Lab Facilities

The Motor Control and Learning Laboratory has five connected rooms in the War Memorial Gym, at the University of British Columbia. Additional testing space is also available in the labs of the War Memorial and Osborne Centre on the UBC campus.

Lab Equipment

 Startle

Currently we are running a number of startle studies using a loud 124 db, 100 ms, 1000 Hz, tone to generate a startle response in test subjects.  The startle tone will accelerate a voluntary response by over 100 ms, giving simple reaction times of 60-100 ms instead of the typical 160-200 ms. 

Manipulanda

Our manipulanda accurately measure the angle of elbow extension and flexion.  We have used the manipulanda in many different experiments including visual manipulation of displacement data to augment the learning of different cyclical bimanual movement patterns.

In the above experimental setup the angular displacement of the left and right arms is translated into a Lissajous (X-Y) display with the right arm controlling horizontal displacement and the left arm controlling vertical displacement.  Participants try to learn the correct phase relationship between two arm movements in order to draw a counter-clockwise circle on a computer screen while simultaneously giving a verbal response to an audio stimulus tone.  An audio stimulus is used to probe the participant's attention at various points in the bimanual coordination task.  Typically during data collection the participant's arms are hidden beneath a large black cloth to limit the number of available and possibly confusing visual cues.

The manipulanda use optical encoders to measure angular position at 10,000 counts per revolution, or a resolution of 0.036 degrees per count. The data collection program can calculate the instantaneous phase timing of each arm during the experiment and perform almost any data manipulation to give the needed real-time visual display.

Power Manipulanda

The Motor Control and Learning Lab has two manipulanda connected to high-speed servo motors that provide computer-controlled movement of a participant's arms.  One study on movement guidance had participants voluntarily perform a bimanual movement with their left and right arms, the motors were used to move the participant's arms to provide physical guidance of the correct movement pattern.

In the above study the right arm manipulandum moved through a fixed arc at a constant speed while the participant's biceps muscle was mechanically stimulated.  The participant was required to release a switch between their thumb and forefinger at a fixed angular position while their arm was being guided though the movement arc.  Participants could not see their arm during the experiment and so relied on proprioceptive cues to detect their limb position.  The muscle stimulator caused a vibration that altered the participant's proprioceptive sense making it feel like their limb was moving faster or slower than the actual speed, causing them to release the touch switch early or later in the movement.

Eyetrack 4000 + Flock of Birds 3D tracker

Our Applied Science Lab (ASL) Eyetrack 4000 is a video-based system that reports a participant's visual point of gaze in 3D coordinates.  This system reports the location and orientation of the participant's head and eye in space, their direction of gaze as a 3D vector, the surface they are gazing at, and the gaze X-Y coordinates within that surface. 

This eyetrack system uses a miniature video camera to track the participant's eye based on pupil position and corneal reflection to calculate the participant's point of gaze relative to their head.  The point-of-view gaze information is combined with the head's 3D position and orientation in space from the Ascension Ltd. 'Flock of Birds' magnetic tracker to give the participant's direction of gaze in space.

We have used this system for lab based studies and also in the field to train soccer goalkeepers the correct gaze techniques for dealing with a penalty shot on goal. 

TMS

Our Magstim Model 200 transcranial magnetic stimulator (TMS) allows non-invasive electrical stimulation of a participant's nerves, muscles, or brain for neurological research.  The 70 mm double coil provides selective monohemispherical stimulation of the motor projection area of the brain, allowing us to selectively activate the muscles of one or two fingers of one hand by stimulating the surface of the participant's brain.

EMG

Our Therapeutics Unlimited Electromyograph (EMG) amplifiers use surface pre-amplifiers to record muscle electrical activity during limb movement.  The adjustable gain has a range from 1K to 100K, and integrated RMS time constants from 2.5 to 55 ms.

Graphics tablets

We have a number of graphics tablets for measuring 2D planar movements.  These graphics tablets have position sample rates of 100-225 Hz, and detection area sizes of 30 x 30 cm (12" x 12") and 45 x 30 cm (18" x 12"). 

Graphics tablets report the X-Y position of the pen or puck with a resolution of 0.02 mm, at a sampling rate of up to 225 Hz, and distances of up to 2 cm from the tablet.  Contact switches on the tip of the pens allow measuring of transit and touch-dwell times in sequential movement such as "Fitts Tapping" experiments.

We are currently using our graphics tablets in field-based experiments using laptop computers, and also with a mirror-box for presenting real-time images in visual adaptation studies.

Pen computers

 Our pen computers have a graphics tablet built into the display screen, allowing the high-speed capture of fine movements used in handwriting.  We have two different models of pen computer: Toshiba T100 and NCR 3125.  These computers can operate with their typical graphical operating system, where you tap the screen directly with a pen instead of directing an arrow with a mouse, or they can be used to collect time-based X-Y position data of the pen's location.  The graphics tablets have a higher resolution and sampling rate than the screen they are connected to, allowing the acquisition of very detailed kinematics of the movements of the pen.

Pen computers are different from graphics tablets as the user can see an image drawn directly on the computer screen like a pencil draws on paper.  We use our pen computers to present live in-class demonstrations of the invariance of an individual’s signature.

Mirror Box

Our current mirror-box setup uses a partially-silvered mirror to project a live computer image of a subjects' movement onto the plane of their hand.  When presenting an undistorted image the subject can draw lines with the graphics pen leaving a bright mark where ever they touch the pen to the tablet.  The visual image can then be manipulated, with movements mirrored left and right, shifted 2 cm left, rotated 15 degrees clockwise, or scaled larger or smaller in extent than they actually are. 

Subjects begin seeing both the computer-generated image and real pen superimposed on each other through the half-silvered mirror. The mirror box uses a high-speed graphics tablet with 0.2 mm resolution at 215 Hz, over an area of 30 x 45 cm (12 x 18 inches), and a projected image of 24 x 32 cm composed of 480 x 640 pixels, at a resolution of 0.5 mm per pixel.

Software

We use a number of diverse software packages for running experiments, collecting and analyzing data, performing statistical analysis, and preparing manuscripts for publication.

For simpler experiments we use our legacy Borland Turbo-Pascal software, taking advantage of our vast software library for fast experiment prototyping.  This text-based programming environment is ideal for developing fast, simple data collection programs that can run on portable laptop computers or desktop computers.

When more complex experiments are needed, we use National Instruments Labview software version 8.0.  This graphical programming environment takes advantage of the speed, storage capacity and multiple displays of newer computers and operating systems to provide maximum flexibility in experiment implementation.

We use MS Office Excel and Word for data analysis and manuscript preparation, and PowerPoint for producing posters and presentations.

Signal Processing Hardware

We use a number of different Analog-to-Digital (A/D), Digital-to-Analog (D/A) and Digital Input-Output (DIO) devices depending on the needs of the experiment or study.

Our legacy Tecmar Labmaster systems have been in continuous use for over 20 years, providing multifunction A/D, D/A, and DIO signal translation.  While these ISA cards have been superseded by newer, faster systems, they continue to work well with older and newer software.

We have a number of National Instruments multifunction cards for sampling analog data from rotation sensors, pressure sensors, or analog outputs from other devices.  In addition these cards generate digital signals for controlling devices such as our Transcranial Magnetic Stimulator (TMS) and precisely calibrated analog audio signals for our startle experiments.

We have two servo motion-control cards, one currently in use with the power manipulanda, and one being integrated into a dual two-axis haptic tracking device.

Lab Personnel

Paul Nagelkerke

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