By Joo Eun Kim

Assistant News Editor

Calvin students may soon see their peers lying down on a bed with electrodes stuck to their scalps. This would be the scene in the new laboratory soon to open in the Psychology Department of students researching brain activity. Students in various Physics and Psychology classes will be given the opportunity to have hands-on experience in the new Electroencephalograph Laboratory--EEG Lab for short--set to open in the fall of 2002.

In order to establish the EEG Lab in the Psychology Department, Calvin College has just received the confirmation of the $12,500 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) last week, and has set aside the matching budget. The NSF is a government agency, which provides money for research in areas of physical, natural, and social sciences. Paul Moes and Don Tellinghuisen of Psychology, and Loren Haarsma of Physics took the initiative to apply for the NSF grant on June 5, 2001.

An electroencephalograph (EEG) is a device, which produces a record of the brain's activity. For the experiments, Calvin students will have electrodes placed on their scalps that are connected to a machine, which records electrical activities in the brain. EEG is used to see how quickly the brain responds and which areas of the brain respond in certain conditions.

``When people are doing particular tasks, we can see what areas of the brain are active,'' said Tellinghuisen. The machine measures the electrical activities in the brain and is used to diagnose brain disorders such as sleeping disorders, tumors, and epilepsy.

Tellinghuisen's own area of research is on visual attention. He sees how people, particularly the elderly, attend to portions of the visual world. He feels that the EEG lab could enhance his own area of research.

Memory, attention, and vision will be researched in classes like physiological psychology, cognitive psychology, psychology of motivation, and physics for the health sciences.

The EEG will ``provide a much clearer understanding of how the brain works,'' according to Tellinghuisen.

In the past, students have studied brain activity with videos and textbooks. With EEG, students will be able to see brain activity. ``Rather than just telling them, we would be able to show them,'' said Tellinghuisen.

According to Moes, the lab will ``give more opportunity for students to do more hands-on work'' and ``develop some technical expertise for jobs and graduate schools'' for the students.

There will be a variety of research done in the EEG lab. Moes' area of research is on brain function and the relationship between right and left hemispheres of the brain. The EEG lab could help his area of research as well. A possible area of research in the EEG lab is looking at people with agenesis of the corpus callosum, which is an absence of the bridge between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Moes said that there is a support group for the patients with this problem which could supply Calvin with the names of volunteers to sit through its research.

To have the lab under way by fall, the department has hired a student to work there during this summer. Laura Luchies, a junior at Calvin, won the McGregor Fellowship position to work with professors for summer research. She will be developing lab procedures and learning how to work with the new machine.

``It is an honor to have this technology available to Calvin faculty and students. The EEG lab will benefit students who are able to assist professors with research,'' said Luchies.

It will be the first time a lab would be set up with a joint effort from the Physics and Psychology Department, and it marks the first partnership between the two departments. ``It's a big step for collaboration. Physics can apply to psychology, and psychology can apply to physics,'' said Tellinghuisen.

Haarsma, of Physics, echoed the importance of the collaboration. He said, ``With a machine like the EEG, physicists can use their expertise with electronics to help biologists and psychologists understand how our brains work. So the EEG lab will help physics students learn how scientists from different disciplines can work together, combining their expertise, to study difficult scientific questions.''

Getting the NSF grant for the EEG lab is a big step for Calvin College. It is rare for a small undergraduate school to have the equipment. ``It will really enhance what students will learn,'' said Tellinghuisen.

The grant from NSF includes the EEG itself, two computers, and software. Moes is planning to go to Fuller Seminary and School of Psychology in California to receive some training. Also, a consultant from California is expected to come to Calvin to help with the setting up of the EEG lab.

Moes plans to order the equipment in spring and have the lab ready by mid July. He sees the lab growing in the future, including studies of muscle tensions, heart rates, and other physical aspects. With some additions to the lab in the future, it could grow larger and be more helpful to student and faculty research.