A New Way To Test For Signs Of Consciousness In Unresponsive, Brain-Injured Patients

Patients who are brain-injured and unresponsive may appear unconscious, but a study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine repurposed a widely-used technology to demonstrate that the brains of some of these patients are still active.

 How Does An Electroencephalogram Work?

The majority of signals captured by EEG represent the summation of cortical pyramidal cells (about ten to fifty thousand neurons). The electrodes on the scalp are very sensitive and they detect these dipoles formed by ten to fifty thousand neurons. Those are big numbers but they pale in comparison with the entire cortex. Back in the day this was written on paper, but nowadays we have computers for that...

 ‘It’s Gigantic’: A New Way to Gauge the Chances for Unresponsive Patients

Researchers have found a way to detect “covert consciousness” that could aid the recovery of people with severe brain injuries.

From beginning to end: this was my EEG experience

She took out a tape measure and measured the widest part of my head. Then she made markings all over my scalp and forehead with a red marker. The markings were where she would stick the electrode-thing-ys.

The Role of the Supernatural in the Discovery of EEGs

After Hans Berger received an uncanny telegram, he spent years trying to measure psychic energy.

A New Method to Measure Consciousness Discovered

It's an important new tool for doctors, but what is it actually measuring?

Can Meditation Gadgets Help You Reduce Your Stress—and Find Happiness?

As a technology editor, I predictably looked to the least-meditative, most distracting thing in my life for a solution: my smartphone—specifically apps that pair with electroencephalography (EEG) headsets to provide biofeedback for meditators.

Each part of the brain has its own rhythmic ‘fingerprint’

Since Hans Berger first recorded neural activity from the human scalp with an electroencephalograph (EEG), in 1924, neuroscientists have been trying to make sense of the electrical pulses emitted by our grey matter. Recent studies have focused on brain oscillations (commonly called brain waves) which are thought to be the mechanism by which different brain regions communicate with each other. Our latest study has shed some light on these curious oscillations. We have discovered that each region of the brain has a uniquely identifiable pattern of oscillations – their own rhythmic fingerprint.

Easing Brain Fatigue With a Walk in the Park

Throughout that time, the portable EEGs on their heads continued to feed information about brain wave patterns to the laptops they carried.

EEG in the Epilepsies

The main purpose in obtaining EEG (other than evaluation of focal or generalized cerebral function) is to evaluate patients with known seizures to permit an accurate diagnosis of the seizure type and epilepsy syndrome so that therapy may be appropriately directed or to diagnose unknown paroxysmal spells that may represent seizures.

Facebook's plan to tap into our brains, fact-checked by a neuroscientist

So you look at this disco keyboard while connected to an EEG. “If you focus on a letter,” she says, “that tempo frequency is going to be more reflective in your visual cortex than any other.” And the EEG can pick up on that.will not be able to listen in on your inner monologue.

How to Read an EEG

This section gives a brief introduction to how EEG electrodes are set up, what they mean and what the doctors can learn from reading an EEG.

Mind Control: How EEG Devices Will Read Your Brain Waves And Change Your World

But as malicious as mind reading may seem, EEG devices also have the power to enhance existing technologies that enable humanitarian endeavors.

Setting Limits for Testing Brains

“As humans, we can identify galaxies light-years away. We can study particles smaller than an atom,” President Barack Obama said in April 2013, “But we still haven’t unlocked the mystery of the three pounds of matter that sits between our ears.”

What is an EEG Really Like?

If your child’s neurologist has ordered an EEG you may be wondering what the test will be like and whether or not it will be painful or traumatic for your child. You probably also want to know what sort of information the EEG will be able to tell you. We’ll try to answer some of your questions about EEGs here.