Resources & Facilities

TMS & EEG suite

Our laboratory conducts cutting-edge research using traditional and next-generation EEG monitoring techniques (e.g., using MXene-based materials) to track brain function. We pair this technology with noninvasive brain stimulation (transcranial magnetic stimulation) to enhance functions in health and disease. There are many in-house resources to support these efforts in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences.

Human MRI Facilities

We have access to state-of-the-art human neuroimaging facilities via our contracts with the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University.

Full Equipment Inventory

Here’s the rundown of our in-lab resources!

Drexel University CogNeW TMS-EEG laboratory:
Dr. Medaglia and CogNeW laboratory maintain a MagStim Bistim2 and a Super Rapid Plus1 noninvasive TMS
unit. The MagStim Bistim2 is a monophasic waveform stimulator has a maximum stimulation frequency of 1Hz
and has ports for TTL output triggers and input ports for external pulse triggering. This device is used
exclusively for single pulse studies and experiments investigating questions about motor physiology. The
Super Rapid Plus1 has an intuitive user interface with touch controls to adjust the machines output, monitor
coil temperature and operate the integrated EMG module for motor thresholding. Trigger-in and trigger-out
ports allow the unit to sync with auxiliary devices (e.g. EMG, EEG) or deliver trial specific pulses of stimulation.
Our Super Rapid Plus1 unit is integrated with BrainProducts EEG monitoring devices, facilitating recording with
a TMS-compatible 96-channel actiCap slim with an actiCHamp amplifier and trigger box to support closed loop
EEG monitoring for TMS triggering. The lab has multiple standard and air cooled 70 mm figure-of eight coils.
The laboratory also houses a Vicra camera and a Brainsight (Rogue Research Inc., Montreal, Canada)
frameless stereotactic system for MRI-guided TMS research and electromyography (EMG) recording. Multiple
computers are employed to support neuronavigation software, stimulus presentation (i.e. Eprime, psych
toolbox – MATLAB), and TMS pulse delivery. The TMS and EEG equipment are fully integrated with custom
software to deliver real-time, closed loop EEG-triggered TMS with a ~5ms latency with an 112 channel Intan
amplifier for high-fidelity high-throughput recording. The laboratory also has a 32-channel fully integrated
transcranial electrical stimulation and EEG device from StarStim. Several techniques for auditory controls and
masking are available including noise canceling, audiometry ear buds with an amplifier, and a phantom head
binaural microphone for evaluation and tuning.

University Research Computing Facility (URCF): High-Performance Computing Cluster:
The URCF houses Picotte, Drexel’s heterogeneous shared condominium HPC system. Picotte has 4224
computer cores, running at a peak speed of 25 teraflops and providing 19.1 terabyes of RAM. The URCF is
part of the Internet 2 Innovation Platform, supporting 100 gigabytes per second Ethernet and the Science DMZ,
a secure system optimized to handle the high-throughput needs of large data transfers. Picotte supports
modern imaging and EEG softwares including FSL, AFNI, SPM, EEGLab, DTI-Studio, Camino, ITK-SNAP,
ANTs and ANTs-R, and VoxBo, additional softwares such as Python, Matlab, and R, and users can install new
software as necessary.

Equipment for Behavioral Testing
CogNeW has a wide range of equipment for cognitive-behavioral studies. Below is a list of resources used to
support behavioral testing.

Standard Neuropsychological Instruments: Within Drexel’s in-house psychological services clinical, a library of
traditional neuropsychological tests is available (including e.g., Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, RAVEN’S
Progressive Matrices, RBANS, Repeatable Battery for the Neuropsychological Status, Tower of London,
Wisconsin Card Sort, DKEFS, Continuous Performance Test), as are experimental measures focused on
executive functions/cognitive control developed in CogNeW lab.

Computerized task administration: The lab makes uses of several PC desktop computers for the administration
of behavioral tests. All PCs are equipped with stimulus presentation software including e-Prime 2.0 and 3.0,
PsychToolbox for MATLAB, and PsychoPy for Python. Behavioral responses are collected on standard
computer keyboards.

General Computing Equipment
General Computing: Four 27” iMacs (3.2 GHz Intel Core i5 processor with 8GB of memory) and one Dell 3050
(6Y9TM) Intel Core i5 7th Gen 7500 (3.40 GHz) 8 GB DDR4 500 GB HDD Intel HD Graphics 630. All CogNeW
computers are equipped with R, ANTs, LESYMAP, VoxBo, MRIcron, ITKsnap, VoxBo, VLSM, Multivariate-
LSM, VBM, MATLAB, word processing (e.g. MS Office), statistical (e.g. SPSS, R), audio analysis (e.g.
Audacity software), and graphic software (e.g. Inkscape). CogNeW behavioral data and archival imaging data
are backed up on two 1-terabyte external hard drives.