Brain power

By Daniela Walker 12 : 02 : 2016 Athletes : Brain Training : Neuroscience

San Francisco – Halo Sport is a pair of headphones that promises to make your brain work better.

The headphones are based on the science of neuropriming to stimulate the brain
They are designed for athletes to use during training to enhance performance

In short, Halo Sport increases the brain’s ability to learn new skills. It does this through neuropriming – using pulses of energy that increase the excitability of motor neurons, thereby helping the neurons to connect more readily than normal.

It also helps an athlete to get more out of their muscles, because improved signalling to muscles enables them to work harder, according to Halo Neuroscience, the company behind the headphones.

Although it sounds specious, professional athletes have been testing the headphones during training sessions in double blind studies. At the US Ski and Snowboard Association, ski jumpers that used the headphones before training experienced 31% gains in propulsion force – 1.7 times more than the control group who did the same training but without a Halo Sport session.

Although they are being tested on professional athletes, the headphones are a consumer device and are now available to pre-order for £380 ($549, €485) before they go on sale for £519 ($749, €660) this autumn.

The Big Picture

Halo Sport is making a form of neurotraining once used by the military more accessible to the public. For more on the ways in which people are using technology to optimise their performance, see our macrotrend The Optimised Self.