be very substantial.  In addition, while the current funding climate is very challenging , human neuroscience represents a bright spot in terms of federal allocations (e.g. the human brain mapping project). This EEG facility, equipped with the latest analytical tools, will allow FAU’s researchers to more successfully compete for funding dollars from federal agencies such as NIH and NSF.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Facilities

Hardware Requirements

Software Requirements

Personnel Costs

n/a

Other Costs

n/a

Timeline

This is anticipated to be a single-purchase acquisition made within a month of the dispersal of funds. The software and related licenses will be valid in perpetuity  for all future research.  

Sustainability

n/a

Resource Matching

n/a

Implementing Organization

This project will be administered by the proposer and other faculty from the Dept. of Psychology and the Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences who will be using the shared EEG research lab.