MISSION IMPACT THROUGH NEURO-INSPIRED DESIGN (MIND) LABORATORY

The Mission Impact through Neuro-inspired Design (MIND) Laboratory was designed for research that transitions laboratory-based neuroscience knowledge and approaches to real-word application spaces. More than a singular physical location, the MIND Lab is composed of a modular set of resources that may be brought to bear on any of a large array of complex human-science challenges. This includes a significant set of sharable equipment of both portable (e.g. wearable) and fixed-environmental (e.g. camera) types. A re-configurable experimental space with state of the art electrically and acoustically controllable chambers was designed for maximizing data acquisition and measurement of various electro-physiological (EEG, EMG, etc) and behavioral (motion, gaze tracking, etc) signals for studying operational performance. The facilities support a wide range of tasks, offering single- and multi-participant areas for individual- and team-based research. A central control chamber with custom patch-panels provides electrically-filtered pass-through connectors into the test chambers, supporting many types of data transfer and control. Beyond data acquisition, the MIND Lab also includes a cluster of more than two dozen networked, multi-core, high memory capacity LINUX workstations and a dedicated multi-core distributed computing server that enables the development and implementation of cutting edge analytic methods.

Research: With a focus on incorporating neuroscience-based concepts and tools, the research facility is designed to ease subject testing while remaining extremely flexible. This space is used for studies focusing on, but not limited to:

• Brain-computer interaction technologies
• Soldier performance prediction
• Multisensory information processing
• Stressor effects on task performance
• Individual differences in cognition
• Visual scanning behavior
• Adaptive information displays
• Cognitive metrics development and validation
• Development and testing of novel neuroimaging techniques
• Creating novel EEG phantom devices

Equipment: The lab has equipment to support many types of physiological measurement to include: Electroencephalography, electromyography, electrocardiography, electrodermal activity, motion tracking, and eye tracking. We have software platforms available to enable rapid development of experimental paradigms incorporating synchronized, multi-modal physiological data collection. A major unique resource is that we have EEG systems representing all major contemporary manufacturers and styles, providing not only a strong resource for PIs but a strong understanding of critical data acquisition features and challenges. In addition we have available EEG phantom devices and use in evaluating emerging EEG technologies, new electrode design, EEG data collection in novel environments, and testing new and existing algorithms for processing EEG data.