Research Laboratory

Behavioural Research and Recording

Several booths in Chandler House can be used for behavioural research or recording of stimuli. All booths are provided standard with a PC (running Windows 10, MATLAB, Praat and Audacity - specialist software available on request) which can run behavioural experiments or present stimuli for vocal recordings. Booth K is generally used for single-person recordings. Booth F, although usually specialised for fNIRS (see below) can also be used to make multi-talker recordings upon request.

More information on our recording setups can be found on the recording setup wiki page (UCL internal). For more in-depth enquiries, please email pals-labs@ucl.ac.uk.

Electroencephalography (EEG)

The Chandler House EEG labs are used to investigate human cognition from babies to older adults regarding hearing, speech perception, attention, and spoken and written language processing. The current equipment allows for measuring both brainstem and cortical brain responses.

Booths C and D are suitable for EEG research, as is G07 in the ICL. More information can be found on the EEG wiki page (UCL internal).

Ultrasound

Ultrasound Tongue Imaging is used to track the movement and position of the tongue during speech or swallowing.

Booth H is specialised for ultrasound imaging. More information can be found on the Ultrasound wiki page (UCL internal).

Transcranial Stimulation

Transcranial Stimulation can be used to establish a causal link between a brain area and task behaviour, or to establish the excitability of the corticospinal and corticobulbar tracts. The Chandler House TMS lab has a Magstim Rapid and Magstim Bistim stimulator as well as 1401 and 1902 CED units to record and amplify electromyographic (EMG) signals from skeletal and facial muscles. In addition, there is also a tDCS/tACS system to use direct and alternting current stimulation.

Booth B is specialised for Transcranial Stimulation. More information can be found on the TMS wiki page (UCL internal).

Near-InfraRed Spectroscopy (NIRS)

Our fNIRS system was obtained through a competitive collaborative cross-disciplinary Wellcome Trust Multiuser Equipment Grant, including investigators from various departments in the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences and the Ear Institute. It consists of a Hitachi ETG-4000 Optical Topography System, a continuous wave system working with two different wavelengths. In addition, we have a BIOPAC MP160 system with which we can monitor various physiological indicators useful as an adjunct to the optical signals from fNIRS (e.g., heart rate and skin conductance).

Booth F is specialised for fNIRS. More information can be found on the NIRS wiki page (UCL internal).

Eye-tracking

Chandler House contains several eye-tracking stations, with several types of eye-tracking devices such as Tobii TX300 and Eyelink 1000. Eye-tracking is used to track eye momevements during reading, but can also be used to measure pupil size during a task (pupillometry).

Booth E is specialised for eye-tracking. More information on the Eyelink system can be found on the eye-tracking wiki page (UCL internal), or for more information on the Tobii system (limited to Linguistics students) contact Wing Yee Chow.

Vox-EMA

Electromagnetic Articulography (EMA) measures the tongue movements inside the oral cavity to better understand how sounds are produced in speech. This system is under construction and will be operational in 2022.