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