Electroencephalogram
Submitted to: Submitted By:
MRS. Jasveer ALIYA HUSSAIN
Associate Professor MSc 1 st Year
CON, IHBAS, New Delhi. CON, IHBAS, New Delhi.
Introduction:
EEG stands for Electroencephalography.
It’s record the electrical activity of brain
During an EEG test, small electrodes like cup or disc type are placed on the scalp.
They pick up the brain’s electrical signals and send them to a machine called
Electroencephalogram.
It records the signals as wavy lines on to a computer screen or paper in order of microvolt.
EEG waves ranges from 0.1 to 100
Amplitude 2 to 200 micro volts.
Definition:
It is the record of electrical activity of brain (superficial layer i.e. the dendrites of pyramidal
cells) by placing the electrodes on the scalp.
History of EEG:
In 1875: Richard Caton (physician) from Germany, discovered electrical activity of brain by
probing the surface of exposed brains cerebral hemispheres) of animals (Rabbits and dogs)
In 1890: Adolf Beck of Poland investigation of spontaneous electrical activity of brain of rabbit
and dogs.
In 1920: Hans Berger (psychiatrist) was the first to record EEG tracing from human beings.
He discovered waves at 10 HZ (Alpha waves because they were the first isolated in the human
EEG)
In 1935: Forester and Alteberger they first use of intra operative EEG.
In 1950: Herbert developed this technique, using ECoG for localization & surgical treatment of
epilepsy.
Uses of Epilepsy:
1. Epilepsy:
Generalized (grandma) seizures
Absence (petitmal) seizures
2. Localize brain tumors, encephalitis, dementia, head injury and hemorrhages
3. Sleep disorders (polysomnography)
Narcolepsy
Sleep apnea syndrome
Insomnia and parasomnia
4. Helpful in knowing the cortical activity, toxicity, hypoxia and encephalopathy
5. Determination of brain death.
Flat EEG line on two records run 24 hrs apart
Types of lobes:
Frontal Lobe: Emotional and motor activity
Parietal Lobe: Sensory purpose (pain, touch, pressure)
Temporal lobes: Auditory system (hear & sound)
Occipital lobe: Visual purpose (see and eye)
Neuronal activation and electrical field:
The brain consists of hundreds of thousands of cells, so-called neurons. In fact, there are
About 100 billion neurons in the human brain, which are all heavily interconnected.
Neurons typically consist of a cell body and one or more dendrites which all end at
Synapses. Synapses act as gateways of inhibitory or excitatory activity between neurons.
This means that synapses propagate information impulses across neurons (excitatory) or
Prevent the passage of information from one neuron to the next (inhibitory).
The synaptic transmission is triggered by the release of neurotransmitters (dopamine,
Epinephrine, acetylcholine, etc.), which causes a voltage change across the cell membrane.
In other words: Any synaptic activity generates a subtle electrical field, which is also
Called postsynaptic potential (post = behind). Postsynaptic potentials typically last tens to
Hundreds of milliseconds.
Types of EEG tests
Healthcare providers order different EEG tests depending on the medical issue. EEG test types
include:
Routine EEG: Routine EEG scans may involve looking at flashing lights or taking breaths
at different times during the test. This type of EEG test may take 20 to 30 minutes.
Prolonged EEG: This test gives your provider more information than a routine EEG. Your
provider may order a prolonged EEG test to determine if certain symptoms, like a
memory lapse, happen because you have seizures. Prolonged EEGs may take about an
hour or longer to complete.
Ambulatory EEG: In this test, you’re able to go about your day while an EEG machine
tracks your brain activity. Ambulatory EEGs involve wearing a small EEG recorder that
you wear for one or more days.
Video EEG: If you’re having an EEG because your provider wants to record seizures, they
may ask you to have a video EEG so they can see and hear what you’re doing. They may
call this test EEG monitoring, EEG telemetry or video EEG monitoring.
Sleep EEG: Your provider may order a sleep EEG along with a sleep study
(polysomnogram) to obtain more information than a sleep study alone provides. They
may order this test if you have a sleep disorder that could be a result of an epileptic
condition.
Invasive EEG- telemetry: It is not common. It involves surgery to place electrodes
directly on the brain to find out exactly where the seizures are arising.
How does an EEG work?
An EEG works by measuring the electrical signals or impulses that travel between brain cells.
EEGs track those signals by using electrodes that attach to wires that sense electrical impulses.
The electrodes:
1. Send information about the signals to an EEG machine.
2. The EEG machine records brain waves and generates a visual output in the form of
waveforms (traces) on a computer screen that recreate the pattern of brain activity
recorded.
3. Our brain wave patterns change when you’re awake, asleep or if something affects your
brain cells.
4. The image on a computer screen is your EEG.
5. Healthcare provider will review your EEG for abnormal patterns.
Factors influencing EEG:
Age:
Infant- theta, delta
Child- alpha formation
Adult- all four waves
Level of consciousness
Hypocapnia ( hyperventilation) slow and high amplitude
Hypoglycemia
Hypothermia
Low glucocorticoids Slow waves
Objectives:
To identify and describe changes produced by provocation tests. Eg: eye opening and
closing, intermittent photic stimulation, clapping sound, induce thinking and
hyperventilation.
To appreciate clinical uses of EEG.
Requirements:
EEG machine (8/16 channels)
Silver cup electrodes/metallic bridge electrodes
Electrode jelly
Rubber cap
Quiet and comfortable room
Skin pencil and measuring tape
EEG Electrodes:
Each electrodes site is labeled with a letter and a number.
The letter refers to the area of brain underlying the electrodes
E, g- F- Frontal T- Temporal
Even numbers denote the right of te head and
Odd numbers denote left side of the head
Procedure for recording:
A standard EEg makes use of 21 electrodes linked in various ways(montage)
Apply electrode according to 10/20% system
Check the impedence of the electrodes
Montage:
Different sets of electrodes arrangement on the scalp by 10-20 system known s montage.
21 electrodes are attached to give 8 0r 16 channels of recording.
Montage:
Different sets of electrodes arrangement on the scalp by 10-20 system known s montage.
21 electrodes are attached to give 8 0r 16 channels of recording
Preparation:
Ask the patients medications
Wash hair the night before test, but don’t use conditioner that could affect how
electrodes transmit brain activity information.
Not sleep the night before your test if ask you not to.
During a routine EEG:
1. Make the patient sit in a chair or lie on a bed.
2. A technician places about 23 electrodes on scalp with glue or paste. The electrodes
don’t cause any sensation or pain. They’re simply there to record your brain activity.
3. You relax with eyes either open or closed.
4. Technician may ask you to look at a bright light to see activity in the part of your brain
that manages vision.
5. They may ask to take a series of deep breaths.
Rhythm Frequency(Hz) Amplitude( uv) Recording& location
Alpha 8-13 50-100 Adults, rest eye
closed
Occipital region
Beta 14-30 20 Adult, mental
activity,
Frontal region
Theta 5-7 <50 Children, drowsy
adults, emotional
distress, occipital
Delta 2-4 <50 Children in sleep
EEG Results
Normal EEG Abnormal EEG
A brain wave pattern called alpha rhythm People with epilepsy may have abnormal
should be seen when sitting quietly with eyes brain activity detected
closed
EEG results are often normal because People who do not have epilepsy may also
recording a person’s brain activity during the have an abnormal EEG result indicating any
time it is abnormal. other disorder
Artifact corrections:
Independent component analysis techniques have been used to correct or remove EEG
contaminants
This would result in clean EEG by nullifying (Zeroing) the weight of unwanted
components.
Surface Laplacian has been shown effective in eliminating muscle artifacts.
Risks and Precautions:
Slight redness may occur in the location where the electrodes were placed
In rare cases, the cleaning liquid or paste may cause temporary skin irritation
The person is instructed to not to take food contains caffeine
Not to have oiled hair on the day test
Advantages:
Hardware costs are significantly lower than those of most other techniques
It has high temporal resolution, on the order of milliseconds rather than seconds
Extremely non- invasive
It is silent, which allows for better study of the responses to auditory stimuli
EEG does not involve exposure to high- intensity (> Tesla) magnetic fields
Disadvantage:
Low spatial resolution on the scalp
EEG determines neuronal activity than occurs below the proper layers of the brain
poorly
Often take long time to connect a subject to EEG
Video EEG:
It is a 36 channels EEG system
The system incorporates digital video with the traditional EEG
It is unaffected by electrical, radio and magnetic interference
References:
Haas LF. Hans Berger (1873-1941), Richard Caton (1842-1926), and
electroencephalography. J Neural Neurosurgery Psychiatry. 2003 Jan;74
(1):9. [PMC free article] [PubMed]
Tudor M, Tudor L, Tudor KI. [Hans Berger (1873-1941)--the history of
electroencephalography]. Acta Med Croatica. 2005; 59(4):307-13. [PubMed]
COOPER R, WINTER AL, CROW HJ, WALTER WG. COMPARISON OF SUBCORTICAL,
CORTICAL AND SCALP ACTIVITY USING CHRONICALLY INDWELLING ELECTRODES
IN MAN. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiology. 1965 Feb; 18:217-
28. [PubMed]
DeFelipe J, Fariñas I. The pyramidal neuron of the cerebral cortex: morphological
and chemical characteristics of the synaptic inputs. Prog Neurobiology. 1992
Dec;39(6):563-607. [PubMed]
Biasiucci A, Franceschiello B, Murray MM. Electroencephalography. Curr
Biol. 2019 Feb 04;29(3):R80-R85. [PubMed]
Kirschstein T, Köhling R. What is the source of the EEG? Clin EEG Neurosci. 2009
Jul;40(3):146-9. [PubMed]
Babiloni C, Binetti G, Cassarino A, Dal Forno G, Del Percio C, Ferreri F, Ferri R,
Frisoni G, Galderisi S, Hirata K, Lanuzza B, Miniussi C, Mucci A, Nobili F, Rodriguez
G, Luca Romani G, Rossini PM. Sources of cortical rhythms in adults during
physiological aging: a multicentric EEG study. Hum Brain Mapp. 2006
Feb;27(2):162-72. [PMC free article] [PubMed]
