Brain Imaging Techniques Devised for Evaluating Natural Human Behavior

Scientists are creating a new imagining process to study human body/brain dynamics of individuals engaged in normal activity in ordinary environments.

The project, conducted by investigators from the Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience at University of California, San Diego (UCSD; USA), to be performed under a four year, US$3.4 million research grant from the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Research (Arlington, VA, USA), is geared towards developing a concurrent brain and body imaging modality MoBI (mobile brain/body imaging).

Explaining the project, the lead investigator, Swartz Center director Dr. Scott Makeig, said, "Although functional brain imaging has allowed many new insights into human brain function, so far no imaging modality has allowed scientists to study brain dynamics of subjects performing normal activities in a 3D [three-dimensional] environment. The MoBI modality we are developing under this project will allow such studies for the first time.”

Dr. Makeig and colleagues propose to combine high-density, non-invasive electroencephalographic (EEG) or "brainwave” recordings with full-body motion capture recording to explore the distributed brain dynamics that accompany and support natural human behavior, including interactions with objects, active agents, and other people.

Sub-projects of the research include experiments involving treadmill walking and running, pointing and reaching, balancing and juggling, route finding, gesturing, and game playing.

Related Links:
Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience UCSD