What is QEEG Brain Mapping?
A quantitative EEG is also known as a brain map. What is a brain map?
This is an electrical measurement, analysis, and quantification of brainwaves. Brainwaves are created by electrical charges generated by the brain. We first gather the raw EEG data, and then we process it through a normative database, which is a database of healthy individual’s brainwaves of the same age. This gives us a comparison of the individuals brain relative to others. This is the first step in a QEEG assessment process.
How do you obtain a brain map?
This process includes placing a cap with 20 electrodes onto the head of the participant and injecting gel into the electrodes. Then, we use the electrodes to pick up microvolts of electrical potentials generated by the brain, which show up as brainwaves.
What do you do with the brainwave information?
After the brainwaves have been recorded, it is run through many types of digitized filters, that breaks them into their respective components and brainwave bandwidths of Delta (0-4 Hz), theta (5-8 Hz), alpha (9-12 Hz), low beta (13-16 Hz), mid beta (17-25Hz), hi beta (26-40Hz), and gamma (41-70Hz). Each brainwave bandwidth represents something different.
What can we do with this information?
Professionals use different established databases filled with hundreds of others’ EEGs. With that comparison, a professional is able to determine where the individual is different from the norm. We are able to look not only at the individuals brainwaves but also the relationship of the brainwaves to one another, the symmetry of the brain, the stability of the brainwave relationships, and the areas where the brain might be generating problematic signals causing the problematic symptoms and behaviors being experienced.
So what is a QEEG brain map? In the field this information is considered a quality road map assessment. It allows a professional to develop a training plan to help resolve the issues identified.
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