Brain labs in horror films are typically the stuff nightmares are made of.
However, the only science-fiction element to the new brain lab at Carleton is a sign on the fridge door that reads, “human food only.” No operating tables, formaldehyde or Dr. Frankenstein in sight.
The Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience: Language and Brain, which was officially unveiled on June 14, will try to better understand the way people process language. The lab is the brainchild of Masako Hirotani, an assistant professor of linguistics and cognitive science at Carleton.
“Instead of looking at the structural differences between languages, I want to understand the common procedure between different speakers. If we have a common procedure to understand language then we can help other people,” she said.
Hirotani said research done at the brain lab could help children learn new languages and help people with dyslexia and strokes.
“There’s a sophisticated system in our heads. If we better understand how we think and speak we can learn more about ourselves,” she said.
The $334,000 lab received most of its funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Ministry of Research and Innovation.
The lab, which can be found in a corner of Paterson Hall, is made up of three machines.
The electroencephalograph monitors movement in the brain. On the day of the opening, one student wore a hat resembling a swimming cap covered in red and blue wires hooked up to the computers. The machine could then track what areas of the student’s brain responded to sentences that made sense to him and which ones didn’t.
With the Eyelink 1000, researchers can track eye movements on a computer screen as a volunteer reads a given text. Observers can track the reader’s eye movements and record when the subject has a hard time reading certain words.
The third room hosts an acoustic analyst machine that can be used to track how people interpret the acoustic elements of speech. For example, it can track how people comprehend irony, anger and happiness in speech.
With these three machines under one roof, Hirotani said she is hoping to examine how people process different languages. One of her plans is to use these devices to study how the brain processes non-alphabetical languages, like Japanese, which has yet to be studied in detail.
“I want to understand who we are. We have the same brain, but fortunately, or unfortunately, we speak different languages. The question is, is there anything common between us?” she said.
Hirotani stresses that the opening of the brain lab is just the starting point.
“What really matters is what outcomes I can make in this lab. I’d like a good solid finding that will stay in the field for a long time and motivate students to continue researching.”