Research notes, ideas, and observations from the Baum Neuroscience Institute.
On keeping the old machines running
FROM THE ARCHIVE / 14 SEPT
A research instrument is also a record of the questions it was built to answer.
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At BNI, maintaining older systems is part of maintaining the continuity of a study. A change in equipment can introduce a change in measurement. Keeping a record of that change matters as much as keeping the data itself.
Our tape library remains organized by accession, with original documentation stored alongside transfer notes. New copies are checked against earlier records. The original is retained.
Preservation is rarely dramatic work. It is a sequence of small decisions made carefully, and made again.
A different kind of listening
RESEARCH METHODS / 07 SEPT
Wearable magnetoencephalography opens new questions about how we observe the active mind.
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Optically pumped magnetometers, or OPMs, measure very small magnetic fields. Arranged around the head, they can be used to study signals associated with brain activity.
The wearable format changes the relationship between the participant and the instrument. It also brings practical challenges: controlling environmental interference, maintaining sensor placement, and interpreting movement.
For our methods seminar, the starting point is simple: what does an instrument allow us to ask, and what does it leave out?
The autumn colloquium considers the relationship between repetition and recollection.
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A question asked twice does not necessarily receive the same answer. The interval matters. So does the setting, the phrasing, and everything that has happened in between.
This term's colloquium brings together students from all three programs to examine repeated observations: their uses, their limitations, and the care required to compare them.
Participants will keep a reading notebook throughout the series. Earlier entries should remain legible when revised.
