Infrastructures and Equipment

Transcraneal Magnetic Stimulation is a non-invasive technique which uses electromagnetic fields to alter the brain activity. Originally, it was developed as a diagnostic technique to measure excitability and connectivity in the nervous system, and for the mapping of brain functions. Thanks to its capacity to modulate the excitability of brain tissue TMS seems to have an important role in the treatment of various neuropsychiatric conditions. In the last years, TMS has been proposed as a possible option for the treatment of those patients with psychiatric and neurological disorders in which brain cortex is clearly implied.

Our laboratory is composed of a Magstism Rapid 2 equipment, with a 70 mm magnetic coil capable of accurately stimulating cortical areas, and a neuronavigation system of the Brainsight brand.

The electroencephalography recording allows measuring the cortical electrical activity associated to the electrochemical processes which characterizes the communication among neurons. When a group of neurons put in the same direction fire together they generate an electric current which travels across the brain, the skull and the scalp, to come out the outside world. When we talk about EEG, we refer to the graphic representation of voltage variations caused by electric current in the surface of the head.

Our EEG laboratory has two completely functional equipments with Synamps 2 Neuroscan amplifiers, each installed in a different room. Both equipments use elastic Quick-caps of 70 sensor channels. We use stimulus presentation programs which collect behavioral data; E-prime software, Presentation and Psychopy. Scan Acquire software is used for setting the EGG record. Data is preprocessed and analyzed using toolboxes such as Cartool, Fieldtrip, Brainstorm and scripts of own elaboration.

Among the different measures with physiological significance that can be extracted from an EEG recording, the Event Related Potential (ERP) is possibly the most widely known in cognitive neuroscience. The wave that results from the average of several presentations of stimuli that share some property-feature (e.g. belonging to the same experimental condition) shows several characteristics visually identifiable (positive and negative peak and deflections) that have been associated to higher or lower specific cognitive processes.

Eye tracker is a device which measures the position and movement of eyes. It is used in the visual system research, in psychology, in cognitive linguistics and in product design.

The eye tracking data is compiled using a remote eye tracker or a head-positioned one connected to a computer. The non-intrusive eye trackers generally include two common components: a light source and a camera. The light source usually infrared is directed towards the eye. The camera tracks the reflection of the light source along the visible ocular features, such as the pupil. These data are used to extrapolate eye rotation and gaze direction. The eye tracker also detects additional information, for instance the blink rate and changes in pupil diameter.

Currently, IUNE’s eye tracking laboratory is equipped with four SMI instruments systems.

SEGAI: the General Research Support Services at the University of La Laguna comprises a wide range of techniques for studies by magnetic resonance of the human and animal organisms. It disposes neuroimaging techniques functional magnetic resonance (fMRI), In vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and Cortical Bioelectrical Activity and DOR Navigation.