Talking about stimuli
How can we remove misunderstandings about overstimulation and make it a topic of discussion between people who experience overstimulation, their loved ones, and experts such as doctors and researchers? With the project ‘Hersenschimmen: Talking about Stimuli’, Dr Mark Bos is investigating how generative AI can be used for this purpose.
"One of the things that AI makes possible is that people can create an image themselves. Is this image suitable for explaining – for example to your doctor – what it is like to experience overstimulation? This is what I want to investigate," says Mark. "What I hope is that it will make it easier for doctors to make diagnoses and offer help."
These images were AI-generated, based on prompts given by people who experience overstimulation.
"I experience overstimulation physically, in how I move myself and my balance. These two things do not work well together, and as a result, I can stumble easily or suddenly drop things. I have to do everything with a great deal of focus, which costs a lot of energy and therefore makes me tired quickly. Overstimulation also makes me more easily irritated and distracted, and makes me feel physically vulnerable."
Collaboration
For this project, Mark is collaborating with various parties. "What works very well for me is openly communicating about ideas and research. This helps to get a feel for your own idea and understand how it is received by others. When starting the NWA application, I was in discussions with Med-It (a company that develops software for the medical sector, ed.) about the use of visual communication in the medical world. The Brain Foundation is closely involved with people who experience problems such as overstimulation due to an acquired brain injury. At the same time, the museum world is increasingly offering low-stimulus visits, and the UMU (Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Museum) has extensive experience with public engagement. These parties are therefore very interesting to collaborate with for this research.
Visitors to the UMU enjoyed being asked for input as early as the testing phase. They found it very interesting and had many questions about the next steps. We do not know the outcome yet or whether this will really work, but that is also part of doing research."
"It is as if you are receiving all sorts of signals without having any control over them. Sounds, images, smells, and sensations come in, but you cannot decide which signals to ignore. It makes you tired, and it feels as if you are underwater and your ears are blocked. Experiencing overstimulation matches the colours blue, green, and grey. The signals have all the colours of the rainbow."
For young researchers who want to get started with public engagement, I recommend to talk to lots of people and parties such as the UMU at an early stage, to see how their idea is received. This takes you, as a scientist, out of the research bubble. The great thing about these kinds of collaborations is that you are constantly forced to think about the translation to a broader audience and about the public’s questions. This leads to many insights for your research."
The project is funded by an NWO-NWA Science Communication 2024 grant.
Dr Mark Bos is a lecturer and researcher at the Faculty of Science. He focuses on (public) science communication and hopes to contribute to the development of science students in the field of science communication and public engagement.
Text: Marieke Verhoeven
Photo: Roy Vermeij