Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology: The 10-20 System

Friday, October 29, 2021

The 10-20 System

In Chapter 7 of Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology, Russ Hobbie and I discuss the 10-20 system of electrodes on the scalp used to record the electroencephalogram.

Much can be learned about the brain by measuring the electric potential on the scalp surface. Such data are called the electroencephalogram (EEG)… Typically, the EEG is measured from 21 electrodes attached to the scalp according to the 10-20 system (Fig. 7.34).

Fig. 7.34. The standard 10-20 system of electrodes to record the EEG.

Why is this placement of electrodes called the “10-20” system? Consider the path starting at the nasion (between the eyes, just above the bridge of the nose), passing over the top of the head, and ending at the inion (a small protuberance at the lower back of the skull). This path is shown as the vertical dashed line in the top view of the head in Fig. 7.34. Five electrodes (O_z, P_z, C_z, F_z, and F_pz) are placed 10, 20, 20, 20, 20, and 10% of the distance along the path. All those 10s and 20s give rise to the name “10-20 system.” The electrodes O_z and F_pz aren’t part of the 10-20 system, so they’re not shown in Fig. 7.34, but their positions are used to properly place the other electrodes.

Now, consider the path starting just behind the left ear (auricle, A₁, sometimes known as the mastoid), passing over the top of the head through C_z, and ending just behind the right ear (A₂); the horizontal dashed line in Fig. 7.34. Five electrodes (T₃, C₃, C_z, C₄, and T₄) are placed 10, 20, 20, 20, 20, and 10% of the distance along the path.

Next, examine the dashed circle in Fig. 7.34, which represents a circumference of the head through O_z, T₃, F_pz, and T₄. Ten electrodes (O₁, T₅, T₃, F₇, F_p1, F_p2, F₈, T₄, T₆, and O₂) are equally spaced along this circumference, each 10% of the way around the circle.

Finally, consider a great circle path passing from F_p1 through C₃ to O₁. The electrode F₃ is halfway between F_p1 and C₃. Similar reasoning gets you the positions of P₃, F₄ and P₄.

How do these electrodes get their funny names? The first letter indicates the region of the brain: F for frontal (front), T for temporal (side, named for your temples), P for parietal (center-back), O for occipital (lower back), Fp for pre-frontal, and C for central. A subscript z means along the midline. Even numbers are used for the right of the head, and odd numbers for the left.

The 10-20 system was proposed by a committee of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology, in order to standardize EEG recordings among different laboratories.