BCIA Continuing Education Posts

The BioSource Faculty Explain Peer-Reviewed Science

5-Second Science: How Your Brain Wakes Up From Sleep

The brain follows a consistent pattern when transitioning from sleep, with specific rhythms and regions activating in a predictable sequence. These changes vary depending on the sleep stage and even predict how alert or sleepy a person feels upon waking.

Psychopharmacology

Fred Shaffer

Jul 225 min read

How Antipsychotics Affect the EEG

Ben's case exemplifies the core insight of Dr. Swatzyna’s clinician detective model: that not all psychiatric symptoms are psychiatric in origin, and that functional abnormalities in brain activity—detectable on EEG—can signal the presence of invisible, systemic pathology.

Psychopharmacology

Fred Shaffer

Jun 2020 min read

Interpreting the Raw EEG: Four Montages

All montages compare EEG activity between one or more pairs of electrode sites.

qEEG

Fred Shaffer

Jun 2016 min read

Interpreting the Raw EEG: Diffuse Beta Activity

The presence of diffuse beta is not inherently abnormal, but it does merit clinical consideration. It may reflect endogenous factors such as individual variability in cortical excitability, exogenous factors such as the use of CNS-active medications (e.g., benzodiazepines, barbiturates, certain anesthetics), or non-cerebral factors such as EMG contamination.

BioSource Faculty

Jun 1910 min read

Interpreting the Raw EEG: Rhythmic Mid-Temporal Theta of Drowsiness (RMTTD)

In recordings of drowsy subjects, RMTTD often coexists with slowing of the posterior dominant rhythm and the emergence of vertex sharp waves, further supporting its link to transitional drowsiness states rather than to epilepsy or cortical dysfunction.

Fred Shaffer

Jun 198 min read

Interpreting the Raw EEG: Slow Alpha

Not all slow alpha is a pathological sign. A subset of these slow rhythms, especially when reactive and morphologically stable, represents not a degradation of function but a subharmonic of the canonical posterior dominant rhythm (PDR), generated by the same resonant thalamocortical loop but oscillating at half the fundamental frequency.

BioSource Faculty

Jun 1914 min read

Interpreting the Raw EEG: Fast Alpha

The most pressing clinical issue surrounding fast alpha is its frequent misclassification, particularly when spectral peaks in the 18–19 Hz range are erroneously interpreted as beta spindling, pathological fast activity, or early signs of drug effects.

Neurofeedback

BioSource Faculty

Jun 1812 min read

Interpreting the Raw EEG: Alpha Squeaks

We wish clinicians—particularly those interpreting pediatric EEGs—understood that alpha squeaks are normal, age-appropriate findings that reflect an active but immature visual-cortical network.

qEEG

BioSource Faculty

Jun 1810 min read

How Antidepressants Affect the EEG

Antidepressants, particularly those that are highly activating or serotonergically potent, may be the worst choice in patients with SEB, IEDs, or focal abnormalities.

qEEG

Fred Shaffer

Jun 1532 min read