Salford experts join global research into impact of EEG

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Categories:School of Health and Society

On July 6th 1924, in the operating room of neurosurgeon Nikolai Guleke, scientist Hans Berger made the first recording of spontaneous electrical activity from the human brain, heralded as the first electroencephalography (EEG) recording.

Since that landmark discovery, scientists around the world have used EEG to transform how we understand the human brain. This includes diagnosis of conditions such as epilepsy, the study of insomnia and the understanding of how memories are formed.

One hundred years after this important discovery, an international community of experts, including Dr Robert Bendall and Dr Samantha Gregory from the University of Salford, asked 515 people working with EEG to reflect on the impact that discovering EEG has had on our understanding of brain function and dysfunction. The resultant article, 'One hundred years of EEG for brain and behaviour research' is published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.

Rob explains: "We were invited to join the study by Professor Faisal Mushtaq from the University of Leeds, which is an honour for us as professionals and for the University''.

Professor Mushtaq has called on fellow experts to sign up to a manifesto to support future EEG research.

"I think that EEG, when combined with technologies such as AI and virtual reality, could radically transform the ways in which we interact with machines, and in doing so, play an extremely important role in science and society over the next 100 years. But to ensure this, the neuroscience community-from academic, clinical and industry settings-must commit to promoting robust, ethical, inclusive, and sustainable practices that will help realise its enormous potential," said Professor Mushtaq.

https://www.leeds.ac.uk/main-index/news/article/5636/will-eeg-be-able-to-read-your-dreams

Many of these researchers are also part of an international consortium, called the #EEGManyLabs project, which aims to test if the results from influential EEG studies can be trusted by seeing if they can be replicated by other researchers.

At the University of Salford, Rob and Sam are leading two of the replications. As an expert in emotion research, Rob will be replicating a study investigating brain activity during emotional attention. Sam, who specialises in memory research, will replicate a project investigating brain activity and how it works as part of memory. Analysis will confirm if the original findings can be replicated.

Rob and Sam were recently recognised for their efforts in promoting open and responsible research at the University's Celebration of Innovation Awards where they were presented the Rising Star Award for Best Contribution to Open and Responsible Research.

As co-leads of the Applied Cognition Research Group and Co-Chairs of Salford Open Science and Reproducibility Group, Sam and Rob are strong advocates for improving openness, robustness and reproducibility in research.

To find out more about EEG's evolving role in neuroscience and society, and to read the call for collective action to realise EEG's full potential, please read the article here: Nature Human Behaviour.

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