Overall Guidelines

First Priority: Participant Comfort

• • There is a long documented history of racism in medicine and scientific research, leading to very justified mistrust in Black and Brown communities of both medicine and university research! 

  • There is also a long history of Black people in America needing to assimilate for acceptance hair – effects of assimilation and harms to the Black community

  • Therefore, interacting with these groups must be handled with extreme care! 

  • Be fucking nice?? 

About Dark Skin

maybe a little infographic with some sources

About Coarse, Curly Hair

another infographic with some sources.

Research vs Clinical EEG

There are differences between how research labs and hospitals conduct EEG tests. In research labs, maintaining consistent adherence to a uniform set of instructions is important to the experimental procedures. Whereas, in hospitals there is more leniency in that when a specific point on the scalp can not be reached, an EEG tech at UPMC states that, “they adjust or offset a point and note that in testing.” With this in mind, there is more flexibility for certain hairstyles on patients during testing done at the hospital.

EEG Techs should clean the scalp in the areas needed with soap or alcohol. 

inclusion, comfort, and safety

For Clinicians

A Plea: 

• detangle 

• stretch

• exfoliate / use soap or alcohol to cleanse 

For Researchers

Sample Recruitment Email

Hi [person’s name],

Thank you for emailing about your interest in participating in our research study! Below I have provided some information about the study. We are recruiting people of all hair types! If you are interested in participating, please read carefully and fill out the following google form so that we can schedule you for a visit to the lab. If you have any questions at all, please reply to me (Jasmine) any time.

Questionnaire: [link here]

Purpose of this Study

The purpose of the study is to test the signal quality of an electroencephalography (EEG) system we developed. Traditional EEG systems do not accommodate certain hair types, such as coarse and curly hair common in individuals of African descent, and thus worsen the data quality from these individuals. Recently, our group developed devices, called Sevo systems, to fix this problem. This study will test the electrodes and systems for understanding if they improve EEG quality. This work will eventually be used to help in epilepsy screening procedures.

Procedures

All research will be performed on Carnegie Mellon’s campus in the Laboratory in Multisensory Neuroscience, located in Baker Hall.

• Electroencephalogram (EEG): An EEG is a test that measures and records the electrical activity of your brain. We will record your EEG by fitting around 20 traditional gold cup EEG sensors (called electrodes) onto your scalp through your hair. Small drops of gel or conductive paste will be used to improve electrical conductance. It may take up to 30 minutes to place all the electrodes.

• Computer tasks: After the setup, we will record EEG while you complete a short set of computer tasks. You will be presented with visual and auditory experiments that will require you to sit in an isolated sound booth. This will take up to 15 minutes.

• Braiding: If you have coarse/curly/kinky hair, you will additionally be asked if our hair braider can make your hair into cornrows so that we can install 20 Sevo EEG electrodes. Sevo electrodes are made of plastic clips, similar to barrettes. After this second setup, you will repeat the computer tasks for an additional 15 minutes.

Compensation

As compensation for your time, you will receive $XX/hour for the EEG recording session. The total procedure should take between 2 and 3 hours.

What to Expect

Our research team is diverse: we have EEG practitioners from all backgrounds. Our braiders are particularly accustomed to the care of coarse, curly hair common in Black individuals, along with its nuances. For use after the procedures, our lab provides a hair washing station with shampoo and conditioner; you are welcome to use our setup (or not!) to wash your hair, and you are welcome to bring your own products.

What We Request

If you volunteer to participate, we will request that if you wear your hair natural, please come with your hair detangled and, if possible stretched overnight with any method you prefer. If your hair is under a wig, we ask that you remove it before visiting. If your hair is in braids or twists with added hair (box braids, Segalese twists, etc.) that's fine [or! "we ask that you visit sometime between braiding appointments when your hair is loose. If your hair is in locs, that’s ok -- we want you too!

We suggest you schedule a visit right before or on a “wash day” so that you can maintain your preferred style after your visit. We also love your locks :)

Again if you have any questions or concerns, please email me (Jasmine) at <email>

-Jasmine Kwasa

• Guide for clinicians (using individual electrodes)

  • Link to Lietsel’s hair prep guide

  • A plea – stop asking people to wash their hair!! Just exfoliate at the electrode positions with soap! 

  • Resources

• Guide for researchers (using caps)

  • Link to Lietsel’s hair prep guide