What can your brain waves tell about you?

This week and next, Jared is working at Brookside Institute, a rehab center for substance abusers. One of the ways they evaluate and treat their patients is through EEG (Electroencephalogram), which measures a person's brainwaves and provides insight into what makes them tick. As is customary, the head physician performed an EEG for the medical students to see what their brainwaves looked like and how they process information. So Jared had it done, and then the physician sat down with him and the other med student to interpret the results. It was funny because the first thing he did was laugh when he opened Jared's EEG results, and jokingly said he hates people like Jared. The physician explained that, whereas he is quite scatterbrained and disorganized, Jared's brainwaves were perfectly synchronized. He said that only about 2% of people have this, and that it allows the brain to operate as efficiently as possible. This means that Jared's mind is very organized, he can take in and process a lot of information, and that he can memorize things very easily. But it didn't stop there - he asked Jared if he had asthma as a kid, if he had musical training during his childhood, and if he played any kind of racket sports. Of course, the answer was yes to all of these, and the physician explained how each of these contributes to having synchronized brain waves and organized thought processes. He also said there are 2 kinds of people - absorbers and emitters - and that Jared is clearly an absorber, who is generally quiet and tends to absorb and process information. I was impressed by these results, though I can't say I'm surprised - it sounds just like the Jared we know and love! Pretty neat, I hope to get a picture of his EEG.