Psychophysiology

Learn to correctly perform blood pressure measurements using a stethoscope, and ADInstruments' Blood Pressure Cuff and Sphygmomanometer. Assess changes in peripheral circulation and examine the effects of cuff location.

Replicate Pavlov's famous classical conditioning experiments in humans. Find out how skin conductance, heart rate and respiratory rate can be altered using the principles of classical conditioning.

Record electrical activity associated with eye movements and recognize common artifacts in EOG recordings. Measure and understand the significance of angular displacement measurements, smooth tracking and investigate aspects of gaze holding.

Learn how to measure skin conductance. Understand how conductance, respiratory rate, heart rate, and skin temperature change in response to stress. Use this information to complete a polygraph (lie detection test) and correctly interpret the results.

Recognize artifacts in an EEG signal caused by blinking and subject movement. Record and identify alpha and beta EEG rhythm, and analyze how a signal is affected by opening and shutting the eyes, mental activity and auditory stimulation.

Record EMG during voluntary muscle contractions and investigate how contractile force changes with increasing demand. Examine the activity of antagonist muscles, see the phenomenon of coactivation and calculate nerve conduction velocity.

Record finger pulse and use it to produce a tachogram. Learn about spectral analysis and determine the frequency components using Spectrum in LabChart.

Learn the basics of the PowerLab Data Acquisition System and LabChart software.

Become familiar with the basic psychophysiological measurements of skin conductance, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and electromyography. Combine these skills in the performance of a simple psychophysiology experiment.

Find the blind spot, test for colorblindness and explore the science behind some optical illusions. Determine the distribution of touch and taste receptors, and investigate thermoception. Assess joint position sense and the perception of balance.

Use a flash stimulus and pattern reversal to generate and record brain activity in the occipital lobe.