Dr Steve Prime - The Neurocognition & Psychophysics Lab


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	We are always seeking volunteers who would participate in one of our experiments. After all, our research can only happen thanks to volunteers who generously give their time to take part in our experiments. Not only will your time and effort be greatly appreciated, but you may receive compensation for your time. Any data collected will be kept confidential and will be used only for research purposes. If you are interested in being a participant, please send an email with "Participant" in the subject line to steve.prime@usask.ca. Please include your name, age, and phone number. We will arrange an appointment for you to come by the Lab. If you are an undergraduate student in a 100 or 200 level psychology course, you might be able to earn course credit by participating in an experiment. As your instructor about it. To sign up for an experiment and receive credit, use the on-line sign-up system at https://usask.sona-systems.com	We are currently recruiting research participants for the following studies: Multisensory integration click here to learn more Visual perception across eye movements click here to learn more Spatial attention click here to learn more Please remember: - If you need to cancel a session, please notify us as soon as possible. We can always reschedule. - Please avoid any makeup around the eyes (e.g., eyeliner) because it interferes with our eye tracker system - Ask any questions you may have at any time. No question is too small or unimportant - Please be on time. We often schedule several participants back to back in a row. Being late may interfere with someone else's session - Most importantly, remember that you are under no obligation to participate if you feel uncomfortable and you can withdraw at any time.
	The relevance of our work The human brain is an incredibly complex biological system, producing our thoughts, memories, feelings, and experiences of the world. Psychologists and neuroscientists are only now scratching the surface in an attempt to better understand how the brain works. The goal of our research in the Neurocognition & Psychophysics Lab is to further our understanding of the brain and its functional architecture underlying cognition and perception. Not only will our research contribute to our basic knowledge of how the brain works, but our research will also be able to inform more applied research in such areas as driving and attention, developing more effective human-machine interfaces, and enhancing perceptual learning skills. Any field in which it is important to understand, predict, or influence human behaviour, cognitive neuroscience will play an increasing role.
	What is transcranial magnetic stimulation? Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a safe and noninvasive brain mapping technique used by cognitive neuroscientists to study how the brain works. Researchers use TMS to briefly and safely change focal regions of brain activity and measure changes in behaviour or cognitive performance that this causes. TMS therefore allows researchers to directly assess the causal relationship between brain and behaviour. TMS has been used in a growing number of laboratories worldwide since 1985. Clear guidelines on the safe and ethical use of TMS have been published and will be followed in all research. There are no known adverse health effects from receiving TMS at the parameters that we use in this lab. All our studies follow the international TMS safety guidelines. All lab members who perform studies involving TMS have received formal training in administering this technique.	MagStim Rapid 2 TMS system
	How does TMS work? TMS is based on the principle of electromagnetic induction. TMS involves applying a magnetic field over the scalp to induce a very weak electrical field in a focal region of the brain. This electrical field changes the neural activity in that targeted brain region, which usually results in temporarily interfering with cortical function. Changes to performance in a cognitive task during stimulation (e.g., slower reaction time or less perceptual accuracy) allows us to establish a functional relationship between the stimulated brain area and the putative cognitive processes involved in performing that task. TMS can be administered either 'online' or 'offline'. Online TMS means stimulation is applied while a participant is performing an experiment. Offline TMS means stimulation is applied for some variable amount of time before a participant performs an experiment. Depending on how TMS is applied, the stimulated cortex can be either facilitated or inhibited, but either way the effect is only temporary.	What TMS does
	What to expect if you are participating in a TMS study A typical TMS experiment takes about 1 to 1.5 hours. Sometimes it is necessary to have two or three different hour long sessions over a 2 or 3 week period. Before participating in a TMS study, you would be asked to fill out a TMS safety screening form. Please note that not every person is eligible for TMS and we carefully screen all potential participants before inviting them to participate in our experiments. You can find an example of a screening form to see if you are eligible by clicking here. After arriving at the Lab, the researcher would explain the experiment, show you the TMS system, and go through the consent form with you. You would have an opportunity to become familiar with the sound and the sensation of the magnetic stimulation. TMS is painless, but there is a slight tapping sensation that is often felt where TMS is applied and can take a little time to get use to. The experiment would usually involve performing some cognitive task, for example making judgments about images on a computer screen or about sounds played over speakers or headphones. Usually you would be asked to respond to auditory or visual stimuli by pressing a computer button. You would be given an opportunity to practice the task until you were comfortable with it. The tasks are not designed to be super difficult (though some may be challenging) and the researcher will be present to answer any questions you may have about TMS or the study. If, despite all our efforts to make participating in a experiment as comfortable as possible, you feel uncomfortable or the stimulation feels unpleasant, you can withdraw from participating in the experiment at any time without any consequences and without providing any explanation. If you have any questions about TMS or if you are interested in signing up to participate in our TMS studies, please email Dr. Steve Prime at steve.prime@usask.ca
The Neurocognition and Psychophysics Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan

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