Discovery of the Electroencephalograph

German psychiatrist Hans Berger recorded the first human electroencephalogram in 1924 at the University of Jena, using electrodes placed on the scalp to detect the brain's own electrical activity, and identified a rhythmic pattern of electrical waves, later called the alpha wave or Berger wave, that changed depending on whether a subject's eyes were open or closed. Uncertain of his results, Berger waited five years before publishing his findings in 1929, and the German scientific community initially responded with skepticism; the technique gained wider acceptance only after British physiologists confirmed Berger's alpha rhythm in 1934. By the late 1930s, electroencephalography had spread into clinical use in the United States, England and France, becoming an important tool for diagnosing epilepsy and other brain disorders, and it remains a standard method for studying brain activity and abnormal neurological function today.