Neurolaw research project

We are looking for non-lawyers for an interdisciplinary research project between neuroscience and law at the Sigmund Freud Private University of Vienna.

The project will measure brain activity to investigate whether EEG (electroencephalography) can detect a difference in the activity of different brain regions in response to legal terms between lawyers and non-lawyers.

All details: Neurolaw research project (PDF, in German)
Information and contact: peter.walla@sfu.ac.at

Freud CanBeLab

The Freud CanBeLab is a brain research laboratory equipped with physiological and psychological measurement procedures for empirical investigations of cognitive and/or affective information processing in the human brain and is operated by the Faculty of Psychology in cooperation with the Faculty of Medicine directly on the SFU campus. The aim is to explain and better understand unconscious processes at the interface between cognitive psychology and neurophysiology (e.g. in decision economics) with the help of objective measurement methods. Two methods are currently used:

  • EEG: With a 64-channel electroencephalograph (with active electrodes), brain activities can be measured in millisecond resolution to describe even the shortest, neuronal phenomena (brain functions). The analysis of EEG data is carried out according to the principle of event-related potentials (ERPe), which means that stimuli are presented in a controlled manner with the help of presentation software (“psychopy”) and these then usually have to be assessed following a specific instruction. Often, however, purely passive stimulus reception is sufficient, the associated processing of which can be described in the brain.
     
  • Startle reflex modulation (SMR): This method can be used to measure and quantify affective responses to controlled stimulus presentations without verbal questioning. The physiological measurement method required for this is electromyography (EMG). This is carried out with a mobile 10-channel system. The same device can also be used to record several, further parameters such as heart rate, skin conductance, respiratory rate, movement and temperature.

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Contact

Head: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Peter Walla PD, peter.walla@sfu.ac.at

Freud CanBeLab – Cognitive & Affective Neuroscience and Behavior Laboratory
Sigmund Freud University Vienna
Freudplatz 3, Room 464 / 4th floor
1020 Vienna