It’s easier to imagine working in the Neurotherapy or mental health field with brain mapping, also known as a Quantitative Electroencephalogram; big words, but simple. The brain is a highly complex organ composed of billions of neurons. Neurons communicate with and from all parts of your body. These are electrical impulses that cause brain waves.

Electroencephalogram means measuring brainwaves like an electrocardiogram measures the electrical impulses the heart makes when it contracts. The Quantitative part means that we accurately measure or quantify the brainwaves and compare them to a normative Database.

The brain map (a neuro map) is a valuable tool for evaluating your brainwaves and identifying opportunities to improve communication between different brain regions. The brain map can capture a window of brain activity, analyze the data, and generate a visual representation for each lobe and brain wave (Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta).

Brain mapping, in other words, is a set of neuroscience techniques used to track biological quantities or properties onto spatial representations of the (human or non-human) brain, which result in maps. Brain mapping can be considered a higher form of neuroimaging in that it produces brain images supplemented by the results of additional (imaging or non-imaging) data processing or analysis, such as maps that project (measures of) behavior onto brain regions.

Brain Mapping Process

Software records electrical impulses in the brain using a cap placed on the scalp. This is referred to as an electroencephalogram (EEG). The findings show brain wave patterns in various parts of the brain. The data is then converted into a visual brain map report. We examine the brain map report to identify any issues. The report will present the results in a clear and concise format that is easy to understand for a clinician.

What exactly is an assessment report?

The Assessment Report is a detailed examination of your brainwave activity. It displays the data for each type of brainwave and the emotional and cognitive outcomes. The brain is a complex organ; the report covers the most significant areas where symptoms can appear.

Each brain lobe (frontal, parietal, central, temporal, and occipital) is analyzed for each type of brain wave: Delta, Theta, Alpha, and Beta. Green means the level is normal, red means the level is high, and yellow represents a very high level.

This evaluation also includes a detailed analysis of cognitive, emotional, executive, and memory processing.

Summary of Brain Map Benefits

It has been proven that when we find an explanation for something bothering us, we feel relieved, regardless of the reason. Brain mapping is becoming an increasingly important tool in modern neuroscience. Scientists can learn more about how the brain works and develop new treatments for neurological disorders by visualizing the brain’s neural pathways. Brain mapping, in addition to its scientific applications, allows people to understand their brains better.

Examining Different Brain Areas

Mapping reveals important information about an individual’s brain structure. In many ways, this is both medically and psychologically beneficial. Our therapists can help you figure out why you were tested in the first place by looking at the information from different parts of your brain.  

Identify Causes and Symptoms

Another important benefit of brain mapping is that it can help you figure out what’s causing any physical or mental symptoms you might be having. Brain mapping is an important way to figure out how and why people feel anxious or sad and how and why they have many other mental health problems that affect our society daily.

Creates Precise Treatments

Brain mapping is beneficial when clinicians try to figure out how to treat a certain disease or illness. It can be helpful when a patient is having or treating hard-to-diagnose symptoms. Your doctor may use brain mapping to create a treatment plan focusing on the specific areas of your brain causing your symptoms.

Improved Understanding of Brain Communication

The most important thing to understand from a brain map is how the brain communicates with the rest of the body. Understanding whether or not there is a proper connection between areas of the brain could be extremely beneficial in treating various diseases and symptoms like tremors, cramps, and even speech problems.

The Evolution of Brain Mapping

Human functional brain mapping as we know it today started when experimental methods from cognitive psychology were combined with modern brain-imaging techniques (first positron emission tomography, then functional magnetic resonance imaging) to find out how brain function supports mental activities.

Coming together of different fields and methods boosted the field of cognitive neuroscience, which has quickly grown to include a wide range of social sciences and basic scientists interested in the neurophysiology, cell biology, and genetics of imaging signals. Although much of this work has occurred in the last few decades, its origins can be traced back more than a century.

The first human electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded in 1924 by German psychiatrist Hans Berger. This early EEG could detect electrical waves in the brain that rose and fell as brain cells communicate. Since then, neuroimaging techniques have become more and more advanced. They are now an important tool for neurologists and mental health professionals.

Brain Mapping Methods

Brain mapping techniques constantly change because they depend on developing and improving ways to get, represent, analyze, visualize, and understand images. The mapping aspect of brain mapping is centered on functional and structural neuroimaging.

The Risks of Brain Mapping

Brain mapping is important because it allows clinicians to:

• Investigate the inner workings of your brain safely.
• Plan specific brain training and improve therapies to alleviate symptoms in patients.
• It is, however, non-invasive and safe by nature. There may be some tiredness and discomfort during and after the procedure, but it is not significant.

Final Thoughts: Neurofeedback Therapy after Brain Mapping

Brain Mapping is an important assessment tool for those with ADD/ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Learning Disorders, Anxiety, Depression, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, among other conditions. As a psychotherapy clinic, the Insight Clinic relies on one of the largest clinical databases available in Ontario, Canada utilizing qEEG brain mapping for neurofeedback.

This Neurofeedback Brain Training will benefit you in the following ways:

A. Improved Cognitive Function

B. Improved Memory

C. Stress Reduction