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| About The ERP Lab |
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The ERP facilities are located in the Dept. of Psychology at NUI Maynooth, Co. Kildare. These consist of a 128-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) system, which was the first 128-channel system ever to be used in Ireland. The system is situated in a state-of-the-art testing suite with two electrically-shielded testing cubicle. In addition to standard EEG/ERP analyses, BESA source analysis software is employed to localise cortical generators of scalp-recorded potentials. This electrophysiology system will be used in conjunction with both well-established and novel behavioural paradigms to identify electrical brain activity during decision making processes with a particular relevance to economic theory and practice.
Electrophysiology is a major approach to studying brain function. It is based upon the detection from the scalp of the electrical signals generated when brain cells communicate with each other. These electrical signals can be recorded from the scalp by metal electrodes placed at different locations on the head. The resultant pattern of waveforms is termed the electroencephalogram (EEG) signal. The signal can then be averaged and changes in the EEG due to the processing demands of the task being undertaken at the time. The fluctuations in EEG signal are termed event-related potentials (ERPs), and are characterised by positive or negative deflections in electrical potential occurring over different areas of scalp.
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