Recording Electrodes

Abstract

The role of recording electrodes in EEG technology and intepretation is a relatively simple one in practice but a complex one in theory. In this chapter our attention is primarily directed to the practical issues involved. It is hardly possible to obtain a satisfactory EEG without having good quality electrodes that have been properly connected to the patient. But what is a good electrode? What constitutes proper electrode application technique? How do departures from these standards affect the EEG record? The present chapter addresses all these questions. At the same time, in order to understand what actually takes place when you attach a pair of electrodes to a person’s scalp and connect the other ends of the wires to a channel of the EEG machine, it is necessary to consider some of the basic theory involved.