![eeg brain waves eeg brain waves](https://image.shutterstock.com/image-vector/brain-wave-frequencies-on-black-260nw-1316060591.jpg)
Now imagine you are at school taking an exam, focusing intensely. If we measured your brain waves with EEG at that very moment, we would see relatively slow brain waves.
![eeg brain waves eeg brain waves](https://neurofeedbackalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Types-of-brain-waves.jpg)
So why is this interesting? Imagine yourself early in the morning, not quite awake and still dreamy. When we use EEG, we get a mixture of fast and slow brain waves happening at the same time. You can think about slow brain waves as large waves in the ocean, moving a ship up and down, and fast brain waves as small ripples on the water’s surface. Brain Waves: Slow and Fastīrain waves vary in speed. When only one person claps, the band on the stage will not hear it, but when the whole audience claps at the same time, they surely will. Imagine a music festival with thousands of people. These currents can only be measured when many neurons transmit similar electrical signals at the same time.
![eeg brain waves eeg brain waves](https://image.shutterstock.com/image-vector/human-brain-waves-activity-wave-260nw-1964450182.jpg)
EEG cannot measure the electrical activity of individual brain cells, because the electrical currents that any one neuron generates are too small.
#Eeg brain waves portable#
Usually, all these electrodes (up to 256!) are held in place by a cap, although portable devices have recently been developed that use fewer electrodes, in fancier-looking headsets. We can measure brain waves using a technique known as electroencephalography ( EEG), in which small detectors, called electrodes, are placed on a person’s head. These signals go up and down in intensity, resembling waves: these are your brain waves. Instead of using words, neurons communicate via tiny electrical signals that they generate. These neurons are very chatty, just like students in a classroom. The cells in your brain are called neurons, and your brain has roughly 86 billion of them. EEG: Measuring Electrical Activity in the Brain Have you ever heard about brain waves and maybe wondered what they are? In this article, we will explain what brain waves are, how they can be measured in the lab and in the classroom, and why it is interesting to measure them. In this article, we will explain what such devices do and do not measure-for example, they cannot read your mind! We will also explain how this kind of research can be useful to you and your classmates. This sounds futuristic, and maybe also a bit alarming. For example, these devices allow researchers to measure the brain activity of students in classrooms, as they go through the school day. Recently, researchers started using portable devices that people can wear on their heads outside of the laboratory. Brain researchers used to study the workings of the brain only in special laboratories at universities or hospitals.