What qEEG (quantitative EEG) is, how it is done and what it can show

qEEG, or quantitative EEG, is an electroencephalogram analysed with the help of a computer. The brain's electrical activity is recorded with electrodes placed on the scalp, then a program turns the signal into numbers and colour maps, which it compares with the typical values for your age. The result is often called brain mapping or a brain map.

The term comes up more and more often in conversations about ADHD, anxiety or mental fatigue, and the promises that come with it vary widely. Some are accurate, others seriously stretch what a measurement can do. Below you will find how a qEEG is done, how it differs from the EEG your neurologist orders, what medical guidelines say about its limits and how much it costs at the BrainMap Institute.

Both tests begin in the same way, with electrodes on the scalp. They only part ways in how the signal is read and in the question they try to answer.

A standard EEG answers the question of whether there is anything abnormal in the trace. qEEG tries to describe how your brain works compared with that of other people your age. That is why a qEEG does not replace the EEG a neurologist orders when epilepsy is suspected, and a routine EEG was never designed to describe an attention profile.

In 1997, the joint guideline of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society required brain mapping to be used only as an addition to the standard reading of the EEG, and only by doctors highly trained in EEG. The document has since been retired. The core idea has stayed in the literature, however, and the map is read together with the trace and the patient's history.

A qEEG map can show where slow activity is stronger than you would expect at your age, where fast rhythms are in excess or how well areas far apart from each other synchronise. For a specialist, these are useful clues when they match what the patient describes.

• A profile of electrical activity at rest, compared with an age-based normative database.
• Clues about patterns that studies have linked to attention, sleep or alertness.
• A measurable starting point you can compare yourself against after a few months.

This caution is backed by the literature. The American Psychiatric Association's 1991 report found qEEG useful mainly for the abnormal slow waves seen in delirium, dementia or intoxication, and noted that its role in diagnosing depression or schizophrenia had not yet been established. The American neurologists' 1997 guideline considered the method still at the research stage for attention and learning disorders, depression and mild head injuries.

Things have moved on since then, but more slowly than the advertising suggests. A 2006 report by the American Neuropsychiatric Association recommended cautious use of qEEG in children with attention and learning disorders, as well as in adults with mood disorders or dementia. In 2021, the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society guideline concluded that the evidence does not support qEEG for diagnosing concussion.

The practical conclusion is simple. The map is one piece of a bigger picture, which includes your history, the clinical examination and other tests where needed. It can also guide a brain training programme such as neurofeedback, if the specialist considers that it makes sense in your case.

An electroencephalogram can be done at any age, because it only listens to the signal. With children the challenge is a different one. A 5-year-old struggles to sit for 7 minutes with their eyes closed, and every blink, scratch or smile leaves traces in the signal.

These segments are called artefacts and are removed before the calculation. When too few clean seconds are left, the result becomes less reliable, so a calm recording matters more than a long one.

There is one more important detail. A child's brain changes its rhythms as it grows, and slow waves are more present at younger ages. That is why the comparison is always made with children of the same age, never with adults. The device used at the institute can be used from the age of 2, and whether the assessment makes sense at your child's age is worth clarifying in the initial conversation.

A few things help a lot. Explain to your child beforehand, in simple words, what is going to happen, for example that they will wear a soft, slightly damp cap that only listens to how the brain works. Choose a time of day when they are usually rested and have eaten.

The recording itself takes 14 minutes, and with fitting and removing the cap you spend around 20 minutes at the clinic. The results arrive by email within 7 working days at most, because the map is read by people, not just coloured in by a program. We have described each stage in the article on how long a brain map takes.

The BrainMap assessment costs 2,000 lei including VAT and is paid once. The price includes the qEEG scan, the interpretation and the recommendations from the institute's founders. You will find the full list of what it includes, along with our other fees, on the pricing page.

If you want to know what the map can show for a specific problem, we have a dedicated page on anxiety and qEEG assessment. Everything you receive with the assessment is described on the BrainMap, the brain map page. Anyone who wants a more technical read on normative databases and connectivity can download the free guide to clinical qEEG.

Book a call with the BrainMap Institute’s specialists and find out how a BrainMap and brain training can help you.

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The qEEG assessment (brain mapping) is carried out at our centers in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași, Brașov, Constanța, Târgu Mureș, Bacău and Craiova. Prices are listed on our pricing page.