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. 2020:8:00096.
doi: 10.3389/frym.2020.00096. Epub 2020 Aug 11.

MEASURING BRAIN WAVES IN THE CLASSROOM

Nienke van Atteveldt  1 , Tieme W P Janssen  1 , Ido Davidesco  2
Affiliations

MEASURING BRAIN WAVES IN THE CLASSROOM

Nienke van Atteveldt et al. Front Young Minds. 2020.

Abstract

Brain researchers used to study the workings of the brain only in special laboratories at universities or hospitals. Recently, researchers started using portable devices that people can wear on their heads outside of the laboratory. For example, these devices allow researchers to measure the brain activity of students in classrooms, as they go through the school day. This sounds futuristic, and maybe also a bit alarming. In this article, we will explain what such devices do and do not measure-for example, they cannot read your mind! We will also explain how this kind of research can be useful to you and your classmates.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
EEG frequency bands from slow to fast and how they relate to mental state. Brain wave frequency is measured in Hertz (Hz), which is the number of waves per second.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The Go/No-Go task. The letters X and O appear on the screen one at a time. The participants are asked to press the button ASAP when they see an X, and to NOT press the button when they see an O. The X appears very often and the O only occasionally. This makes it hard to inhibit the impulse to press the button when an O appears on the screen.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) EEG can be used to measure the brain waves of students in a high school classroom (from: Dikker et al. [3]). (B) Students’ brain waves can show high synchrony with other students, which was found for students that were more engaged in class (left). Low synchrony with other students (right) was found for students who were less engaged.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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