Central Strip

If you look at a picture of the brain, you’ll note that the central sulcus, which divides the front from the back runs in a chevron shape across the center of the head. It veers toward the rear in the middle. The sensory motor cortex runs about an inch on either side of the line, sensory behind it and motor in front.

The sensory-motor cortex follows the central sulcus, the valley across the brain from side to side that separates the frontal lobe from the rest of the brain. Approximately an inch in front of the line is the motor area of the sensory-motor cortex (since the frontal lobe is more involved with motor functions) and the inch or so behind the line is the sensory area (back of the brain is sensory processor). Because the line does not, like most things in nature, follow a straight line when you draw a nice straight line across the head and mark it with C3, Cz and C4, it turns out that C3 and C4 are behind the sulcus, in the sensory area, and Cz is in front of it, in the motor area.  Training at C4 tends to help more with sensory processing, reducing distractibility, etc. and Cz tends to help more with motor control, reducing impulsivity, etc.

The central strip is a very safe place to train, and it has many connections to the thalamus, which is a key center with effects throughout the brain.  Remember that for many years the pioneers in neurofeedback did all training at Cz, C3, C4–and many people still do.

CP5:  It’s roughly where the temporal, occipital and parietal lobes meet on the left, above the back of the left ear an inch or so.