EEG LAB

This is the wiki page for the EEG Lab at the Berlin School of Mind and Brain. Please help us to populate it with good stuff.

Basics

• Fill in the safety protocol for the basement labs.
• Always watch your head and tell all visitors / participants to do the same!

Access to the lab and position plan

The EEG lab is located in the basement of Luisenstrasse 56 (Haus 1) at the Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Map of basement labs

Make sure the emergency door opposite of the EEG lab is always unlocked! If it isn’t you have to call Annette Winkelmann. This is really important as in case of fire, the elevator will not work.

Who is allowed to access the lab?

The basement is a secure area to which only explicitly authorized people (see 1.4. contacts) are granted access.

Contact

When in the lab, check the white sheet next to the telephone for important phone numbers and people to call for assistance. If you make an internal call (inside the building), the dialing code (2093) for the phone numbers is not needed. For external calls you need to dial 0 before your actual number.

Working in the EEG lab

The following is intended to provide you with a basic set of guidelines for good laboratory practice. Our hope is that by familiarizing yourself with the lab and its practices, time will not be lost and hazards resulting from careless oversights will be avoided.

Booking Recording Time

Booking recording times is done online through the booking system / participant database. Ask someone in the lab to grant you access to this platform. Please do not forget to free up your time if you realize you are not going to use your time. Keep always in mind that you are not the only person working in the lab. Do not book the lab without using it and do not book the whole week for your measurements without asking the users.

Lab safety

No matter how important the study, safety and the participant’s comfort always come first. The usual rules of any lab apply to the EEG, but some additional principles unique to using EEG are worth stressing. No measurements should be made prior to reading the following section!

Never (yes, never!) leave a subject or patient unsupervised in the EEG lab!

If someone is inside the EEG testing room and you are alone, do not leave the measurement room even for a short while. Someone must be available for help if the subject suddenly has an attack of illness or if something unexpected happens. Feel free to ask other lab members if they can shortly supervise your subject.

Monitoring the subject from outside the EEG chamber

During measurements, you can communicate with the subject by means of a two-way intercom system (they also hear you through the wall anyways). Hit left button to turn on the system, right button to speak to the subject, and left button to turn off the system. You will be able to hear the subject without pressing any additional buttons, although while you press left button you will be unable to hear him or her. Additionally, you can monitor the subject by watching them on the TV monitor (use the EEG-PC). Turn on the camera before you start the experiment (webcam icon on the desktop)!

Food and Beverage

No food or beverage is allowed inside the EEG testing room! You may bring food/beverage into the lab, but do NOT bring them inside the EEG chamber. Water for subjects is ok. There are plastic cups in the cupboard.

Serious emergencies

For fire, acute illness, or other serious emergencies:

• general emergency telephone: 112
• first aider: 1706 (Annette Winkelmann)
• building security: 6000 or 0173/889867
• alarm hotline: 2416

Remain calm, answer questions clearly, and do not hang up before permitted to do so. Usual first-aid items such as band-aids are located in the cupboard (emergency kit).

Computers and stimulus systems

EEG lab setupp

This section is meant to act as a general overview of each of the computers in the lab and the software they have to offer, as well as the systems with which to present stimuli. Before operating these computers by yourself, you should have been instructed by a trained lab member.

Data acquisition

An experienced lab member should be with you the few first times you run an experiment in the lab. Backing up your data is mandatory. Store your data on the Linux Workstation and/or external hard drives. Burn DVDs! How should they be labeled? experimenter’s name, name of the experiment, content/ids of participants.

General EEG laboratory guidelines

Several experiments are always running simultaneously in the lab. To prevent conflicts between different parameter settings, please make sure to leave the room in the state described in this section. Please do not make any permanent modification to the EEG lab. Do not leave any of your equipment in the EEG testing room. Place experimental equipment in the cupboard and be sure to clearly label each item so that your equipment is not misplaced or borrowed. If you need to label your equipment or make notes in the room, please use the labelling device or use a marker to write on the tape found in the control room .

What the lab should look like when you leave (STANDARD)

Clean outside 1

Clean outside 2

Clean inside

Sink and shelf

• shelf: tidy, refill towels, shampoo, etc. if necessary
• towels: wet towels – on the hook, dry in the laundry basket
• hair drier: on the hook
• sink: clean and tidy (e.g., cleaned syringes in cup, no waste next to the sink)

Electrodes and caps

• cape: on the hook
• electrodes: on the hook (Plexiglas), sets (64 or 128 electrodes) should be placed together
• caps: on the correct and labeled Styrofoam heads

Work desk

• intercom: off
• monitors & PCs: off
• desk: tidy
• remote control for monitor switch: on the desk
• The infrared sensor for remote control is placed on the wall of the chamber

Stimulation PC (standard setup)

Cables plugged:

• Power cable
• Gray
  • Flicker goggles
  • Parallel port
• White
  • Keyboard outside
  • Mouse outside
  • Screen console (goes to switch)
• Yellow
  • EEG PC
• Pink
  • Keyboard inside
  • Mouse inside
  • Presentation screen (through switch)
  • Headphones

Inside the chamber

• Ventilation (outside): off
• Camera: off
• Desk: tidy
• Chin rest: disinfected

Amplifier

• Amplifier: off and blue battery cable unplugged
• Uncharged batteries: have to be exchanged and charged

Monika's pro tips in the case of noisy data (Jan 18, 2017)

1. check Ground electrodes and use more gel
2. if the amp's blue light is flashing, an electrode might be broken >> run the "bucket test" to see which one it is and replace it.