By Angie Sepulveda

As you enter the dimly-lit and scary room, you prepare mentally for the dissection of your brain. You are dressed in white hospital clothes with medical patches attached to various sorts of wires all over your head. The needle slowly approaches your brain to initiate your lobotomy. You are an incoming neuroscience subject for research at Princeton, but are you really?

That’s how many people, including seven out of ten Princeton Summer Journal reporters, imagine neuroscience research: like a lobotomy. But the Princeton Social Neuroscience Lab dispels false notions about their profession, showing that neuroscience is simply the study of the brain and nervous system. The social neuroscientists ensure security, confidentiality and accessibility for all who participate in the research they do to further comprehend human interaction and behavioral patterns. According to Yeaju Kim, a rising second-year Ph.D. student at Princeton, this research is a tool to study how others “express thoughts and how broadly we understand others’ thoughts.”

Presently, a select number of Princeton neuroscientists are researching the potential brain scan patterns between a couple’s conversations of conflict. As the consent forms, provided by lab manager Amy Nguyen, describe, the purpose of this research “is to explore how minds synchronize as romantic couples interact with each other.” The methodology that will be utilized to gain understanding in this study will recruit several couples, place them in MRI machines and record the brain patterns shown through two structured conversations. 

Although the term “neuroscience” might inspire wild, hazardous thoughts, the actual research involves a meticulous process that ensures the safety of subjects in various ways. Every step from start to finish is intentional and serves a strong purpose for the study. 

After ensuring the eligibility of potential participants, such as checking for no new piercings, metal parts inside the body or tattoos above the neck, the couple in the study will embark on warm-up tasks before these structured conversations. Some of these warm-up tasks include “answering a brief relationship questionnaire, recording a few baseline opinions and completing simple rating tasks.” 

This neuroscientific approach strives to have “the risks be minimal and the benefits as proximal as it could get.” Potential risks that come to mind include issues regarding the MRI that are, in actuality, completely untrue. While the subject might be questioning if they have any metal on them, the neuroscientists initiate the safety steps of checking various times with metal detector doors and past medical records. MRI machines often create loud, thudding noises. Instead of enduring this irritating noise, the research subjects in the MRI have specialized headphones with microphones. 

If a participant is still feeling anxious after going through the safety protocols, check-ups and potential opt-out are always available. Even during the process of the structured conversations, participants can call out to researchers at any time they might feel uncomfortable. In case of any potential harm, the neuroscientists show through their consent form they provide well-being resources so participants can “feel okay mentally and emotionally.” 

When it comes to confidentiality, the neuroscientists ensure that all data published cannot be traced back to the participant, meaning no identifying factors will be revealed. While visiting the research lab, all participants’ information was covered to protect their privacy. In fact, after the research is published, the participant is able to request, via email, a three-dimensional scan of their brain. 

Princeton neuroscientists ensure confidentiality and security, both mentally and physically, to obtain findings that aid the comprehension of human interaction and behavioral patterns. In addition to appealing to other researchers, they plan to publish their findings in a way accessible to the public. Even in the initial process of signing the consent forms, all information is made accessible to participants and broken down in simpler terms. Accessibility is a big priority throughout the entirety of the research project.

Neuroscience is not the dissection or grilling of the brain. Being part of neuroscience research does not place the participant in any unsafe position. Better yet, it can provide benefits they would not be able to find elsewhere. The misconceptions that easily paint vivid, horrifying pictures often disregard actual neuroscience research, which, as mentioned by Kim, is needed because studying human interaction is “the most human thing that we can do.” 

The next time you hear the term “neuroscience,” remember that no lobotomy is taking place. Rather, progress is being made towards further comprehension of our own selves.