The Science

How QEEG, TOVA, and symptom data get matched to published research

Every report starts with three inputs from your client and ends with citations from the published literature. Here is exactly what happens in between, and what it never does.

Delta0.5 - 4 Hz

Slow-wave sleep & cortical gating

Signal BandSlow Waves
Theta4 - 8 Hz

Working memory & attentional control

Signal BandMemory & Focus
Alpha8 - 12 Hz

Posterior dominant calm alertness

Signal BandWakeful Rest
Beta12 - 30 Hz

Active cognitive processing & focus

Signal BandActive Focus
Step 1: The Three Inputs

Every correlation starts from the same three sources

Nothing is inferred from QEEG alone. A finding only becomes part of a report when it is grounded in the actual pattern across all three.

01 · QEEG

NeuroGuide QEEG Export

Z-scored and raw interhemispheric asymmetry at F7-F8, F3-F4, and C3-C4, across delta, theta, and alpha: read directly from the .tdt export.

02 · TOVA

Objective Attention Data

Commission errors, omission errors, and response-time variability: an objective, task-based measure alongside the QEEG.

03 · Checklist

Clinical Presentation

11 symptom domains, scored 0 to 4 by the referring practitioner: what is actually presenting clinically, not just what the instruments show.

Step 2: The Matching Engine

Matched against a curated library, then checked against current research

Two sources, never one

A hand-curated library of literature, reviewed and tagged to specific QEEG, TOVA, and symptom patterns, is checked first. Live queries to published research databases then supplement it, never replacing it, for anything current the curated library does not cover yet.

Curated knowledge base

Reviewed and tagged in advance, spanning neuroscience, psychological, and lifestyle literature: not just EEG studies.

PubMed

Primary source for current clinical and biomedical literature.

Semantic Scholar

Supplementary source catching psychology and allied-health research PubMed indexes less completely.

Step 3: What comes out

A worked example, start to finish

Illustrative only: a constructed example to show the process, not a real case or a real client's data.

STEP 01

QEEG finding: Elevated frontal theta/beta ratio

Z-scored theta/beta ratio above threshold at frontal sites.

STEP 02

Checklist finding: Inattention domain scored high

Symptom checklist shows elevated inattention-domain responses from the referring practitioner.

STEP 03

Literature match: Cross-checked against the theta/beta ratio literature

The knowledge base and live search surface the substantial body of research on frontal theta/beta ratio as a QEEG correlate of attentional presentations (e.g. Arns, Conners, & Kraemer 2013, a meta-analysis of a decade of theta/beta ratio research in ADHD).

STEP 04: REPORT OUTPUT

What the report says: A correlation, not a diagnosis

“The elevated frontal theta/beta ratio observed is consistent with patterns reported in the attention literature. This finding, alongside the checklist's inattention-domain result, may be relevant to the referring practitioner's clinical picture.”

The report stops there, as it does not diagnose ADHD or recommend a treatment.

What this means for you

Three things that are true of every report, without exception

01

Every citation traces to a real source

PubMed ID, DOI, or a curated library entry, never a summary invented to fit the finding.

02

Findings, not diagnoses

QEEG and TOVA cannot themselves produce a diagnosis. The report states what the research associates with the pattern and leaves the clinical decision to you.

03

AI-generated, and we say so

The report is generated by correlating your data against the research without individual human review before delivery. AI-generated content can be wrong: check the findings before relying on them.

See it applied to your own client's data

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