Normal Adult EEG

The first step in learning how to interprete the adult EEG is to learn how to recognize and describe what normal looks like. If you are a novice and have only a few minutes before one of your teachers plans to pull up an EEG and grill you about what you see, then take a look at the following, and in this order:

  • awake (double banana montage)
    • blinking
    • posterior dominant rhythm
    • muscle artifact
  • stage 2 sleep (transverse montage)
    • vertex waves
    • sleep spindles
    • K complex

You will also want to learn what someone means when they ask: "what is the background rhythm?"

Then learn the basics of the abnormal EEG.

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