Neurobs Presentation® code for experiments run for PhD projects

This repository contains the code used in the neuroscientific experiments conducted during my PhD thesis, Exploring cognitive decline through the aging ear with natural speech-based computational neurophysiology, published on ZORA.

The scenario scripts were written for cognitive and auditory electroencephalography (EEG) experiments conducted at the Linguistic Research Infrastructure (LiRI, liri.uzh.ch). The programs were developed and run using Neurobs Presentation®, version 21.1. I am sharing this repository for full transparency in my research process.

Compatibility: Please note that the experiment (exp. file) and scenarios in this repository were designed to run on a specific experimental computer. You may need to adjust the code to suit your own setup and hardware configuration.

Repository structure

• logs/: This folder is currently empty. It is intended to store log files generated during the experiment runs.

• scenarios/: This folder contains the .sce files that define the experimental scenarios used in the experiments.

• stimuli/: This folder contains ABR_3000.wav (used for auditory brainstem response measurement) and glocke_mono_trim_3_70dB_cue.wav (used as a sound cue in the resting state measurement). Audiobook paradigm stimuli cannot be included due to copyright restrictions. An uncued version of the stimuli used in the matrix-style sentence paradigm is available in a repository linked below.

Experiment details: scenario files

The scenarios include:

1. Digit span forward

   • 1.1 Digit span forward
   • 1.2 Digit span forward and backward test

2. Soundport test

   • This test was used to check that all trigger channels were working correctly, given the use of WAV cue triggers for subcortical recordings.

3. Auditory brainstem response measurement

   • Measurement using 3000 click sounds.

4. EEG measurement

   • 4.1 Resting state measurement for both eyes closed and eyes open.
   • 4.2 Audiobook paradigm: Participants listened to an excerpt from the audiobook version of The Bell Jar, a novel by Sylvia Plath.
   • 4.3 Matrix-style sentences paradigm: In this paradigm, participants listened to matrix-style sentences developed in our lab. These sentences are hosted in an Open Science Framework repository at OSF.io/5usgp.

For more details, please refer to my thesis.