What Is Brain Mapping? Understanding Brain-Based Mental Health Assessments

What QEEG Brain Mapping Captures

QEEG brain mapping can produce a detailed picture of brain activity far beyond normal clinical testing and observation. At the most basic level, QEEG measures amplitude and distribution of frequencies across the brain, allowing for analysis of how they relate to one another and what patterns might differ from what’s typical for other teens at the same age. 

Connectivity 

QEEG can reveal connectivity, or how well different brain regions talk to one another. Underconnectivity between regions that should be working well together can show up as abnormalities, with these patterns associated with several mental health conditions. 

Poor frontal/parietal connectivity has been linked to attention difficulties, while abnormal connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and limbic regions can appear in mood and anxiety disorders.^[5] 

This can help to explain why some teens struggle with things that may not seem related. For example, a brain map may find that difficulties with emotional regulation, mood, focus, and attention are all connected to the same underlying patterns.

Meaning Behind Specific Patterns

Different patterns show up often enough across populations that clinicians can use this information for better diagnosis. For example, high theta-to-beta ratios in frontal regions are common in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) presentations, while alpha irregularities between the left and right frontal lobes can be linked to depression. 

For teens who haven’t seemed to respond to other types of treatment, a brain scan mental health assessment can help to identify neurological patterns that can help explain why one approach isn’t working, and point towards alternatives that might be more in line with their neurobiology. 

Brain Mapping and Integration With Mental Health Treatment

Treatment planning can use the map of a teenager’s brain activity to help support a symptom-based assessment. The same presentation on the surface can have radically different neurological causes in different teens, and the treatments that work for one person might be ineffective for another. 

Neurofeedback

Neurofeedback therapy is a form of treatment that gives people real-time information on their neural patterns so they can work towards more regulated states. Brainwave activity is measured as it happens and fed back to the teen via a visual or audio display. 

For example, a teen might watch a video that dims when their brain activity moves out of the target range and brightens when it moves back in. The brain learns to associate the target state with the reward, and with repetition, that state becomes easier to reach.

Neurofeedback therapy is often linked to QEEG assessment, as the brain map identifies exactly which brain regions and frequency patterns need targeting. Without a QEEG, neurofeedback-based treatment is based on symptom presentation and clinical judgement, but when combined with brain-scan mapping, it can be designed to the unique patterns potentially driving a young person’s challenges.

Medication Decisions

Brain-based treatment via QEEG can help improve psychiatric medication selection. A QEEG that identifies a specific pattern of dysregulation underneath depression, for instance, gives the prescriber more information to work with than the teen’s current symptoms alone. 

Choosing Types of Therapy

Brain mapping mental health assessments also aid in choosing the best therapy modalities to reach a teen. 

Some young people might find cognitive-based approaches, like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), challenging due to their neural infrastructure, so a treatment plan that incorporates brain scans may include different approaches and work to build their capacity gradually. 

Neurofeedback assessment also allows for treatment progress to be measured in a new way. Performing a follow-up QEEG assessment after treatment can show if brain patterns have shifted in the expected direction, providing more data to work with when measuring success for long-term recovery.