Educators get Hype for DIY EEG (Brain Recordings!)
Take it from Twitter: Low-cost EEG is a powerful teaching tool!
As a business, it can be strange to package and ship off all these different neuroscience education tools, wondering if they’ll like their new home, will they make a difference in this big, strange world?
Much like a proud parent, we are always excited when we see tweets and testimonials like this one from an international user in Ireland, preparing to use one of our DIY EEG devices for neuroscience outreach!
Not just that, but it inspired a fun follow-up conversation amongst other Twitter users:
We’ve got history, humor, and enthusiastic recommendations all in one!
Brief History of EEG
What John and Mark are referencing is Hans Berger’s pioneering work in brain recordings, the results of which were published in 1929: see the publication here in its full, German language glory!
Wikipedia provides a nice summary of this original experiment:
His method involved inserting silver wires under the patient’s scalp, one at the front of the head and one at the back. Later he used silver foil electrodes attached to the head by a rubber bandage. As a recording device, he first used the Lippmann’s capillary electrometer, but results were disappointing. He then switched to the string galvanometer and later to a double-coil Siemens recording galvanometer, which allowed him to record electrical voltages as small as one ten thousandths of a volt. The resulting output, up to three seconds in duration, was then photographed by an assistant.
The original recording from that string galvanometer is pictured in John Butler’s tweet!
Fortunately, 90 years has advanced technology considerably, allowing us to perform the same experiment and view the same results with our non-invasive EEG Sweatband!
| Much less intimidating than inserting silver wires under the scalp! |
The Tools to Make it Possible
Bring this EEG experiment and demonstration to your classroom!
Heart and Brain SpikerBox ($150):
Record from your Heart, your Brain, and even your Eyes… EEG, EKG, and EOG allow us to study more complex electrical systems that are responsible for nearly everything that makes us human.
Experiments:
- Heart Action Potentials
- Record the Autonomic Nervous System
- Record EEG (Alpha Waves) From the Occipital Lobe
- Brain Waves During Sleep: “To sleep, perchance to dream.”