Temporals T5 and T6 are on the equator that runs around the circumference of the head from the middle of the valley that crosses the forehead above the supra-orbital ridge, just touching the top of the left and right ears and running through Oz (about 1.5 inches above the inion). They are 70% of the total distance from Fpz to Oz on that line back from Fpz. T3 and T4 are 50% of the distance and Oz is 100% of […]

Reassessing at the End of Training If you need an assessment to tell you if the training is working…it’s not. If you are hoping to prove that the training worked with the EEG, you’ll probably be disappointed. The assessment or the QEEG could be done several times over a period of a couple days and come up looking quite different depending on whether it was done early in the morning, after lunch, late afternoon, during the school/work year, during summer […]

Variance/Variability On the variability page of the TQ assessment, the coefficient of variability is the Variance (standard deviation squared) divided by the mean. It shows the number of times that variance is greater than the average, so a higher number means a much more spread-out distribution–less effective control of brain activity in that area and in that frequency. Variability in one frequency doesn’t necessarily have any relationship to variability at others, so if beta for example is surging, that doesn’t […]

SCP refers to Slow Cortical Potentials. The brain produces both AC signals (the kind we usually train using neurofeedback), which oscillate between positive and negative numerous times per minute. When you train a signal at 14 Hz, for example, it has 14 positive and 14 negative pulses each second, which we see on the screen as peaks and valleys above and below the baseline on the raw waveform. However, the brain also produces DC signals, which you might see when […]

Hearing the Signal The skull is a very poor conductor of electricity; it tends to “smoosh” (to use a technical term) the EEG from a fairly broad area–about 10 square centimeters of brain surface.  That’s one reason why it’s not absolutely critical to be in an exact site to train a specific area of the brain. Also, neurons tend to work in pools (like synchronized swimmers), so we aren’t really looking at the summed results of a bunch of individual […]

Parietals The parietals are math calculation and concept territory.  P3 can be helpful in calculation and counting; P4 more for math concepts. P4 is the site where we distinguish ourselves in space, where I end and the rest of the world begins.  People who are under-activated here can bump into things a lot. Facial recognition is generally found to be in the right parietal lobe, somewhere just above T6. The area between P3 and T5 is very active in integrating […]

Tracking Changes So many people hear the stories of miracle responses to neurofeedback and assume that’s the norm. The reality is that consistent work over time is what tends to produce lasting results, not miracle reactions. It’s always important to remember that the training is for the brain–not the trainer, and not the trainee’s mind. The brain is getting the feedback, which in many cases the mind can’t make head nor tail of–much less the trainer. When you do psychodynamic […]

Thresholds Here’s the way I look at the question of automatic versus manual thresholds: 1. Assuming one is talking about amplitude training only (i.e. not synchrony, variability or other options), generally a more healthy and mature brain produces lower amplitudes and lower variability. Even if you say you are training theta down and SMR up, you will most likely see BOTH go down, though theta will go down more, so the relationship between them changes. 2. Since the brain changes […]

Activation Patterns Once again let me make a point for my own personal prejudice in training. First, very few brains that we are likely to see in training have a problem with too LITTLE activation.  A very large majority will actually reduce activation in ALL bands as they improve. Second, when you train ANY frequency to increase amplitudes, it is very likely that ALL frequencies will increase amplitudes.  When you train any frequency to DECREASE amplitudes, it’s likely that all […]

Left Hemisphere vs. Right The right and left hemispheres are geographically and functionally different. The left has more neurons, more closely packed, and the left side neurons tend to have short connections, so they work in their own neighborhoods. Frontal neurons work with frontal neurons; parietal with parietal, etc. They don’t pay much attention to other points of view. The left hemisphere is the side of rules, so rule-based processes like language and calculation are handled there. The left side […]