Everyone is interested in the mysterious workings of the human brain, but few have explored our most complex organ with the zeal of University of Oregon professor of psychology Helen Neville. Using exotic and powerful new techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electrophysiology, Neville has probed the brain's highest function--the formation and understanding of language. Now Neville is loading some of the most useful high-technology tools available to neuroscience into a converted recreational vehicle and taking the Mobile Brain Development Lab on the road.
"In order to gain an understanding of what the brain does, how it does it, and how it develops, we compare the brain functions of various population--individuals who are deaf or blind, nonnative speakers of English, infants, and control groups," says Neville. "That's where we got the idea for the mobile lab--to go to our research subjects instead of making them come to us."
At the heart of Neville's two decades of research are some straightforward questions. How much of the brain's development is genetically controlled and how much is influenced by environmental factors? What goes on, she wants to know, in deaf and blind people in the areas of the brain used to process visual or auditory information? Are these areas dormant or does an individual's brain somehow rewire itself to make the most of whatever mix of sensory inputs it receives? Can we affect the brain development of infants? Is there a biological "prime time" for learning a foreign language?
To explore these kinds of questions, members of Neville's lab group place test subjects in an electrode-laden cap that measures activity in the brain. As researchers put the subject through a battery of tests, thirty-two electrode sensors monitor the subject's brain waves every four milliseconds. Computers then amplify this information fifty thousand times before sending it on to yet another computer which compiles and presents the information.
In the mobile lab, most of this technical wizardry takes place in what was once the recreational vehicle's shower stall. Other modifications were also necessary to turn the RV--purchased and converted with the help of Steve Romania of Romania Chevrolet--into a rolling laboratory. Researchers installed a special uninterruptable power supply to protect the data stored on the computers, electric shielding around the computers to protect the sensitive electrodes on subjects' heads from picking up extraneous signals, and soundproof material around the testing room to keep the subjects themselves from distraction.
Is it difficult to interest subjects in having their brain waves measured?
"We get very high cooperation rates," Neville says. "When we tell people that their participation can help us learn about improving teaching methods for normally developing children and developing rehabilitative programs for kids and adults who have problems, they are usually quite happy to become subjects."
Neville explains that, by virtue of their size, large metropolitan areas such as Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco have sufficient populations of suitable research subjects and will each receive visits from the rolling lab. "We'll also be headed for other cities, such as Fremont, California, and the area near Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., which have concentrated communities of deaf individuals," she says.
The mobile lab's maiden voyage is scheduled for this fall. Destination: Seattle.
Helen Neville's research has caught the attention of the media. The BBC, National Public Radio, and the Canadian Broadcasting Company have all featured her work. This summer Alan Alda, the host of "Scientific American's New Frontiers," brought a film crew to Neville's lab; the PBS program is scheduled to air on January 22.