NYU Psychology Research Facilities

NYU Center for Brain Imaging

The Center for Brain Imaging is located in the same building as the Psychology Department and is dedicated to research and teaching in cognitive neuroscience. It has a Siemens Allegra 3T head-only MRI scanner and an EEG lab with a 128-channel-EEG Geodesic Sensor Net. The Center is also setting up a facility for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

Magnetoencephalography (MEG)

The Center for Neuromagnetism at the NYU School of Medicine has a 148-channel whole-head MEG system, which is the primary research instrument of the NYU Neurolinguistics Lab (Pylkkänen).

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a non-invasive neurophysiological technique that measures the magnetic fields generated by neuronal activity of the brain (Figure 1). The spatial distributions of the magnetic fields are analyzed to localize the sources of the activity within the brain, and the locations of the sources are superimposed on anatomical images, such as MRI, to provide information about both the structure and function of the brain (Figure 2).

For more information on or MEG system, visit http://web.mit.edu/kitmitmeg/

Eye movement recording

Several laboratories have video-based systems for measuring eye movements, including the head-mounted Eyelink system and remote-mounted ASL 504 system, for use in adults (Curtis, McElree, Rehder) and in children (Marcus). The Center for Brain Imaging has a video-based ASL system for recording eye movements in the MRI scanner. Additionally, there is a binocular SRI dual-Purkinjeeye tracker in the Center for Neuroscience, for research requiring more precise recordings.

Movement analysis

This facility for the measurement and analysis of human movement features an Optotrak 3020 Three-Dimensional Motion Measurement System manufactured by Northern Digital, Inc. This system can measure the positions of infrared light emitting diodes (IREDs) attached to a mover's fingers or limbs while performing movement tasks (pointing, grasping, walking, crawling, etc.). The system measures at a high sampling rate and achieves millimeter accuracy. Our system features two sensor heads (each containing three infrared-sensitive cameras) allowing for a wide area of coverage and minimal sensor drop-out (due to occlusions of the IREDs from the point of view of the sensors).