Participants Needed

Have you ever seen posters in shop windows looking for participants to take some kind of test?

This is one that I came across in a local running shop and decided to reach out to them, as I was curious to learn more about the study. Together with Amaya (my fiancée), we reached out and a week later we were on our way to Sheffield Hallam University to get our brain waves measured as we exercised.

I wasn't sure what to expect but with a few emails with plenty of information I had a good idea of what was to come. The first thing that happened was that I put on an electroencephalogram (eeg) cap that measures your brainwaves. They use a sort of gel to make sure there's a good connection and it's wild to me that something so basic looking can read my brainwaves. 

He showed me the data coming in and it was cool to see that when I blinked, the waves changed due to my brain not receiving that visual input for a moment. Very cool stuff but also feels a bit spooky in some way. 

Once that was all set up, we started the first part of the study which was a seated row. The aim was the find out my 10 rep max and while doing the exercise itself, I had to use a feeling scale from -5 to +5. I had fun doing this and am curious about the results, which I should get next week. 

After that, I had a 10 minute break and before I knew it I was sat in the bike ready to push myself hard. This time another two scales were added. I had to say how 'aroused' I felt (basically how stressed or  excited I am at that moment) on a scale of 1-6 and also a Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale from 1-10. 

I pushed myself  and felt like I went to my limit! I haven't cycled too much lately so my legs definitely felt the fatigue. I asked how high my heart went and it got up to 188 which I'd say is quite close to my max. I'll get the full results soon and will share those here. 

Taking off the eeg cap I was left with some gel in my hair that was used to make sure that there was a good connection and what an interesting way to start my day! If you see any posters like this around your city I recommend sending an email. You'll definitely have a unique experience and help someone to complete their research.