Placement
Sensor placement and what sensors do
Sensor placement is the choice of which points on the scalp the sensors touch during a session, described using the 10-20 naming convention that assigns a letter and number to standard positions on the head.
Each sensor does two jobs. It reads surface activity at that spot and it delivers the brief signal back through the same contact.
What is the 10-20 system?
The 10-20 system is a naming convention for positions on the scalp, agreed on decades ago so that people recording brain activity in different rooms could describe the same spot the same way.
Positions are set by measuring the head and stepping across it in intervals of ten and twenty percent of those measurements. Each position gets a letter for the region and a number for the side, with odd numbers on the left and even on the right.
- F stands for frontal, C for central, T for temporal, P for parietal, and O for occipital.
- Odd numbers sit on the left of the head, even numbers on the right.
- A z in place of a number means the midline, as in Cz at the top of the head.
What do the sensors actually do?
A sensor is a small metal contact held against the scalp with a conductive paste. Nothing is shaved, nothing is injected, and nothing breaks the skin.
Through that contact the equipment reads a coarse surface voltage and returns a brief low current pulse. The same contact serves both directions.
Why does sensor placement change between visits?
Because the reading changes. A practitioner chooses sites based on what the equipment shows during that visit rather than repeating a fixed pattern from a manual.
This is also why we do not publish a placement plan on this page as if it were a protocol you could follow. Placement is a judgment made in the room.
Does placement mean the session targets one brain region?
No, and this is worth being blunt about. A scalp sensor sits outside the skull. The reading it takes is smeared across a wide area, and the signal it returns is not aimed at a structure underneath.
Providers who describe placement as targeting a specific region are claiming more precision than surface sensors can deliver.
What does placement feel like?
A little cool paste, some light pressure, and someone parting your hair. That is the whole sensation for most people.
You can wash the paste out at home with ordinary shampoo. Arriving with clean, dry hair and no heavy product makes contact easier.
Questions people ask about this
Please read this
Momentous Neurofeedback is a wellness practice. We use an FDA-cleared biofeedback device indicated for relaxation training and muscle reeducation.
We do not provide medical care and we do not assess or identify health conditions. We make no promise about any outcome, and nothing on this site should be read as one.
Sessions are not a substitute for care from a licensed clinician. If you have a health concern, speak with your own provider. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.
See the setup before you commit
We will show you the sensors, the paste, and the equipment, and answer anything you want to ask. Then you decide.