Electrical activity of the brain can be measured by placing electrodes on the scalp. We use a 72 channel ANT amplifier with Active Shield caps (see picture below).

The EEG (electroencephalogram) is recorded while people are reading or listening. Next, EEG responses time-locked to the presentation of a particular word, or other linguistic stimulus, are averaged, yielding the Event-Related Potential. Below, you can see the ERPs to a word that constitutes a syntactic violation (red) versus a control word (blue).

Click here for a wider view, showing the entire grand average results for all channels.