Institute of Sport Science

Research Equipment

Electrophysiology Lab

The Electrophysiology Lab offers the possibility of electrophysiological measurements and stimulations, especially in the context of sleep measurements. Various measurement and stimulation devices are available for this purpose, which can be used, for example, to record brain activity (EEG, NIRS) or stimulate muscle contractions (EMS). Two sleep cabins provide a comfortable environment for sleep and dream experiments with monitoring of data recordings by means of a customized experiment management system by the experimental supervisor in an adjacent control room.

Sleeping cabins: Two sleep cabins provide space for the polysomnographic measurement of two test participants. The cabins are electromagnetically shielded and all equipment is free from electromagnetic interference (e.g. 50 Hz) via an optical system.

Control room: In the control room, the experiment management system monitors the behavior - especially the sleep - of the test participants (e.g. EEG) and stimulates them depending on the experiment (e.g. EMS). Furthermore, the intercom can be used to communicate with the sleep cabins (e.g. for dream awakenings) and infrared cameras can be used to observe the sleeping person.

Electroencephalography: For polysomnographic recording, an EEG amplifier (g-Amp) with a maximum of 32 channels is available with the option of modular separation for simultaneous recording of two persons (16 channels each). Both active and passive electrodes can be used for recording. Alternatively, an ambulatory long-term EEG recorder (XLTEK Trex) is available.

Electromyography: The Myon-320 system wirelessly transmits EMG signals (32 channels at 4 kHz per channel) to a receiver over a distance of up to 30 meters. The EMG electrodes are connected via a short cable to lightweight transmitters (19 g) that can be placed anywhere on the body. To reduce artifacts, the EMG signal is amplified and digitized before transmission.

Near infrared spectroscopy: A Shimadzu FOIRE-3000 16 channel NIRS instrument is available to record brain activity. With 8/16 optodes, accurate real-time measurements of the relative oxygen saturation of the brain (SmO2) can be made. The device is on loan from the University of Bern’s Institute of Psychology.

Electromuscular stimulation: Electromuscular stimulation (EMS) with the RehaMove 3 (HASOMED) involves electrical impulses being transmitted to nerves via electrodes. The nerves transmit the impulses to muscles, which then contract and cause externally visible movements.

Experiment management system: An experiment management system developed by the faculty's own technology platform ensures intuitive user guidance while at the same time providing maximum experimental control. While a web-based user interface allows the configuration and control of all functions, the Streamix coordination language ensures the synchronization of the data streams.