process, and relay immediately whatever came to the monitors in the laboratory.
In Kevenâs opinion it was awfully complicated. With the confidence sheâd acquired over the past six months, she was sure she could do just as well without being all wired and connected up like some living instrument. She told Kersh that and he agreed with her. But, he explained, personal experience, no matter how valid it might be, was not scientifically acceptable. That was especially true, he said, in researching this subject, which was already handicapped by countless personal experiences over hundreds of years.
Thirty-six electrodes were attached to Kevenâs scalp.
Kersh placed them himself and was very exact about it.
In several ways the procedures differed from the usual electroencephalograph. Interpreting the results of a regular EEG always required guesswork because of the electrical activity between various areas of the brain. It was like trying to analyze the recording of a thousand-piece symphony orchestra, hoping to isolate a single instrument from the whole. For this very reason, neuroscientists had eagerly taken any opportunity to implant terminals deep within the brain itself.
However, the electrodes being used by Kersh overcame the old EEG problem without having to resort to delicate surgery. They probed the brain with the same precision as implanted terminals but did so electronically. Each electrode was preset to record at a certain fixed depth. Those voltages, for example, that originated in the occipital lobe would be recorded independently from those that came from the adjacent cerebellum. The electrodes were color-keyed and numbered according to where they would be positioned on the scalp. Also, the electrodes themselves were much more efficient than those usually used. They were made up of an alloy of platinum and element 44, ruthenium, a very scarce and extremely hard metal more sensitive to electricity than any other known substance. Capable of picking up charges well beyond fifty millionths of a volt, the average potential of the human brain, which is actually much less than the electrostatic charges that occur when a person combs his hair.
Methodically, precise to the centimeter, Kersh applied the tiny, silvery-white discs to Kevenâs head. The contact surface of each electrode held three points that penetrated the skin. However, they were so sharp and fine that Keven hardly felt them go in. Anyway, she was brave about it, said it didnât hurt nearly as much as the pain she inflicted on herself whenever she plucked her eyebrows.
When the depth electrodes were all securely in place, more electrodes of a different type were attached to various other parts of Kevenâs body, to measure her heart and metabolic rate, breathing, blood pressure, body temperature, and muscle reactions. Two final attachments were made to the outer corners of her eyelids.
She remained seated upright, eyes open, facing the soft blackness of the wall. Nothing else in sight, but her mind was racing, changing, presenting a hodgepodge of unrelated images. Nothing definite. She again was worried about failure.
A keyboard of numbers and letters was swung automatically into position, so that it was easily within her reach. Also an electronic apparatus that looked like a slanted easel.
In the adjacent laboratory one of Kershâs assistants determined that all systems were functioning properly.
Kersh was in the laboratory now. He quickly looked over the bank of monitors that were presenting a computerized translation of Kevenâs physical and mental processes at that moment. Kersh saw that everything was within normal range. There was the expected alternating between alpha and beta brain waves, with more betas coming through because Keven was acclimating herself to the surroundings and circumstances.
From where Richland was seated in the lab, he also had a good view of all the monitors. To emphasize his official
In Kevenâs opinion it was awfully complicated. With the confidence sheâd acquired over the past six months, she was sure she could do just as well without being all wired and connected up like some living instrument. She told Kersh that and he agreed with her. But, he explained, personal experience, no matter how valid it might be, was not scientifically acceptable. That was especially true, he said, in researching this subject, which was already handicapped by countless personal experiences over hundreds of years.
Thirty-six electrodes were attached to Kevenâs scalp.
Kersh placed them himself and was very exact about it.
In several ways the procedures differed from the usual electroencephalograph. Interpreting the results of a regular EEG always required guesswork because of the electrical activity between various areas of the brain. It was like trying to analyze the recording of a thousand-piece symphony orchestra, hoping to isolate a single instrument from the whole. For this very reason, neuroscientists had eagerly taken any opportunity to implant terminals deep within the brain itself.
However, the electrodes being used by Kersh overcame the old EEG problem without having to resort to delicate surgery. They probed the brain with the same precision as implanted terminals but did so electronically. Each electrode was preset to record at a certain fixed depth. Those voltages, for example, that originated in the occipital lobe would be recorded independently from those that came from the adjacent cerebellum. The electrodes were color-keyed and numbered according to where they would be positioned on the scalp. Also, the electrodes themselves were much more efficient than those usually used. They were made up of an alloy of platinum and element 44, ruthenium, a very scarce and extremely hard metal more sensitive to electricity than any other known substance. Capable of picking up charges well beyond fifty millionths of a volt, the average potential of the human brain, which is actually much less than the electrostatic charges that occur when a person combs his hair.
Methodically, precise to the centimeter, Kersh applied the tiny, silvery-white discs to Kevenâs head. The contact surface of each electrode held three points that penetrated the skin. However, they were so sharp and fine that Keven hardly felt them go in. Anyway, she was brave about it, said it didnât hurt nearly as much as the pain she inflicted on herself whenever she plucked her eyebrows.
When the depth electrodes were all securely in place, more electrodes of a different type were attached to various other parts of Kevenâs body, to measure her heart and metabolic rate, breathing, blood pressure, body temperature, and muscle reactions. Two final attachments were made to the outer corners of her eyelids.
She remained seated upright, eyes open, facing the soft blackness of the wall. Nothing else in sight, but her mind was racing, changing, presenting a hodgepodge of unrelated images. Nothing definite. She again was worried about failure.
A keyboard of numbers and letters was swung automatically into position, so that it was easily within her reach. Also an electronic apparatus that looked like a slanted easel.
In the adjacent laboratory one of Kershâs assistants determined that all systems were functioning properly.
Kersh was in the laboratory now. He quickly looked over the bank of monitors that were presenting a computerized translation of Kevenâs physical and mental processes at that moment. Kersh saw that everything was within normal range. There was the expected alternating between alpha and beta brain waves, with more betas coming through because Keven was acclimating herself to the surroundings and circumstances.
From where Richland was seated in the lab, he also had a good view of all the monitors. To emphasize his official
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