EEG Technologists React: EEG in Movies

Electroencephalogram (EEG) machines can be spotted in a range of film genres. From comedies to horror, the neurodiagnostic device often acts as a foil to supernatural or unexplainable events occurring to characters. If there would normally be a rational, scientific explanation to a character’s problem, then out comes the EEG to demonstrate just how truly abnormal a character’s situation is.

It’s often the way a movie tells you, “this character has a special problem” without looking directly into the camera and saying it to the audience.

If you’re a technologist looking for examples of EEG in movies for fun/educational purposes, can’t wait to pick apart every little wrong thing, or just someone looking to learn something new – our own registered EEG technologist Marcia Ferguson reacts to portrayals of EEG in movies and their accuracy.

Continue reading until the end, where we look at honorable mentions of appearances of EEG in movies!

In chronological order:

Examples Where you can see EEG in Movies

Firestarter (1984)

The film Firestarter was based on a Stephen King novel and stars a very young Drew Barrymore hot on the heels of her appearance in the renowned Spielberg film, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Other familiar faces you can see include Martin Sheen, George C. Scott, and Heather Locklear.

Drew Barrymore’s character Charlie has pyrokinesis, or the ability to control heat and fire with her mind. As any top-secret government agency would, they utilize an EEG to study her brain waves while commanding her to use her pyrokinesis to immolate her surroundings. The movie is generally regarded by critics as unremarkable, especially when compared to King’s other renowned book-turned-movie adaptations.

Not exactly The Shawshank Redemption

The Good

“It appears that they attempted to show electrode placement” Marcia comments. At the very least, the technologist’s safety is taken into consideration, because he is wearing a flame-retardant suit while testing a pyrokinetic patient. Unless your patient has pyrokinesis, most technologists just follow the protocol of their workplace.

These big gloves would certainly complicate setup

The Bad

Marcia watches with intrigue and then surmises, “I’m not sure it would pass the measurement test. Some of the electrodes look as if they are about to fall off, but this may be due to her hair – which is “blowing in the wind” for whatever reason.” That seems to happen when she uses her powers?

She’s also sweating a lot, because of the strain of pyrokinesis and/or the heat of the room. Most importantly, EEG technologists know it’s rude to say things like, “Look at those alphas, she’s really jacked up!”

“Standing during an EEG is not very comfortable. They could have given the poor girl a chair at least” Marcia laments.

Psychic children + EEG = a recipe for disaster

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

We’re not sure what it is about 1984, but EEG must have been fascinating to watch on film. A Nightmare on Elm Street is the first of many horror movies in Wes Craven’s series and serves as Johnny Depp’s first movie debut. (We’ll be talking more about him later)

When our heroine Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) falls asleep, she is pursued by Freddy Krueger, a supernatural murderer who can easily kill his victims as they dream. How does an EEG help? Nancy’s mother takes her to a sleep disorder clinic and she has what is likely a sleep study, including a very sleep-deprived EEG study. Nancy’s mother hopes to discover the cause of her daughter’s strange behavior but quickly finds out that science can’t explain why she is having nightmares.

The Good

Well, at least we get to see some semblance of EEG. Electrodes. Tape. Wires.

EEG test in a sleep study clinic - Nightmare on Elm Street

Nancy looks ready for a nap

The Bad

Marcia notices the headbox has six electrodes but we only see three on the patient.

“I’m not sure about the placement of Fp1 and Fp2” says Marcia, during the horror movie.

When Nancy thrashes awake, you can notice the other electrodes just sort of lying on the pillow behind her head, not doing anything.

If your patient materializes an object from the dream world, you should automatically get to go home early

Flight of the Navigator (1986)

A cult classic according to some, Flight of the Navigator is a science fiction film that features a heavy amount of computer-generated effects, which would be normal except it was made in 1986 when this was relatively new. Technically a Disney movie, it tells a story of how a boy attains a telepathic bond with a spaceship and mixes in some light time travel. Any fans of Sarah Jessica Parker can see one of her early appearances, along with Paul Reubens (of Pee Wee’s Playhouse fame) as the voice of the spaceship.

Once again, a government research facility can’t help but perform EEG studies on children with paranormal abilities. This time, it’s NASA. David Freeman has been missing for 8 years, so naturally, they hook him up to an EEG because while his body hasn’t aged a day, something is very off about this young man.

Have you ever been able to smell a picture? This one smells like old cigarettes.

The Good

You get another extended look at the large and colorful EEG machine technology of long ago. The patient is seated comfortably. While the setting quickly evolves into magical realism, (or absurdity) the foundation of the EEG technology and its plausible use are there.

Those wires are all over the place

The Bad

Marcia stifles a laugh when someone says, “He’s attempting to communicate with the computer in binary code.”

“His alphas are so intense he can communicate with the computer? I don’t think so” says Marcia incredulously. “Where is the common-mode rejection, those wires are ridiculous!”

Human speaking to a computer with alpha waves

Possibly 8 MB of RAM seen here

The Exorcist 3 (1990)

Exorcist 3 is not the most beloved by critics in the Exorcist series, but it at least has another appearance by George C. Scott and a moments-long cameo by the late Larry King. If you’re unfamiliar with the Exorcist movies, the plots revolve around a victim of demon possession and they require an exorcism. When people are possessed by demons, they tend to be quite rude and generally violent so it’s in everyone’s best interest to remove the demon from within them.

Without spoiling the movie, an EEG makes a brief appearance amidst an otherwise slowly paced movie. The scene may be the most interesting part for some technologists, but at least the movie is excellent at building tension. Kudos to the director for letting George C. Scott do his own thing.

Electrodes big, yeah yeah yeah. They’re not small, no no no.

The Good

Marcia listens closely. “Another analog EEG? You can hear the ink scratching on the paper well this time. It’s almost comforting.”

The Bad

The appearance of EEG is so brief, that it’s almost difficult to judge. Blink and you’ll miss it.

This machine belongs in a museum!

Brain on Fire (2016)

Based on a book, this biographical drama explores the very serious possibility of becoming ill and not being properly diagnosed. Our protagonist’s (Chloe Grace Moretz) symptoms slowly worsen and the threat of being transferred to a psychiatric hospital can remind technologists of the fears their patients have as they undergo tests and seek treatment.

***Spoilers Ahead, so don’t read more unless you are fine with revealing the movie’s mystery!***

While an MRI and EEG are used to help narrow down the causes, it isn’t until a helpful neurologist accurately suggests a brain biopsy that she is found to have anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, which is a real and very rare disease.

This movie isn’t exactly revered by critics, nor is it a feel-good, enjoyable Sunday night movie… but neurodiagnostic technologists may just be the right audience for it.

A frightening situation for anyone

The Good

Marcia notes, “An EEG has the potential to reveal the possibility of there being an issue, but further investigation would be required to diagnose.” It’s nice to see its inclusion.

The Bad

Seeing what this patient is going through can be difficult to watch. I would have liked to see more EEG in this movie.

Honorable Mentions

Is it an EEG or Not? In some movies, the technology is unknown, or at least EEG adjacent. Are their wires stuck to someone’s head? Most likely. Is it technically an EEG? Probably not? You decide.

Ghostbusters (1984)

Ghostbusters features Louis Tully/The Keymaster (Rick Moranis) as he wears this helmet device which is more likely for ghost-related phenomena than anything else. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) appears to be the leader in the field of parapsychologists.

He apparently created a wireless cap device that is not only detecting demonic possession activity but also displaying it on the CRT screen behind Tully in real-time. It may not be detecting only brain waves, but it’s definitely detecting something from his head. When machines at the time were mostly printing waveforms on paper, this machine was way ahead of its time and likely inspired by EEG.

“Ghostbusters using a device like an EEG to determine paranormal activity just makes me happy. This is completely not the correct use of an EEG, nor is it trying to be.”

Many Shuvs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Slor that day, I can tell you!

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

While incarcerated for heinous crimes, our “protagonist” Alex (Malcolm McDowell) volunteers as a test subject for a special treatment program called the “Ludovico Technique” that claims to rehabilitate criminals in just two weeks. The treatment involves being forced to watch films featuring heinous content while being drugged and hearing classical music.

In a classic scene, the device on his head has wires coming out of it, and they seem to be placed strategically. While clearly, the device is also helping to restrain him, there are several large machines behind the scientists. Among the random oscilloscopes and computers, there could very well be an EEG machine. Despite this being a dystopian future version of Britain, the machines haven’t gotten any smaller, and they seem almost disinterested in any data that is being collected.

Disgusted, Marcia says, “This is one of the more horrible EEG scenes I have seen. Holding the eyes open? YIKES. It’s hard for me to watch.”

Back to the Future (1985)

Dr. Emmet Brown (Christopher Lloyd) in 1955 invented a brain-wave analyzer that, in theory, could read the thoughts of others in close proximity. He was wearing the helmet when Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) went to Doc Brown for help after using his time machine. The idea behind the device was that you could read the thoughts of someone by placing a suction cup on their head connected by a spooled wire.

While an EEG “interprets brain waves” this particular device’s intended purpose was to read the thoughts of another person and transmit them into your own brain. While there are some forward-thinking ideas here, the doc likely used an EEG for inspiration. Unfortunately, the device simply didn’t work. Who thinks there may have been too many artifacts from the electric devices in his home?

Of course, you cannot read thoughts with an EEG, or with a suction cup and spooled wire.

Ronald Reagan!? The actor! Then who’s vice-president, Jerry Lewis?

I suppose Jane Wyman is the First Lady!

Spiderman (2002)

In the first Sam Raimi Spiderman movie, Norman Osbourne (Willem Dafoe) can be seen wearing electrodes during his transformation into the Green Goblin. EEG and EKG electrodes magically appear on him soon after he is strapped into the restraining device and placed into the test chamber. In a classic mad scientist blunder, he experiments on himself, and a mysterious green gas meant to accelerate human evolution instead transforms him into a tragic Jekyll & Hyde-type character.

The audience never really gets to see the EEG data for Norman because the camera only shows the monitors with EKG data. His brain data may have been interesting to see! While the effects of the chemicals Norman was exposed to increase his strength and durability, they make him insane.

Marcia says: “Again we see two frontal lobe electrodes in strange locations, with one single waveform on the screen.”

Sam Raimi was never really one for toning things down. This doesn’t affect the movie negatively in any way.

Every EEG technologist has one of these days

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

A romantic sci-fi story involving memory erasure technology that technically doesn’t exist. Without spoiling anything, this movie tells the story of two lovers and how their relationship came to a messy end. Provided you are not experiencing a messy breakup at the time, this movie is highly regarded for its cinematography, story, and the performance of its all-star cast.

The “memory erasure procedure” and process appear to be plausible, despite currently being pseudoscience. The large dome that rests over Joel’s head somewhat resembles a large EEG cap. Marcia says, “It reminds me more of an MRI than an EEG.” Technologists may notice an excess of wires and leads from the dome, which appears to not actually make physical contact with Jim Carrey’s head. The memory removal process also appears to begin in a clinical setting, but actually takes place in the home – not dissimilar to a patient having an in-home EEG.

The machine literally serves its purpose as a plot device for a romantic story. It was never meant to portray EEG in a believable way, so it gets a pass.

Transcendence (2014)

Johnny Depp is Will Caster, a scientist specializing in artificial intelligence. When he is faced with his own mortality, a plan is hatched to upload his consciousness into a quantum computer. Transcendence focuses less on the medical aspects of the brain and largely on digitizing a human’s consciousness. This movie was not received well, but it may be the closest to an EEG appearing on a movie poster that we’ll ever get.

The wires attached to Mr. Depp’s head are at least bundled nicely, but they do not resemble typical electrode leads. The idea of downloading your own personal copy of Johnny Depp may seem inviting, but not if his humanity is lost in the process.

Impressed, Marcia says “Those are some super strong electrodes (and a lot of them) if they can pull Johnny Depp out and place him in a computer network.”

These are not typical electrodes

Did we miss any appearances of EEG in movies? Be sure to view our EEG on TV blog if you enjoyed this one.

We don’t expect portrayals of EEG to be perfect. A little movie magic is expected – especially since most people don’t know these devices as well as technologists or neurologists.

_{Created with help from Product Testing and Education Manager at Lifelines Neuro, Marcia Ferguson, R. EEG T.}

EEG Technologists React: EEG in Movies

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