Doctors investigate Parkland school shooter's qEEG brain scans as trial resumes with jury Monday
MIAMI - The court decided to not show Nikolas Cruz's qEEG's brain scans to the jury.
The quantitative Electroencephalogram (qEEG) is a tool used to track brain activity, frequently used to monitor epilepsy and brain damage.
"Basically, we use qEEG's to record brain waves, and different electrical activity from the brain," said Dr. Carlos Oliu, a Neurologist from HCA Florida Kendall Hospital.
For the Cruz trial, the scans could have potentially shown the jury that Nikolas Cruz could have a brain defect.
"They (Cruz's attorneys) want to be able to say, 'see, there is something different in his brain waves, they're not like the brain waves of these normal people that we've collected,'" said Maria Schneider, former Broward County State Attorney's Office prosecutor.
"Therefore, that supports their contention that there's something wrong with him."
However, its accuracy has been questioned by the judicial system for decades.
"It's not widely acceptable or admissible in court," said Schneider.
Dr. Oliu says mental illness is often not seen through qEEG scans.
"The majority of patients with isolated mental health diagnosis or psychiatric diagnosis, the brain waves don't show that abnormality," said Oliu.
The trial with the jury is set to start again on Monday.