The Child Development Unit

at the University of Massachusetts Boston

Maps & Directions


For our EEG Memory Study, we would like to record your baby's brain activity by using an EEG (electroencephalography) sensor cap. If you have ever gotten an EKG at your doctor's office to measure the heart's activity, an EEG is similar to that, only measuring the brain as opposed to the heart. The cap consists of several small sensors placed in a small fabric hat. From a baby's perspective, the EEG cap is much like a swim cap or a winter hat, and generally well accepted!

Before the study begins, we place a small amount of gel in the cap's special openings that sit on the outside of the cap before fitting the sensors that communicate with our computers. This takes just a few minutes and then your baby will watch an entertaining video followed by a photograph slide show.

The purpose of the EEG sensors is to monitor electrical activity that exists on the scalp on a daily basis due to normal brain activity. Using a technique called ERPs (event-related potentials) we can look at changes in patterns of brain wave activity in response to specific stimuli, like a picture of a person's face or an object. These changes are thought to reflect differences in attention and processing.