Question 1

what is an eeg for?

Accepted Answer

Brain activity: Eeg is a test of physiological function, and records brain electical activity (like electrocardiogram for heart).  It is used to check for seizure activity, to evaluate various headache issues, to check patients with memory loss, evaluated folks with brain infections, and also confirm brain death.

Question 2

how does an eeg work?

Accepted Answer

Electrical recording: In the same way an ekg measures electrical activity from the heart, an EEG measures activity from the brain.  Electrodes are placed on the scalp and the patient lies quietly while brainwaves are recorded.  Sometimes, hyperventilation and/or flashing lights are used to evoke different responses.  It is important to relax, as electrical activity from muscle can swamp the signals from the brain.

Question 3

how reliable is an eeg?

Accepted Answer

VAGUELY ACCURATE: An EEG is a recording of brain electrical activity taken over the scalp, over about 45 minutes.  This brief period may completely miss many paroxysmal events and provide a false negative/normal result.  Work with direct electrodes implanted into brain have convincingly demonstrated far more pathology than external recordings.  So, basically "hit or miss" issues, and better to clinically assess.

Question 4

can add show up on a eeg?

Accepted Answer

NO: Add or adhd is neurobehavioral and biochemical disorder and diagnosed clinically.
Eeg will not show any features of add.However, egg can rule out conditions such as absence seizures that can present as staring spells.
Egg is not needed for diagnosis of add.

Question 5

what does the eeg measure?

Accepted Answer

Electrical activity: Eeg measures the electrical activity of nerves in the brain, most prominently the  postsynaptic potentials generated by neurons at the top of the gyri (the "folds" of tissue on the brain surface).

Question 6

how does the eeg test work?

Accepted Answer

Brain activity: In the same way an ekg measures electrical activity from the heart, an EEG measures activity from the brain.  Electrodes are placed on the scalp and the patient lies quietly while brainwaves are recorded.  Sometimes, hyperventilation and/or flashing lights are used to evoke different responses.  It is important to relax, as electrical activity from muscle can swamp the signals from the brain.

Question 7

what is the point of an eeg?

Accepted Answer

Uses of an EEG: An EEG is normally used to help determine the cause and likelihood of a person to have a seizure.

In the hospital, the EEG is sometimes used to help determine the cause of altered consciousness.

Question 8

how much time does an eeg test take?

Accepted Answer

About an hour : A routine eeg takes half an hour, but there is additional time needed to put on and take down the electrodes. That being said, sometimes we will run studies for longer time periods (days at a time) in hopes of capturing a rare event.

Question 9

what is an electroencephalogram (eeg)?

Accepted Answer

EEG: An EEG is a test that records the various brain waves emitted from the brain.  The test is done by placing tiny electrodes all around the head and scalp, and recording the electrical activity emitted by the brain and recorded by tracing the waves onto recording paper.

Question 10

when should i ask for results from my eeg?

Accepted Answer

Results: The results of an eeg may be available the next day to several days, after being read by a neurologist.

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