Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The Carter Experiment

When Carter was born, I was approached by a local university about enrolling Carter in various studies on infant development. As someone who appreciates education and research endeavors, I decided to give it a try. The first one was a study on brain activity in relation to various visual stimuli. The premise of the study was that when an infant sees something new, he uses a different part of the brain than when he sees something that is not new to him. The set up involved viewing a large screen that showed various animated and inanimate objects while remaining seated in my lap. The room was darkened so that Carter's attention would remain on the screen. Carter was fitted with an EEG cap that allowed the researchers to monitor the areas of the brain that were stimulated based on what Carter saw. The cap consisted of tiny suction cups that had been soaked in water and baby shampoo. He also wore a barber's drape to discourage him from grabbing at the cap. Carter was a little unnerved by all the attention from the grad students, but they were very sweet to him. The researchers were thrilled with how cooperative Carter was and felt that they got a lot of information from his participation. They mentioned that most babies wouldn't even let them get the cap in place. Considering we never watch tv during his playtime, Carter kept his attention on the screen as long as he could (about six minutes). Once he started getting fidgety, the students concluded the session and took off the cap. The following picture was taken right before they removed the cap.

6 comments:

Sara said...

This absolutely the most hilarious picture! I love it!

I almost did something like this with after Laura was born because you got a years worth of free diapers for participating in the study! I was eliminated from the study because your baby had to be either solely bottle fed formula or solely breast fed and Laura did both.

I think it is pretty cool that you are doing that.

Sara said...

Wow! A year of free diapers would be awesome! They gave us a free picture and 10 dollars cash. I even had to fill out a tax form for the 10 bucks. I thought that was funny.

Cindy said...

I laughed out loud at that picture!!! Sara, that is the funniest thing ever! Poor Carter looks like he doesn't know what to think...what a trooper!

Will participated in a similar study at UT when he was about 7 months old...minus the suction cups! He too, got 10 bucks and a picture certificate. I thought it was kind of fun.

Cindy said...

Hey- I like the new blog look! You finally got it to work...yippee! ;)

April said...

I think he looks adorable, Sara! I'm so glad you got this picture.

When Mackenzie was less than 3 months old, she participated in a study at UT about infant development, too. Hers was not as involved, though. She just laid under a tv monitor and watched different pictures flash across the screen while they recorded her facial expressions on another video. They were really watching her eyes...

We, too, received $10 for our participation! My favorite part was the certificate of participation that is in Mackenzie's baby book. :)

Glad you had fun and are enjoying those opportunities!

Ginger said...

Wow! That is really cool, Sara! Carter looks adorable in that picture. Very intense concentration. How fun will that be to pull out that picture when he is grown!!