From April 5th to 7th 2019,  the Advanced Workshop on ERP Technology and Neural Mechanisms was successfully held at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The organizer - SFL Institute of Cross-linguistic Processing and Cognition, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, has invited excellent researchers and senior engineers of neuroscan from the EEG Imaging Laboratory of Shanghai Mental Health Center to give presentations on theoretical background and experiment design. The presentations help new researchers to carry out neural processing work quickly and systematically, by introducing ERP technology and research methods, and discussing the hot spots of international academic frontier based on ERP technology. 

The workshop was hosted by Professor Ding Hongwei, executive deputy director of the Institute of Cross-linguistic Processing and Cognition. With the joint efforts from ERP expert Dr. Li Fei, Ms Zhou Anqin and the organizing committee comprised of 10 undergraduate and postgraduate students, the 3-day workshop was carried out in success.

On the first day, Dr. Tang Yingying, associate researcher and master tutor of Shanghai Mental Health Center, gave a speech on EEG/ERP-A General Introduction, from the aspects of experimental notices, frequently used EEG experimental paradigms, frequently analyzed ERP components, etc. Tang Yuying introduced that the event-related potential (ERP) acquisition process includes recording event-related signals, filtering random EEG and random noise, deleting artifacts, amplifying signals, and tracing source analysis through professional techniques. In addition, the EEG signal potential can be divided into an early perceptual processing potential induced by five senses and a late advanced cognitive processing potential formed by stimulation of exogenous components. Subsequently, Tang Yuying presented the process of using ERP for experimental design, including selecting experimental paradigms, designing specific experiments, and stimulus randomization design, etc. Finally, she cites several experimental paradigms and related potentials studied, such as P300, which is closely related to mental illness, N400 that is semantically related, and FRN associated with event outcome reactions. 

Then, Tang Xiaochen, assistant researcher of EEG Imaging Room of Shanghai Mental Health Center, gave a speech on EEG/ERP Experimental Design and Data Processing from three dimensions, including ERP experimental design, EEGLAB pretreatment process and independent component analysis. For ERP experimental design, Tang Xiaochen explained that the factors affecting EEG data include stimulus scheduling, duration of stimulation, stimulation sequence, frequency of stimulation, etc. In the EEGLAB pretreatment process, he said that the collected electrical activities need to be preprocessed. In the analysis of independent components, there is a cocktail effect for which different electrical activities need to be separated to maintain their high quality. More specifically, Tang Xiaochen showed the audience how to use the Independent Component Analysis (ICA) to remove artifacts and help solve operational problems. In the following two days, he introduced the application of E-prime, the preparation before the experiment, and the identification of artifacts collected by EEG. Finally, he explained how to carry out ERP data processing, such as multiple comparison corrections, ERP and ERSP results review and results mapping, followed by a heated discussion with teachers and students. 

Finally, Yuan Chengzhong, an engineer of Beijing Feiyuxing Company, introduced the use of Curry, a software that supports ERP. Starting with the topic “Curry Software Data Processing”, he introduced the software's sampling rate, collection mode, data analysis, waveform adjustment, and invited students and teachers to take practice on the stage. 

After each speech, there were seminars for participants to present their own research topics and receive reviews from the experts. 

At the closing ceremony, many teachers and students who attended the workshop expressed their gratitude to the speakers and the organizing committee. They thought highly of this event and put forward many valuable opinions. Mr. Wang, a teacher from Shandong, said that he has benefited a lot from this workshop, having not only acquired a lot of useful knowledge and skills about ERP for neuroscience research, but having also exchanged ideas with other scholars. This workshop provided the participants with valuable opportunities to initiate their ERP research in the fields of linguistics and psychology.