Yearly Workshop in the Event-Related Potential Technique

University Of California At Davis, Davis CA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to continue supporting a highly successful ten-day intensive summer training workshop focusing on EEG and ERP methods, along with dissemination efforts that reach thousands of researchers. EEG/ERP methods are widely used to measure the time course of brain activity across a range of basic science domains and mental health disorders. The workshop is intended for beginning and intermediate EEG/ERP researchers, and it will provide them with rigorous training in the essential aspects of EEG/ERP methodology along with key advanced methods. The workshop will give these researchers a solid foundation for conducting innovative research on typical and disordered functioning of the mind and brain. The project directors are well-established researchers with experience addressing both basic science and clinical science questions with EEG and ERPs. The workshops will alternate between Davis and San Diego, which contain large and vibrant communities of EEG/ERP researchers. In addition to the project directors, many well-established EEG/ERP researchers from the Davis and San Diego regions and two visiting EEG/ERP experts will serve as the faculty for the yearly workshops. The workshop participants will come from a variety of disciplines, including cognitive science, cognitive neuroscience, clinical psychology, psychiatry, neurology, developmental psychology, and gerontology. This multi-disciplinary group of participants reflects the broad use of EEG/ERPs across the many domains that focus on neural and mental functioning. The participants will also represent a variety of career stages, including graduate and medical students, postdocs, residents, and early career faculty. The workshop will involve a combination of lectures, data analysis activities, discussions, breakout sessions, and networking/mentoring opportunities. An integrated set of lectures on the fundamentals of EEG/ERP methodology will be given by the project directors. These lectures will be accompanied by hands-on data analysis activities. Lectures on special topics, including applications to clinical populations, will be given by the other faculty. Small-group discussions and breakout sessions will focus on advanced methods and on critical evaluation of published research. Significant outreach and dissemination efforts will spread the educational benefits of this workshop to thousands of researchers. This includes a free online course that has already been taken by almost 6000 individuals and free online webinars that have been attended by over 2000 individuals. We also maintain a web site that provides a variety of resources to the research community, including educational materials, information about methods, data analysis software, and sample datasets to the worldwide research community. We also use social media to disseminate information about EEG/ERP methodology to a broad audience of researchers. Thus, the impact of this project will go far beyond the workshop participants.