Understanding Your Brain Map: The 21 Sites
Your LENS session sensors are placed using the standard 21-site map used across neurofeedback, sometimes called the "10-20 system." Each site sits over a different part of the brain with its own job. This guide walks through what each one generally does and what people often notice when that area is running under strain.
Where the 21 sites sit
A top-down view of the standard 10-20 map used for LENS sessions. Each site below corresponds to one of the region cards further down the page.
Frontal Region: Focus, Planning, and Emotional Control
The front of the brain is the command center for attention, decision-making, impulse control, and regulating emotion.
Supports a steady, positive outlook and the drive to start and stick with tasks.
Under strain: low motivation, a flat or heavy mood, or trouble getting started on things.
Helps sustain focus and put a brief pause between an impulse and an action.
Under strain: racing thoughts, restlessness, or reacting before thinking things through.
Anchors overall emotional balance and keeps reactions in proportion to the moment.
Under strain: mood swings, feeling scattered, or reacting more strongly than the moment calls for.
Supports finding the right words, especially in the moment and under pressure.
Under strain: stumbling over words, mixing them up, or feeling tongue-tied when it matters most.
Organizes thoughts and plans, and coordinates movement on the right side of the body.
Under strain: feeling mentally scattered, trouble prioritizing, or clumsiness on the right side.
Helps shift attention smoothly from one task or thought to the next.
Under strain: getting stuck on one thought or task, or a bumpy transition between them.
Supports mapping out next steps, and coordinates movement on the left side of the body.
Under strain: planning feels overwhelming, or the left side feels less coordinated.
Helps show emotion outwardly, through tone of voice and facial expression.
Under strain: a flatter affect, or a tone that doesn't quite match how you feel inside.
Central Region: Body Awareness and Movement
Running across the top-center of the head, this strip governs physical sensation and movement on each side of the body.
Supports smooth movement and sensation on the right side of the body.
Under strain: feeling clumsy or slightly "off" on your right side, or unusual sensations there.
Keeps overall physical coordination and social ease steady.
Under strain: feeling physically unsteady, or a little out of step in social settings.
Supports smooth movement and sensation on the left side of the body.
Under strain: feeling clumsy or slightly "off" on your left side, or unusual sensations there.
Temporal Region: Memory, Language, and Emotion
Along the sides of the head: the left side leans toward language and logic, the right side toward emotion and memory.
Holds onto recent information, like what was just said or done.
Under strain: forgetting recent details, or losing the thread of a conversation.
Stores the feeling attached to memories, not just the facts of them.
Under strain: replaying an emotional moment on a loop, or having a hard time moving past it.
Helps make sense of what's heard or read.
Under strain: missing key points in a conversation or lecture, or visual information feeling harder to process.
Fuels interest and the drive to stay engaged with things.
Under strain: feeling unmotivated or emotionally flat, or struggling to get excited about things you normally enjoy.
Parietal Region: Higher-Level Thinking
Toward the upper back of the head, this region handles more abstract processing: putting concepts together, not just simple facts.
Supports reading comprehension and generating new ideas.
Under strain: reading feels like a slog, or ideas feel jumbled and hard to organize.
Helps you step back and see the bigger picture.
Under strain: overthinking, or looping on the same worry without landing anywhere.
Supports methodical, step-by-step thinking, including numbers and spatial reasoning.
Under strain: tasks like budgeting or puzzles feel more frustrating or confusing than they should.
Occipital Region: Visual Processing and Body Rhythms
At the back of the head, this region handles vision and, at the midline, some of the brain's internal rhythms.
Processes what you see in your right field of vision.
Under strain: objects or motion on your right feeling harder to track or slightly unclear.
Helps keep internal rhythms, like sleep and wake cycles, steady and in sync.
Under strain: irregular sleep, or feeling not quite "in" your body.
Processes what you see in your left field of vision.
Under strain: objects or motion on your left feeling harder to track or slightly unclear.
Want to see where your own brain is running strong or under strain?
Your Analytics report highlights your Highest Amplitude Site, the one place your LENS sessions are working hardest to help reorganize.
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