NeuroNoodle Network Podcast: Neurofeedback & Wellness Podcast

A viewer sent us an EEG, and at first glance it looks like a mess. Jay Gunkelman, who has read more than 500,000 EEGs, changes the montage live and identifies what he describes as frontal spike-and-wave activity that was difficult to see in the original linked-ears montage. Host Pete Jansons and Dr. Mari Swingle join Jay for a two-case Carnac: why an epileptiform EEG finding is not the same as an epilepsy diagnosis, and what questions should come next.

The second case features an EEG recorded with eyes open that Jay interprets as showing periods of drowsiness. He examines alpha bursts, beta spindles at Cz and a 300-second sleep screen. Jay discusses vigilance, SMR, sleep spindles, memory and how he would approach neurofeedback training. Dr. Mari adds her clinical perspective on emotional outbursts in children and when EEG assessment may be worth considering.

🎙️ Panel: Jay Gunkelman (QEEG pioneer, 500,000+ EEGs read) | Dr. Mari Swingle (Swingle Clinic, author of i-Minds) | Host: Pete Jansons

🧠 WHAT WE COVER
0:00 — 🎩 Cold open: Jay spots frontal spike-and-wave in a viewer's EEG
1:22 — 📨 A viewer sends in an EEG (and it's from Europe: 50 Hz)
2:31 — 🔌 Why the original montage made the finding harder to see
4:13 — 🧹 Cleaning artifacts: save your raw file first
4:58 — 📏 No calibration, no impedances: why it matters
5:56 — 🌐 Re-montaged to global average: Jay's interpretation
6:33 — 👆 Task beta: the brain primes before your finger moves
8:50 — ⚡ Spike and slow wave at F3
10:59 — 🙈 Lapses, eye aversion and pseudobulbar affect
12:36 — 🔄 Spike averaging, and why EEG puts negative up
14:59 — 💊 Epileptiform EEG without seizures: the anticonvulsant question
15:36 — 😌 Eyes closed: slow cortical potentials and the baseline
19:51 — 🧪 Medication and outgrowing absence spells
21:46 — 👧 Dr. Mari: behavioral outbursts in kids and the EEG
23:15 — 🔥 Case two: beta spindles and Jay's interpretation
24:04 — 😴 SMR, Sterman and sleep spindles
25:12 — 🥱 Alpha bursts with eyes open: drowsiness
26:59 — 🎛️ When EEG frequencies blend together
29:07 — 📊 The spectra: harmonics that look like beta
31:05 — ⚖️ Left-right balance, mood and TMS
32:41 — 🌀 Eyes closed: chaos, cleanup and drowsing
34:46 — ⏱️ The 300-second sleep screen
37:30 — 📉 The flat spot: you didn't die at the end
38:30 — 🎯 Early neurofeedback was vigilance training
39:21 — 🧠 Sleep, memory and long-term potentiation
40:51 — 🛠️ A training plan: SMR up, beta down at Cz
42:40 — 🩺 SMR, intractable epilepsy and surgery (Jay's view)
46:37 — 📡 Vagal nerve stimulators and smart implants
49:46 — 👋 Wrap-up

🔗 Updates & Links:
🌐 Swingle Clinic (Dr. Mari Swingle): https://swingleclinic.com
🎧 Swingle Sonic apps (Brain Calm, Focus, Sleep): https://swinglesonic.com
📨 Want Jay to read your EEG? Email the EDF to pete@neuronoodle.com. Please remove the name, ID and date of birth from the file name AND the EEG header first.
📺 More NeuroNoodle conversations: https://www.youtube.com/@NeuroNoodle

⚠️ Educational content only, not medical advice. EEG findings need a qualified clinician's review; nothing here diagnoses or treats anyone. Always consult a licensed clinician.

💪 Help keep NeuroNoodle going: https://www.patreon.com/NeuroNoodle
🔔 Like, subscribe and hit the bell: https://www.youtube.com/@NeuroNoodle

Jay Gunkelman, who has read more than 500,000 EEGs, jokes about losing his car keys, then asks: where is a memory actually stored? In this archived NeuroNoodle Open Mic Q&A, recorded March 19, 2025 and republished October 15, 2026, host Pete Jansons joins Jay, Dr. Mari Swingle and Dianne Kosto. Jay describes Karl Pribram's holographic theory of memory—an explanatory theory, not settled fact. References to Jay's age and 52 years in the field reflect the March 2025 recording.

The panel also discusses social-media self-diagnosis, conversations with teens who identify with a diagnosis, practitioner skill, brain-stimulation terminology, sunlight and mood, diet, and careers in neurofeedback.

🎙️ Panel: Jay Gunkelman (QEEG pioneer, 500,000+ EEGs read) | Dr. Mari Swingle (Swingle Clinic, author of i-Minds) | Dianne Kosto (SYMMETRY Neuro-Pathway Training) | Host: Pete Jansons

🧠 WHAT WE COVER
0:00 — 🧩 Cold open: Pribram's memory theory
1:44 — 🏫 Archived Seattle workshop discussion
5:10 — 👁️ Jay's eye surgery and counting EEGs
7:34 — ⚡ Questions about vision, alpha speed and memory
9:58 — 🧠 Episodic memory and frontal midline theta
11:39 — 🌀 Savants and Pribram's holographic memory theory
15:12 — 📈 Jay's 52 years in neurofeedback, as of March 2025
18:27 — 📱 Self-diagnosis, social media and having a bad day
19:41 — 🔌 Discussing tDCS, tACS and neurofeedback
21:58 — 🔍 Teens, Google and diagnostic labels
26:02 — 📚 Diagnostic terminology and the DSM
26:47 — 🔪 Amplitude, infralow or stim: who's holding the tool?
28:06 — 🧲 Questions about PEMF
32:58 — ☀️ Sunlight, vitamin D and mood
37:43 — 🥊 Where neurofeedback experts disagree
39:59 — 🌊 Slow cortical potentials and terminology
41:08 — 🧬 Discussion of genetics and EEG phenotypes
43:53 — 🎯 OCD and electrode-placement questions
49:15 — 🥑 Keto, diet and neurofeedback
54:42 — 🎓 Building a neurofeedback career: BCIA
57:56 — 🔬 What is an EEG tech? Jay's start with the Gibbs
1:00:11 — 🎤 Jay's brain tumor and the courage to lecture
1:01:10 — 📲 Dr. Mari discusses her clinic app
1:02:42 — 🤝 Dianne Kosto and SYMMETRY Neuro-Pathway Training
1:04:20 — 📣 From our panel, plus a qEEG phenotypes course
1:05:30 — ❤️ Thank you to our supporters

🔗 Updates & Links:
🌐 Swingle Clinic (Dr. Mari Swingle): https://swingleclinic.com
🧠 SYMMETRY Neuro-Pathway Training (Dianne Kosto): https://symmetryneuropt.com
📺 More NeuroNoodle conversations: https://www.youtube.com/@NeuroNoodle

⚠️ Educational content only, not medical advice. Always consult a licensed clinician.

💪 Help keep NeuroNoodle going: https://www.patreon.com/NeuroNoodle
🔔 Like, subscribe and hit the bell: https://www.youtube.com/@NeuroNoodle

#NeuroNoodle #Neurofeedback #EEG

Jay Gunkelman has read more than half a million brain scans — and this week he and host Pete Jansons start with one of the strangest origin stories in brain science. Rocket fuel was making janitors convulse, Barry Sterman was mapping the dose in cats, and a handful of cats refused to seize. The reason: they had already been trained with SMR neurofeedback. From there Jay works through the questions from last night's Brain Bar: why there's no such thing as a "normal" EEG, how pilots' brainwaves tracked a 30% higher crash rate, what sleep deprivation does to your dreams and your seizure threshold, the alpha coma, Leucovorin and the B vitamins, and why "you can't cure autism because you can't catch autism." Then Jay reads a 2011 EEG of an eight-year-old with Asperger's and shows why some kids won't look at your face. Plus the neurofeedback billing-code fight, Jay's custom Italian monocle, and a preview of the Suisun City Summit. 🎙️ Panel: Jay Gunkelman (500K+ brain scans) — host Pete Jansons. 🧠 WHAT WE COVER:🚀 0:00 — Cold open: rocket fuel, cats & the accidental birth of SMR🧐 2:14 — Jay's custom Italian monocle + "Jay Gunkelman 6.0"👁️ 4:58 — Alpha blocking vs. alpha attenuation🧮 8:25 — There's no such thing as a "normal" EEG📊 9:09 — Why z-scores and statistics alone miss the pattern🐈 12:56 — Barry Sterman's rocket fuel and cat experiments✈️ 15:11 — Pilots' EEGs and a 30% higher crash rate🔌 18:19 — SMR vs. mu: the BCI mix-up🛌 19:33 — SMR, sleep spindles & customizing training🚪 21:42 — "K is for knock": the K-complex😵 23:25 — Sleep deprivation, microsleep & dreams leaking into the day🌊 25:42 — Three kinds of theta: frontal midline vs. ADHD theta💊 29:40 — Amphetamines, kids & the long-term question🫁 30:10 — Hyperbaric oxygen, Alzheimer's & the alpha coma🧪 32:37 — What is Leucovorin? B9, B12 & MTHFR🧩 37:37 — "You can't cure autism because you can't catch autism"💵 39:46 — Neurofeedback billing codes & payment changes🩺 42:44 — Too cheap to order the EEG: Medi-Cal & absence epilepsy〰️ 43:36 — EEG read: an eight-year-old with Asperger's🐶 46:40 — The song of speech: why some kids won't look at your face📈 49:45 — The power spectra, beta spindles & rhythmic slowing🪞 52:36 — Mu, mirror neurons & the anterior cingulate🎉 56:16 — Suisun City Summit preview + Jay's birthday📚 1:02:05 — Bonus: Joshua Moore on QEEG phenotypes 🔗 Updates & Links:🧠 Jay Gunkelman — Suisun City Summit: https://suisuncitysummit.com🎓 School of Neurotherapy: https://www.schoolofneurotherapy.com🧩 Joshua Moore — Neurofeedback Care: https://neurofeedbackcare.com ⚠️ Educational content only — not medical advice. 💪 Help keep NeuroNoodle Neurofeedback Therapy Podcast going!👉 Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NeuroNoodle🔔 Like, subscribe, share & hit the bell for weekly episodes #NeuroNoodle #NeurofeedbackTherapyPodcast #Neurofeedback #JayGunkelman #PeteJansons #EEG #QEEG #BrainMapping #MentalHealth #BrainHealth #Neurotherapy #SMR #BarrySterman #SleepDeprivation #Autism #Aspergers #Epilepsy #AlphaComa #Leucovorin #QEEGPhenotypes

If neurofeedback can change the brain, who makes sure the person doing it knows what they're doing? Jay Gunkelman has read more than half a million brain scans and spent 54 years in the field. He and Dr. Mari Swingle join host Pete Jansons to take on the question the field keeps circling: why hasn't neurofeedback gone to the next level? Mari warns about the practitioner who buys equipment, takes a weekend workshop and hangs a shingle. Pete asks the obvious question: can you actually fry a brain? From there it's insurance ("the business of insurance is to say no," says Jay), what BCIA certification can and can't do about a bad actor, why Pete needs a license to cut hair but not to do neurofeedback, and why a neurologist isn't automatically an EEG expert. Jay also describes a report he says came back on a recording with no EEG in it at all, just amplifier noise. Plus what parents should ask before choosing a provider, and a bonus from Joshua Moore on QEEG phenotypes. 🎙️ Panel: Jay Gunkelman (500K+ brain scans), Dr. Mari Swingle (author, iMinds), host Pete Jansons. Joshua Moore (MA, LMHC, BCN) was out sick this week. 🧠 WHAT WE COVER:🧠 0:00 — Cold open: can you fry a brain?👋 0:47 — Welcome + Joshua's out sick📐 2:29 — The 2010–11 efficacy standards Jay helped build🧴 4:54 — Wellness devices that steer away from research❓ 5:54 — Why hasn't neurofeedback gone to the next level?🦴 7:08 — Cannibalism vs. scaffolding in the field🧾 8:14 — Insurance codes, then and now🌍 8:57 — Is the field really held back? The international picture🚫 10:11 — "The business of insurance is to say no"🍁 11:44 — Canada: insurance pays on practitioner credentials💵 13:16 — The QEEG reports insurance does pay for🖨️ 14:53 — Press-the-button reports vs. real interpretation🚗 16:36 — ICBC, BCIA and two-tier protection📏 18:47 — Efficacy standards vs. practice standards🏈 20:34 — Cross-disciplinary: coaches to neurologists🧭 22:59 — Scope of practice within the classifications🏷️ 23:50 — What does BCIA do about a bad actor?🛡️ 24:28 — Complementary competence and something to lose🔥 25:14 — Can you fry a brain? + Jay's 54 years✂️ 27:13 — A license to cut hair, but not neurofeedback?📣 28:53 — Who do you complain to?🦴 30:29 — Chiropractor vs. MD: knowing your scope⚖️ 33:10 — Nevada: turf protection vs. public protection📉 35:12 — Report services and "no EEG at all"🔁 37:32 — Who breaks the loop? Not enough bad actors🏅 39:03 — A premium credential above BCIA?🔀 42:36 — Cross-disciplinary competence👮 43:56 — Why standards exist + the brain police🩺 45:54 — Neurologists, EEG reading and credentials🗣️ 49:38 — Life coaches: nothing to lose👪 50:23 — What parents should check📜 53:14 — The hierarchy of efficacy still holds✅ 53:53 — Mari's final advice: who to trust💜 55:19 — Support the show📚 55:55 — Bonus: Joshua Moore on QEEG phenotypes 🔗 Updates & Links:🎓 School of Neurotherapy: https://www.schoolofneurotherapy.com🎵 Dr. Mari Swingle — SwingleSonic apps: https://swinglesonic.com🧩 Joshua Moore — Neurofeedback Care: https://neurofeedbackcare.com🏛️ AAPB: https://www.aapb.org📋 BCIA: https://www.bcia.org ⚠️ Educational content only — not medical advice. Views and experiences are the speakers' own. 💪 Help keep NeuroNoodle Neurofeedback Therapy Podcast going!👉 Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NeuroNoodle🔔 Like, subscribe, share & hit the bell for weekly episodes #NeuroNoodle #NeurofeedbackTherapyPodcast #Neurofeedback #JayGunkelman #DrMariSwingle #PeteJansons #EEG #QEEG #BCIA #NeurofeedbackStandards #MentalHealth #BrainHealth #Neurotherapy #HealthInsurance #JoshuaMoore #QEEGPhenotypes

Jay Gunkelman has read more than half a million brain scans. This week a viewer sent in their own EEG, and Jay examines it live on the show — no name, no clinical backstory (educational purposes only). The catch: the record was so noisy it needed an aggressive cleanup just to be readable — and that cleanup nearly erased the single most important finding in it. Jay reverses the ICA on camera and shows you what almost got thrown away: rhythmic theta coming off the frontal midline — an anterior-cingulate signature — that never showed up in the spectra at all. The lesson every clinician needs: heroic cleanup can blind you to the real finding. Along the way he catches a mislabeled "eyes closed" file, explains why your heartbeat shows up in your brain waves, why your eyes twitch every 80 milliseconds, and why it takes your brain 500 milliseconds to become consciously aware of anything. Then host Pete Jansons runs Jay through the panel's questions — tonic vs. phasic frontal theta, how much cleanup is too much, John Gruzelier's alpha-theta work with conservatory musicians, Martijn Arns and frontal alpha asymmetry, and M. Barry Sterman's neurofeedback work in epilepsy alongside Jay's discussion of surgery and other treatment approaches. The episode closes with Pete laying out a push toward neurofeedback standardization — and Jay making the case that multiple perspectives need to be at the table. 👉 Watch the Brain Bar episode where the panel first reviewed this same brain: [PASTE BRAIN BAR STREAM LINK] 🧠 WHAT WE COVER:🧠 0:00 — A viewer mailed in their brain🍸 1:18 — 600 at the Brain Bar, and the new submission format📩 2:41 — Reading John Doe's EDF cold🧹 3:18 — An aggressively cleaned record — channels lost👁️ 3:45 — Lambda waves and visual hypervigilance🌗 4:15 — Waxing and waning vigilance: awake vs. drowsy📊 9:40 — The spectra: slow alpha vs. fast alpha🔄 10:41 — Reversing the ICA: "don't believe your lying eyes"💓 11:03 — What the cleanup erased: cardioballistic pulse artifact🎯 11:27 — Frontal-midline theta the spectra never showed🧩 15:19 — The anterior cingulate slow peak that got lost🤔 17:14 — The "What, me worry?" rhythm: bold vs. anxious🧭 17:57 — Tonic frontal theta: ADD, OCD, or amotivation?🚨 19:19 — Heroic cleanup, catastrophic miss🙅 19:55 — "I call BS": a mislabeled eyes-closed file❤️ 21:04 — Why your heartbeat shows up in the EEG👀 23:09 — Why your eyes twitch every 80 milliseconds🏉 25:42 — Rugby players vs. ballet dancers: who gets pulse artifact🕳️ 28:03 — "You may blind yourself to a major finding"❓ 29:21 — Panel Q&A: the regulars' questions⏱️ 29:51 — Tonic vs. phasic theta: duration, not morphology✂️ 32:33 — How much cleanup is too much?🌟 34:36 — 500 milliseconds to conscious awareness🎵 38:20 — Gruzelier, the conservatory, and creativity↔️ 41:07 — Frontal alpha asymmetry: Arns, SSRIs, and TMS🩻 42:02 — 90% vs. 30–40%: two doctors, one EEG🔪 43:31 — Epilepsy: neurofeedback, seizures and surgery🩹 45:03 — When they remove the hippocampus and amygdala⚠️ 45:50 — SUDEP and the pressure to consent to surgery🌀 46:14 — iSPOT-D: what depression looks like on QEEG📜 50:26 — The pledge: standardize neurofeedback, starting now🚀 54:20 — "Perfect is the enemy of progress" —🧠 Send us YOUR brain: email your EDF to pete@neuronoodle.com and it goes in the hat for a live Carnac read.🔴 The Brain Bar streams live every Wednesday, 6PM Central: https://www.youtube.com/@NeuroNoodle/streams❤️ Support NeuroNoodle on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NeuroNoodle This podcast is educational and is not medical advice. Always consult a licensed clinician.