QEEG Brain Mapping: What It Is, What It Shows, and What to Expect

QEEG Brain Mapping: What It Is, What It Shows, and What to Expect

If you've heard of QEEG brain mapping, you probably have questions. What does it actually measure? What can it tell you about your brain? How is it different from a standard EEG? And what happens during the assessment?

I've analyzed over 25,000 QEEG brain maps in my career. Here's what you need to know.

What Is QEEG Brain Mapping?

QEEG stands for Quantitative Electroencephalography. It's a way of measuring, recording, and analyzing the electrical activity your brain produces — then comparing it against databases of typical brain function to identify where your patterns deviate.

Your brain generates electrical signals constantly. Every thought, every sensation, every moment of attention or distraction produces measurable oscillations at the scalp. These oscillations occur at different frequencies, each associated with different brain states:

• Delta (1-4 Hz): Deep sleep, tissue repair. Excess during waking indicates brain injury or severe fatigue.
• Theta (4-8 Hz): Drowsiness, internal focus, memory processing. Excess during tasks indicates attention difficulties.
• Alpha (8-12 Hz): Relaxed wakefulness, sensory gating. Your brain's "idle mode." Fast alpha may indicate anxiety.
• SMR (12-15 Hz): Calm focus, motor stillness. Low SMR correlates with restlessness and poor sleep.
• Beta (15-20 Hz): Active thinking, focused attention. Low beta indicates attention deficits; excess can mean overthinking.
• High Beta (20-30 Hz): Intense focus, anxiety, rumination. Excess is common in anxiety disorders.
• Gamma (30-45 Hz): Binding, consciousness, peak cognitive performance. Relevant in advanced training.

A standard EEG — the kind you'd get in a hospital — looks for pathological patterns: seizure activity, tumors, structural abnormalities. It's a pass/fail test.

QEEG goes further. It quantifies the functional patterns — how much of each frequency your brain produces, where it produces it, and how different brain regions communicate with each other. It's the difference between checking if your car engine runs at all (EEG) and running full diagnostics on every system (QEEG).

What Does a QEEG Show?

After recording, the raw EEG data is processed through statistical analysis and compared against age-matched normative databases. The results reveal:

Power (Amplitude)

How much of each frequency band is present at each electrode site. Deviations from the norm suggest:

• Excess theta frontal: Attention difficulties, "daydreamy" ADHD
• Excess high beta: Anxiety, rumination, difficulty relaxing
• Low SMR central: Poor sleep, physical restlessness
• Alpha asymmetry: Mood regulation issues (left-deficient alpha associated with withdrawal and depression)

Coherence (Connectivity)

How well different brain regions communicate with each other. Disruptions suggest:

• Hypocoherence: Poor connectivity (common after concussion/TBI)
• Hypercoherence: Regions locked together that should operate independently (can indicate rigidity, OCD-like patterns)

Phase (Timing)

Whether brain regions are firing in synchrony when they should be. Phase disruptions indicate:

• Processing speed issues
• Learning difficulties
• Communication delays between regions

Asymmetry

Whether the left and right hemispheres are balanced. Key findings:

• Frontal alpha asymmetry: Greater right frontal alpha relative to left is associated with approach motivation; the reverse with withdrawal and depression
• Temporal asymmetry: Can indicate language processing or emotional regulation issues

What QEEG Is Not

QEEG is not a diagnostic tool for psychiatric conditions. It doesn't "diagnose" ADHD, depression, or anxiety the way a blood test diagnoses diabetes. What it does is identify patterns of brain function that are associated with specific symptoms and conditions.

Think of it this way: ADHD is a behavioral diagnosis based on symptoms ("has difficulty sustaining attention, is easily distracted..."). QEEG shows you the underlying brain pattern that produces those symptoms — which could be frontal theta excess, low SMR, beta deficit, or several other patterns. The behavioral diagnosis tells you what; the QEEG tells you why.

This matters because different brain patterns that produce similar symptoms require different interventions. Two people with identical ADHD diagnoses might have completely different QEEG profiles — and respond to different neurofeedback protocols.

How Is QEEG Different from EEG?

Both measure the same electrical signals. The difference is in what you do with the data. Standard EEG is qualitative (pattern recognition by eye); QEEG is quantitative (statistical analysis against databases).

What Happens During a QEEG Assessment?

The process is straightforward and completely non-invasive:

Step 1: Cap Placement (10-15 minutes)

A cap with 19 or more electrode sensors is placed on your head. Conductive gel is applied at each sensor site to ensure good signal quality. The cap follows the international 10-20 system — standardized electrode positions used worldwide.

Step 2: Eyes-Closed Recording (5-10 minutes)

You sit quietly with your eyes closed. This measures your brain's resting state patterns — the default activity your brain produces when not engaged in a task.

Step 3: Eyes-Open Recording (5-10 minutes)

You sit quietly with your eyes open, looking at a fixed point. This measures how your brain shifts when visual processing is engaged. The comparison between eyes-closed and eyes-open is diagnostically valuable — healthy brains show characteristic changes (alpha blocking) that may be disrupted in certain conditions.

Step 4: Continuous Performance Test (ages 7+, ~20 minutes)

At Peak Brain, we include the IVA-2 — a Go/NoGo continuous performance test (CPT) that measures sustained attention, impulse control, processing speed, and response consistency. You watch a screen and respond to targets while ignoring distractors. The IVA-2 captures both auditory and visual attention, providing objective attention metrics that complement the QEEG data. This is standard for clients age 7 and above.

Step 5: Analysis and Report (post-recording)

The raw data is artifact-corrected (removing eye blinks, muscle tension, etc.), processed through normative database comparisons, and compiled into a comprehensive report. This analysis typically takes several hours and requires expertise in QEEG interpretation.

Step 6: Results Review

You meet with the clinician to review your brain map. They'll walk you through the findings, explain what the patterns mean in the context of your symptoms and goals, and recommend an intervention plan.

The entire recording session takes approximately 45-60 minutes. There's nothing to prepare — no fasting, no medication changes (unless specifically instructed). The procedure involves zero pain, zero risk, and zero side effects.

How Much Does QEEG Brain Mapping Cost?

Costs vary by provider, but here's a realistic range:

• Industry range: $500-1,500 for a standalone QEEG assessment
• Peak Brain Institute in-office: $499/year for unlimited QEEG brain maps — your initial assessment plus as many re-maps as you need to track progress throughout your training
• Peak Brain Institute at-home (remote): $999 for a one-time remote QEEG, with clinical-grade equipment shipped to you

The unlimited in-office model is unusual in the industry, but we use it because re-mapping is how we measure progress objectively. You shouldn't have to pay a premium every time we need to check whether your brain is changing. See our programs page for current pricing and program details.

QEEG is not typically covered by standard health insurance, but is generally eligible for HSA/FSA spending. Peak Brain provides superbills for potential out-of-network reimbursement.

Who Benefits from QEEG Brain Mapping?

QEEG is valuable for anyone who wants an objective picture of their brain function. Common reasons people seek QEEG:

• ADHD assessment: Identifying the specific attention subtype to guide treatment
• Anxiety: Mapping which circuits are overactive (ACC, amygdala, autonomic)
• Depression: Identifying frontal asymmetry and other treatable patterns
• Post-concussion: Assessing connectivity disruptions and tracking recovery
• Sleep problems: Identifying SMR deficits, excess slow-wave activity, or circadian markers
• Peak performance: Establishing a baseline and identifying optimization targets
• Medication guidance: Understanding which brain patterns may respond to which interventions
• Treatment tracking: Comparing before and after maps to measure objective change

The Bottom Line

QEEG brain mapping gives you something no symptom checklist can: an objective, quantitative picture of how your brain is functioning. It shows you the specific patterns underlying your symptoms, which guides treatment decisions and provides measurable benchmarks for tracking progress.

In my practice, I've never regretted starting with a brain map. The information it provides changes the conversation from "what symptoms do you have?" to "what is your brain doing, and how do we shift it?" That's a fundamentally more precise approach to brain health.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is a QEEG brain map used for?

QEEG brain mapping identifies patterns of brain electrical activity that correspond to specific symptoms and conditions. It's primarily used to guide neurofeedback protocol selection, assess brain function after concussion, track treatment progress objectively, and identify the specific neurophysiological patterns underlying ADHD, anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and other conditions.

How much does QEEG brain mapping cost?

QEEG brain mapping typically costs $500-1,500 across the industry. At Peak Brain Institute, in-office QEEG is $499/year for unlimited brain maps (initial assessment plus all progress re-maps). Remote QEEG is $999 for a one-time at-home assessment. QEEG is generally not covered by standard health insurance but is eligible for HSA/FSA spending.

What is the difference between EEG and QEEG?

Standard EEG is a qualitative test that looks for pathological patterns (seizures, tumors) through visual inspection. QEEG is a quantitative analysis that measures the statistical properties of brain activity — power, coherence, phase, and asymmetry across all frequency bands — and compares them against age-matched normative databases. Both measure the same electrical signals; QEEG extracts far more functional information.

How long does a QEEG brain map take?

The recording session takes approximately 45-60 minutes. The subsequent analysis (artifact correction, database comparison, report generation) takes several additional hours and is performed after the session. Results are typically available within 1-2 weeks.

Is QEEG covered by insurance?

QEEG is not typically covered by standard health insurance plans. However, it may qualify for HSA (Health Savings Account) or FSA (Flexible Spending Account) reimbursement. Peak Brain Institute provides superbills that can be submitted to insurance for potential out-of-network reimbursement.

What does a QEEG show?

A QEEG shows detailed maps of brain electrical activity including: power (how much of each frequency band at each location), coherence (how well brain regions communicate), phase (timing synchrony between regions), and asymmetry (left-right hemisphere balance). These measures are compared against normative databases to identify deviations that may correlate with specific symptoms or conditions.