Have you ever wondered what’s going on inside your brain? Maybe you’ve been feeling a bit foggy lately, or you’ve been struggling to concentrate. The qEEG brain map is here to shed some light on the inner workings of your noggin.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. “A brain map? Is that like a treasure map, but for my brain?” Not quite, but close. Instead of leading you to a chest of gold doubloons, a qEEG brain map shows you the areas of your brain that may be causing trouble — like a big red X marking the spot.
How the map is made
The map is generated from an EEG recording, which involves a cap with 19 small sensors that record your brain’s electrical activity while you sit quietly. (Less glamorous than a treasure map, but far more useful.)
Software then analyzes the recording and produces a colorful map of your brain’s electrical activity — think of it as a heat map for brainwaves. The software compares your activity to a normative database — a large collection of recordings from other brains — and generates a report showing where your activity deviates from what’s typical for your age.
Why that matters
Say you’re struggling with attention and focus. The map might show that your frontal lobes, which handle those functions, are a bit sluggish. Armed with that information, we can build a plan to train those areas. It’s like a personalized brain workout.
As with any assessment, there are limits to what a brain map can tell you. It won’t magically solve every problem. But it is a genuinely helpful tool for understanding brain function and identifying the areas that need attention. Here’s what the visit is actually like.
Where brainwaves come from
Brainwaves are rhythmic electrical patterns generated by neurons as they communicate with each other. They can be measured with electrodes placed on the scalp — an electroencephalogram, or EEG.
There are several types of brainwaves, each with a different frequency and associated with different states:
- Delta (0.5–4 Hz). The slowest waves, associated with deep sleep.
- Theta (4–8 Hz). Drowsiness, daydreaming and light sleep; also present during meditation.
- Alpha (8–13 Hz). Relaxed and calm but awake and alert — often seen when we close our eyes and relax.
- Beta (13–30 Hz). Active thinking, problem-solving and focused attention.
- Gamma (30–100 Hz). The fastest waves, associated with higher processing such as perception and memory.
The balance between these waves — where they’re too strong, too weak, or in the wrong place — is what a brain map reveals, and what neurofeedback trains.
This article is for education only and is not medical advice. Neurofeedback supports self-regulation; it does not diagnose, treat or cure any condition.