Latest Blogs

Over the past decade, neuroscience has been one of the fastest evolving fields of science. Unlike more abstracts scientific disciplines like quantum physics, discoveries in neuroscience can quickly lead to new ways to improve human performance and wellbeing.  For this reason here is the NeuroTracker team’s selection of 5 favorite blogs over the past year – enjoy!

5 Reasons Why Neuroscience is Amazing

The most complex structure in the known universe, neuroscience is revealing why your brain is a remarkable piece of bio-engineering. Among other things, it can structurally rewire and adapt according to environmental or physiological stimuli.

In what is dubbed the ‘decade of the brain’, research is growing exponentially in an international arms race of the brain. This is bringing forth a whole slew of cutting-edge technologies with the potential to transform human performance.

Read the full blog here

Your Brain’s Remarkable Neuroplasticity

The discovery of neuroplasticity has been the biggest breakthrough in neuroscience. Like your physical body on steroids, your brain can adapt rapidly just with the right kinds of mental stimulation.

As well as growing new neurons into old age, neural networks can increase in speed, be pruned for synaptic efficiency, and adapt brainwave activity. These changes can be both positive and long-lasting, and in some cases can involve extreme adaptations.

Read the full blog here

7 Ways to Harness Your Neuroplasticity

Modern neuroscience has discovered some effective ways you can remodel your brain through simple lifestyle changes. These include getting into an alert and attentive mental state, committing to challenging tasks and engaging in new or novel experiences.

Finding an arousal balance between stimulation and stress is a key factor, but also practicing key mental skills (even via imagination) can be an effective way to encourage positive brain changes. Lastly, just living a generally healthy lifestyle goes a long way.

Read the full blog here

Neuroscience is Augmenting Career Training Programs

From industry-based skill-specific training to developing technical abilities in military or medical roles, getting individuals to perform to the correct standard whenever and wherever needed is a major challenge.

NeuroTracker represents an example of a cognitive tool which can profile training readiness and performance potential, including simulating real-world mental pressures. More importantly, cognitive training shows promise for accelerating learning of new skills and career-specific abilities.

Read the full blog here

Is Neuroscience the Future of Sports Science?

Athletes spend a great amount of time and effort working out to be physically ready for the rigors of playing sports. But if the body is being trained, shouldn’t athletes also train the brain? With all the progress in neuroscience, many technologies are now coming to the foreground to help us harness the benefits.

One novel method is using electrical stimulation, which companies like Halo are using in sports performance domains. Like NeuroTracker, technology is now truly an integral part of sports, with more and more athletes turning to it gain an advantage. Evidently, neuroscience is the next frontier for technology in sports, and the gains it can yield may be more than marginal.

Read the full blog here

We hope you’ve found the power of neuroscience interesting, for sure there will be lots more to come in 2019!

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Although not everyone is aware, recent years have seen eSports taking the world by storm. With tournament prize pools topping $20m and viewing figures in the hundreds of millions, no other sports have witnessed such a dramatic rise in popularity – and it shows no signs of stopping. But is it just hype, or actually something to sit up and take notice of?

Here are 4 blogs that reveal that eSports is serious business and why star performers in the digital performance domain are just as impressive as professional sports athletes.‍

The Unstoppable Rise of eSports

Although it’s predominantly entertainment for young spectators, major eSports tournaments fill huge custom-built stadiums and have attracted over 100 million viewers in China alone. Professional teams now train in futuristic sports labs using the latest technologies. The best eSports athletes develop super-human mental abilities in processing speed, decision-making, working memory, fine motor-skills and action execution.

Read the full blog here

What It Takes to Be a Professional eSports Athlete

Becoming the next big star in eSports needs a hell of a lot of dedication, talent, and then some. The recipe for success involves not just outstanding talent, but up to 16 hours a day training, huge amounts of experience from a young age, high emotional intelligence, and living with teammates year on year. The latest trend includes using cognitive training technologies to perform at the highest level.

Read the full blog here

The Special Brains of Gamers

Neuroscience is discovering that elite gamers possess some extreme mental abilities. Studying these could help unlock secrets of human performance, as well as understand how video gaming can actually change the brain.

Research shows that gaming over time can physically change the brain regions responsible for attention, sensorimotor skills, and visuospatial skills, and make them more efficient. It also reveals processing speeds at 4 times a normal person’s rate, and that reaction times start to decline from just 24 years old.

Read the full blog here‍

Should eSports be in the Olympics? 3 Debates

Accepted to be an official sport in the 2022 Asian Games, Paris is also looking to include eSports in the 2024 Olympic Games. This raises some polarized views. Firstly, on whether gaming is actually a sport. Secondly, whether eSports is something we want the Olympic Games to represent. And thirdly, simply if it’s an Olympic sport people would want to watch.

Read the full blog here

With the adoption of NeuroTracker by specialists in over 700 centers worldwide, there are many human performance experts who contribute their knowledge to our blog. This includes domains like professional sports, military, industry training, wellness and education. Here the NeuroTracker team has picked a selection of 7 favorite Experts Corner blogs to highlight from 2018.

1. Mastering Performance the Ronaldo Way

Strength and conditioning coach for Manchester United for 11 years, Mick Clegg coached soccer legend Christiano Ronaldo on a daily basis for half a decade. This oversaw his meteoric rise from a young hopeful to FIFA’s player of the year.

However it was to be what Mick learned from his insights into Ronaldo’s steamrolling success that unlocked some fundamental principles for training elite performance at the very highest levels.

Read the full blog here‍‍

2. 8 Traits of High-Performing Students

Renown education strategist Dwayne Matthews is a visionary who wants to evolve learning in the 21st century. In this article he pinpoints 8 key traits that contribute to student excellence – independence, curiosity, optimism, persistence, personal growth, resilience, e-literacy and trained cognitive abilities.

These traits all involve some aspect of personal development. When we think about educational success we often think first of schools and colleges. However, it could be more useful to consider what actually makes great students, just like the way we think about what makes great athletes.

Read the full blog here

3. How the Brain Reveals Human Potential

Deemed the world’s preeminent researcher in perceptual-cognitive science, and the very man behind NeuroTracker itself, Professor Faubert reveals new ways in which brain functions vary between different populations.

With the advantage of working with elite athletes across a range of professional team sports, Professor Faubert discovered that, when it comes to processing abstract dynamic scenes, sports stars have greatly superior learning abilities than amateur athletes and university students. This opens up the potential to profile learning capacities in other high performance domains like law enforcement and military special forces.

Read the full blog here‍‍

4. 5 Sports Performance Leaders Talk NeuroTracker

In this combined blog 5 experts who use NeuroTracker hands-on, each give their personal take on how the technology can be used to enhance human performance. The experts include Mick Clegg, Leonard Zaichkowsky, Donald Teig, Kate Allgood, and Keith Smithson.

From evidence of transfer to NHL performance and surpassing neurophysical performance limits, to training high-speed decision-making and situational awareness, these experts reveal the broad spectrum of ways that professionals utilize perceptual-cognitive training.

Read the full blog here

5. Why NeuroTracker Differs to ‘Brain Trainers’

CEO of NeuroTracker Jonathan Anderson has founded and helped build several multi-million dollar companies in the health industries. This gives him a strategic perspective on both the hype and skepticism over the brain training market.

In this article he provides insights as to why cognitive training should not be lumped all together. He does so through a head-to-head comparison of NeuroTracker with conventional brain training products, showing that both the science and efficacy behind products can vary dramatically.  Leading the way forward is the Digital Therapeutics Alliance, whose role is to clearly distinguish companies with evidence based technologies, from those without.

Read the full blog here

6. Jet Pilot Training Leads to New Industry Solutions

Scott Kozak is Managing Director of the Faubert Applied Research Centre (ARC), a non-profit research center dedicated to developing and validating new NeuroTracker applications to address unmet needs in human cognition, learning, and performance.

In this blog he reviews a ground-breaking study involving jet pilots performing NeuroTracker in live flight. For the first time the results demonstrated that a pilot’s spare cognitive capacity can be rapidly saturated during complex flight maneuvers, and that such effects are greater in live flight compared to simulated flight. This presents great interest for customizing training loads to an individuals needs in order to accelerate training programs.

Read the full blog here

7. Understanding the Whole Experience of Football

Finishing like we started, like Mike Clegg, Kevin George is a UK expert in the development of soccer professionals. A former pro player in the EPL turned human behavior specialist, he has written a book called Soccology to help people in the industry understand the psychological side of sports success.

In this blog George reveals the pressures of competing in soccer and the challenges of adapting to club culture. Using role models like Alex Ferguson he teases out the subtle factors that go into great leadership, as well as the performance traits of truly great players.

Read the full blog here

We hope you’ve enjoyed some of the Expert Corner blogs from the past year and look forward to more in 2019. If you are interested in contributing, please get touch at info@neurotrackerx.com

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For many people the New Year means fresh efforts to improve health. To help here are 7 top NeuroTracker blogs from 2018 that will help you get clued up on the latest ways to boost your wellness. From amping up your neurogenesis to getting better sleep, here are 7 ways to enhance your cognitive health based on the latest research.

1. 5 Ways to Boost Your Neurogenesis

New neurons in adult brains are actually more plastic and have increased excitability. For this reason it’s thought they can play a special role in improving cognitive rehabilitation outcomes for conditions such as brain injury or stroke.

Activities such as learning a new skill, traveling, language learning, making new or deeper social connections, and taking on intellectual challenges, are all stimulants of neurogenesis. Aerobic activities such as running, cycling, swimming, and even sex, are effective ways of boosting neurogenesis. Consuming the right fats (which make up 60% of the brain’s raw material) is important in new neuron growth, and even some psychoactive substances show promise for increasing neural connections. Lastly, meditation shows promise for building up grey matter density.

Read the full blog here

2. 7 Evidence-Based Benefits of Yoga

Science has found that yoga can actually improve your health. This includes improving quality of life, reducing stress, improving heart health, sleep quality and flexibility. Studies also show benefits for breathing abilities and core body strength.

Of the many different studies conducted, most show that just a couple of meditation sessions per week can yield all these benefits over time. From improving your mental state, to priming your physical fitness and health – a regular yoga routine can deliver wide benefits.

Read the full blog here

3. 9 Superfoods for Your Brain

Whether it is to get a bit of extra spark in neurons or to keep your brain healthy, diet is a great way to look after your grey matter. Most people think of super foods for physical health, but research is showing that there can equally important benefits for cognitive health.

Top foods for brain health include wild salmon, blueberries, walnuts, spinach, avacados, dark chocolate, broccoli, beets and green tea. It turns out your neurons like tasty treats, so giving your brain some TLC isn’t actually a sacrifice. These 9 superfoods are also great for your body, so time to get a pen out and add them to your next shopping list!

Read the full blog here

4. Simple Life Hacks for Great Sleep

We rarely think about how to improve our sleep quality beyond normal in order to reap known benefits like better memory, mental focus and awareness. By following some pretty straight-forward tips, you can not only recharge yourself overnight, but also prime yourself for optimal performance.

Key strategies include techniques to avoid sleep disruption, exercises to prime good sleep, fine tuning sleep patterns to boost REM, and using sleep to improve learning. Most of these are pretty straight-forward and easy to implement, so it’s not rocket science to enhance the effects of what you do for a third of your life!

Read the full blog here

5. Can Fasting Get Your Brain Into Shape?

Countless studies show that fasting can have numerous major health benefits. But the question is, do these benefits carry over to the brain? The answer appears to be yes, and potentially with rapid and long term effects.

Some of the latest neuroscience discoveries show the fasting can boost the production of new brain cells, heighten neuroplasticity, reduce brain inflammation, enhance the energy output of neurons, and finally to create higher levels of growth hormones across the brain. So while keeping trim and looking after your body might be great goals for trying out fasting, the benefits between your ears might just surprise you!

Read the full blog here

6. 5 Ways Exercise Benefits Your Brain

A growing field of neuroscience research is showing that not only can your brain become healthier, but working out can also boost your cognitive prowess. The benefits that research shows includes improved mental focus, executive functions, memory skills, cognitive flexibility and impulse control.

Other research also shows benefits for mood, confidence and stress relief. So the next time you are working out, think about the positive effects you might be getting for your mental wellbeing.

Read the full blog here

7. Some Surprising Upsides of ADHD

Around 11% of American children suffer from Attention Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). There can be many challenges for living with this condition that affect most aspects of life. Without making light of these, there can also be surprising upsides for some people.

These can be expressed through advantageous personality traits that can actually increase focus, energy, creativity and spontaneity in ways that help people perform at work and in education. Once realized, teachers, counselors, therapists, coaches, and parents can all help in mentoring or providing opportunities to nurture these hidden talents. There are a surprising number of celebrities who have learned to harness the upsides of ADHD to achieve stellar careers.

Read the full blog here‍

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As we reported at the end of last year, neuroscience is a field of research blooming with new discoveries. 2018 is no different, and has seen a number of breakthroughs for human health. Here are 5 key neuroscience findings this year.

1. Stem Cells Reprogrammed into New Neurons

For the first time, researchers this year tested the use of the reprogrammed stem cells in the brain of a patient with Parkinson’s Disease. In Parkinson’s disease, cells that act as neurotransmitters can die off, which becomes the cause of tremors and motor-skill problems. To date there is no cure for the disease.

Researchers at Kyoto University transplanted stem cells directly into the patient’s brain. The cells came from an anonymous donor’s skin, and a total of 2.4 million of the cells were implanted into 12 sites in the brain.

The trial is on-going, but the results are promising to date. The hope is that they will restore enough lost neurons to relieve the associated symptoms of the disease. Previous animal trials suggest promise, and another 6 patients are expected to start the treatment soon.

2. Nerve Stimulation Helps Paralyzed People to Walk

Neurosurgeons at Lausanne University Hospital placed an array of wirelessly controlled electrodes into the space around the spines of three patients. The patients had damaged spinal cords that had caused years of lower body paralysis, with no walking capabilities. Electrical stimulation was applied in a pattern designed to activate motor neuron pools at the right time for walking. Within days the patients could walk on a treadmill with a harness.

The success of the technique depends on precisely timed electrical pulses and intensive rehabilitation - a combination of stimulation and activation. After several months some initial walking without aids or electrical stimulation was possible, and all patients are continuing to make slow but steady progress over time.

3. Secret Links Between Exercise and Cognition Discovered

It has long been known that exercise can improve key cognitive skills, including learning and memory functions. In a physiology lab at Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan, neuroscientists tested mice on treadmills to see how it changed their brains.

Previous research had shown that mice can double the amount of new neurons they grow by swimming through mazes. But this revealed that exercise on a spinning wheel also improved their memory of the mazes. It’s known that exercise leads to the release of proteins and other molecules from muscle, fat, and liver tissue, that can increase neurogenesis and even the volume of certain brain regions.

This study went further, by discovering that exercise can actually trigger epigenetic changes in the brain, to better regulate synaptic and cognitive plasticity. A rapidly growing field of biology, epigenetics allows us to essentially reconfigure our DNA to adapt to our environment. The findings show that physical conditioning can potentially change who we are, and in ways that are beneficial for cognitive health.

4. Electrical Brain Stimulation Improves Memory

Experimental research led by neuroscientist Joel Voss at Northwestern University found that tACS (Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation), applied at low currents, moderately improved the episodic memory of healthy adults. Pre and post neuropsychological tests were used along with fMRI scans, which revealed that the cortical-hippocampal network is involved with improved recollection.

The study represents a key step in understanding the various benefits that ‘brain zapping’ can have on cognitive functions. However, this field of research is still in its early stages, as much is still to be understood in terms of the mechanics of how electrical activity is being changed at a neural level. Another challenge is that the effects can vary from one person to another, for reasons yet unknown.

5. Blood Brain Barrier Opened up via Ultrasound

Neuroscientists this year reported in Nature Communications that ultrasound and microbubbles can be used to safely control the blood-brain barrier in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The research is exciting because it opens the door to delivery of therapies that cannot otherwise access the brain.

The method involves directing ultrasound waves across focal points that generate microbubbles in the blood brain barrier, effectively opening up tiny gaps with very high precision. The treatment is seen to be safe because the gaps are naturally sealed within 24 hours, with no signs of side effects.

Experts believe that with further research this could been done in a very focused way, targeting drugs to very specific brain regions for the needs of different cognitive health problems.

If you’d like to compare this year’s breakthroughs to those in 2017, then check out our previous blog.

7 Major Developments in Neuroscience of 2017

Or, if you're interested in what neuroscience breakthrough's are happening in the supplement realm, check out this guide to CBD therapy.

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Some people get really into the holiday spirit. It’s not even December, and they’ve already started their holiday shopping, baking festive cookies and listening to Christmas songs. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are others who seem to hate everything about Christmas. You know, the people who “bah humbug” their way all through the festive season.

So, why do some people get more into the Christmas spirit than others? It turns out, that certain areas of the brain have a measurably different activity in people who enjoy Christmas versus those who do not.

Localizing Christmas Spirit

A Danish study was conducted to detect and localize the Christmas spirit in the human brain. Prior to this experiment, the cerebral location and mechanisms of the Christmas spirit were a mystery. The participants included equal groups of people who routinely celebrate Christmas and those who do not.

In the study, the participants were presented stimuli, in the form of neutral images and those with a Christmas theme, while their brains were scanned with an MRI. Note that no mulled wine or fruitcake was consumed prior to imaging.

Activation of a “Christmas Network”

Christmas celebrators had more activation in the parietal lobules, premotor cortex and somatosensory cortex. The parietal lobules are known to be related to self-transcendence, which plays a major role in spirituality. It basically enables us to experience a connection or sense of harmony with the world around us.

The premotor cortex becomes active in Christmas-happy people, most likely due to the recall of joyful emotions, such as eating treats with loved ones at Christmastime. Lastly, the somatosensory cortex is thought to be active when people recognize emotions in facial expressions.

Activation during Festive Events

Although these areas could be dubbed a “functional Christmas network,” it wouldn’t be too surprising if similar activity is observed during other festivities or holidays. For instance, the study design didn’t distinguish whether the observed activation was Christmas-specific or the result of any combination of joyful, festive, or nostalgic emotions in general.

A person who receives socks as their Christmas present each year, might have a different response in brain activity, than someone who receives an attractive present each year. Similarly, responses to Christmas may change from childhood, when the holiday itself is more magical, to adulthood, when it can become stressful for gift purchasers.

Unfortunately, there is currently no magical Santa hat that can unwittingly zap the Christmas-deficient areas of the brain in people with “bah humbug” syndrome. So, if you have Scrooge-like family members, you’ll have to put up with their grumbling at Christmas dinner for at least another year.

Interested to learn more about neuroscience? Check out this blog.

5 Reasons Why Neuroscience is Amazing

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Most people know about NeuroTracker from sports stars using the technology to up their game. However, NeuroTracker trains high-level cognitive functions in a top-down way, and this can transfer to all sorts of human performance domains. As we will see, this doesn’t just mean enhancing peak performers but also includes helping people attain mental abilities that we take for granted.

1. Boosting Sports Performance

It’s been almost 10 years since Manchester United F.C. – the world’s most popular sports team – began using the technology right out of the Faubert Lab. Since then pro athletes in major sports across different continents, have been getting in on the action to gain a competitive edge. In fact, the cognitive dimension of athletic performance is fast becoming the new way to attain sporting prowess.

A pinnacle example of a success story is Matt Ryan, the NFL MVP who the New York Times reported on as a disciple of the technology. In a rare interview, Ryan and told them that,

“We spend a lot of time working on our bodies, it’s equally important to have your mind operating on a high level. That’s key as a quarterback, to be able to see things and how they relate to each other really quickly, I think that’s exactly what NeuroTracker helps you do. I use it all year-round.”

The New York Times concluded that “NeuroTracker has grown into the most successful brain-training game in sports”. The most recent success story of leveraging this cognitive training is the Washington Capitals, who had pivotal NeuroTracker veterans help them claim the Holy Grail of ice hockey – the Stanley Cup.

Undoubtedly there will be an array of other cognitive technologies that will become standard training tools in the coming years, but for now, NeuroTracker is the only perceptual-cognitive method with peer-reviewed scientific validation, that has been demonstrated to enhance performance on the field.

2. Improving Educational Outcomes

Pioneering researchers at McGill University saw the potential for NeuroTracker to raise the attentional capacities of children. The goal was to help them overcome the challenges of learning difficulties in order to improve their performance in the classroom.  Attention is considered a fundamental skill for academic learning, with inattention being a major challenge to learning, as well as a key behavioral problem for teachers managing a large class.

Their ground-breaking research shows that significant gains in core attention capacities can be made with just a few hours of NeuroTracker training.  They also reported that educators and parents saw big changes in the attentiveness, motivation, and behavior of the students trained. On the back of this, there are now a range of top educational institutes putting in place training programs to improve the learning capacities of students in general. Revered educational strategist Dwayne Matthews is a key adviser on this program.

3. Enhancing Military and Law Enforcement Performance

Soldiers and police men and women have to deal with life-threatening scenarios on a regular basis. Often these play out under intense psychological pressure with complex and rapid decision-making demands. For these reasons, elite US and Canadian special-forces have been using NeuroTracker to heighten their situational awareness and split-second decision-making abilities. In unpublished research, these personnel were trained up to show that improved reactions in Close Quarter Battle scenarios, such as clearing a room of threats, can reduce casualty risks.

US law enforcement agencies, and most recently the Canadian Mounted Patrol, have been similarly started conditioning their forces’ abilities to focus under pressure. An on-going study will also see if NeuroTracker training can increase the number of cadets that graduate through academy programs.

Military and law studies and practices are not usually made publically available.   That said it’s reassuring to think that these personnel can make the right decisions, and avoid potentially life costly errors when performing in the field.

4. Increasing the Efficacy of Industry Training

From industry based skill-specific training to developing technical abilities in military or medical roles, getting individuals to perform to the correct standard whenever and wherever needed is a major challenge.

To this end, important technical jobs often require complex and costly training programs, such as advanced simulations and VR environments.  But how do companies choose who gets this investment into their careers, and how do they ensure the training will be effective?

A giant in industry training, Rockwell Collins has been using NeuroTracker to assess trainees’ capacities to respond to training programs. Those who respond to NeuroTracker with steep learning rates show traits of high neuroplasticity and the cognitive flexibility to adapt to training generally.  

Taking things one step further, they even studied jet pilots while performing live NeuroTracking when executing complex flight maneuvers.  From the data, they can assess the optimal training load for an individual pilot so that their program can be adapted specifically to their needs. It’s also expected that the combined training will improve piloting skills over time.

This year Rockwell Collins and their collaborators presented the study and cockpit technology at ITSEC (a major training industry conference), winning an innovation award.

To find out more about the points mentioned above, check out these blogs.

Capitals Defeat Golden Knights to Claim the Stanley Cup

Setting the Standard in Sports Science Research

How Can We Enhance Learning Outcomes?

Jet Pilot Training Leads to New Industry Solutions

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The public is becoming increasingly aware of the serious risks that concussions pose. At the same time, researchers and concussion specialists are learning just how complex mTBIs can be, as well as how greatly they can impact long term health. It’s clear that we need further research, better tools, and more integrated treatment approaches to provide advanced concussion care for the millions of people who suffer them each year.

A Multi-Disciplinary Approach

Concussion patients don’t have a lot of tools or services offered to them in the public sector. Which is why at Vertex Concussion, we want to make sure that any services that are needed can be accessed whenever they are needed. Concussions are complex, and every case is unique, so we need to incorporate expertise and a network of specialists in every domain of care that’s relevant.

Our goal has been to build up a complete rehab team, so we can treat every aspect of concussions based on what the latest research tells us is necessary. This is critical, because too often patients only receive proper therapy for one aspect of their condition, but it’s not enough. Concussion management is not just one scope, it’s a whole spectrum where everything needs to be addressed.

In particular, visual, vestibular and proprioception systems all have to work together. If any of these systems are off, then they’re going to cause problems at a wider level. You need every piece of the puzzle back in place to avoid recovery being prolonged.

We also go beyond rehabilitation by covering prevention and education. This includes providing courses to athletes, teams, schools and the general population. When a brain trauma happens, it's important for people to know what to do.

At the Outset of Care

Our first evaluation with a patient involves reviewing their medical history to check for predisposing factors, understanding the mechanism of injury, and then assessment of the vestibular, visual and motor functions, as well as the head and neck. Any major problems that could hinder the overall rehab process are prioritized at the outset, for correction with an appropriate specialist.

Throughout the course of therapy we give guidance on daily activities to help patients avoid chronic fatigue, yet still get enough safe activity to help with recovery. For example, for an athlete this could mean prescribing light aerobic exercise, and making sure they don’t attempt any sports until we know they are ready.

In and out of the clinic, knowing the right timing for when and when not to progress therapy is essential. If therapy is progressed too quickly it can bring back symptoms and cause setbacks. For example, we’ve seen people coming in from other treatments and activities that were too advanced, and as a result they struggled with post-concussion symptoms as their condition became chronic.

The Role of Vision

A major factor in concussion rehabilitation is vision, which can play a huge role in both symptoms and recovery. Vision represents around 70-80% of all our sensory processing, and with mTBIs, any excess visual stimulation can cause peripheral vision to shut down. This effect is known as ‘tunnel vision’, which can provoke all kinds of post-concussion symptoms. When this happens, patients tend to be afraid of things that stimulate their peripheral vision, such as being in public areas, so they often shut down and isolate themselves off in their homes.

What we do at the beginning of therapy is gently start to teach patients to soften and relax their gaze. Usually this is just some simple exercises, such as relearning how to be aware of their environment, such as the room around them, but without directly looking at objects. From there we need to move onto more advanced forms of therapy.

Discovering Neuro-Technologies

We’re very keen at Vertex Concussion on developing the whole aspect of vision therapy. My goal over the past year has been to research and discover all the potential therapies we can offer patients. This winter I went to a concussion course and was introduced to new technologies on the market. These can play a central role in helping with the recovery process at various stages, and it’s likely there will be many more on the market in coming years.

We have a lot of subjective assessments in concussion therapy, but having tools which can objectively tell where a patient is, is great for the patient because they get to see and understand how they are doing. In some cases it offers us a chance to provide an effective at-home therapy program, which we can monitor remotely.

Broader Roles

The goals of using training technologies can include improving attention, concentration and focus, which are mental abilities important for most populations. In particular, it’s great to be able to help with athletic performance, where the mental aspects of sports are just as important as the physical aspects, and in fact overlap.

When it comes to aging populations, vision and vestibular systems naturally deteriorate as we get older, which is something we see in our clinic.  Here, exercises using training technologies can be a nice way to stimulate neuroplasticity, to try to help older patients retain their independence for as long as possible. This can also include preventing risk of injury, because if vision and balance is improved, older people are less likely to a fall and get serious injuries like fractures.

Lastly for educational needs, working on cognitive abilities can be useful for kids, teenagers and academics, to help them sustain their concentration and focus for longer periods of time. It would be ideal to see more multi-functional training tools for concussion come to market, so we that can go beyond actual therapy, and help with life-based skills after recovery.

Interested in learning more about the risks of head injuries? Then also check out this blog.

3 Surprising Effects of Concussions

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In professional sports culture bonds teams and wins games. But how to foster this elusive aspect of performance, especially when you want to change it? Here is some advice that can help coaches navigate their players' mindsets to help get the most out of them as a team.

The Challenge of the New

Introducing a new training paradigm isn't easy. Especially in sports strongly rooted in tradition, like football. When I first took my knowledge as a power development coach into professional football, it was surprising to find out that strength and conditioning training barely existed in the Premier League. In fact, there were still old-fashioned myths that doing weights stiffened you up. It can be tough to change mindsets at the player's level, especially if you have a mentality of 'if it's not broken then don't try to fix it'. Even when you convince players of the benefits, it's still not easy to introduce new routines into the bread and butter of an athlete's daily life.

Focusing on Influencers

With my experience at Manchester United, I learned it was crucial to first get key players on board who were role models - personalities that could instigate a change in thinking that others would follow. The case in point was Roy Keane, who was a critical influencer in the club. Not only was he a strong and tenacious character, but he held the respect of all the players and led by example. Getting the respect and understanding of what you want to achieve with just one key player, can make a huge difference.

Adapting to Mindsets

It's pivotal to get to know each athlete's needs. With Roy, he had been into boxing in his younger days, and after having a one to one discussion with him it was clear he wanted boxing to be part of his power development training. As soon as we started working on the pads in the gym other players actually came just to watch him train. Then they wanted a piece of the action. Step by step we integrated more exercises around that starting point, which then grew into fully fledged physical conditioning sessions.

A New Culture

With each athlete coming on board the first thing was to find out their needs, what drives them, and then customize sessions around that. The scenario quickly grew from a group of players with little or no interest in the gym, to most of the club turning up voluntarily, and after training on the pitch, to get their personalized workouts done week in week out. The likes of Roy Keane, Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Scholes, and Ryan Giggs adopted a new approach and way of thinking about their performance into Manchester United's glory years. This showed the power sculpting team culture through leaders.

The leading soccer magazine Four Four Two recently interviewed me for an article on this theme at Manchester United's Gym Club, which can be found here.

If you'd like to read more from Mick, then check this out.

Brain Holds Key to Performance Edge in Elite Sports

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It was long thought that the brain cells you were born with, were your only stock for your whole life. Any changes in your brain were down solely to neuroplasticity – neural networks adapting through new connections or neural pruning. However, a relatively modern finding in neuroscience is that you grow new brain cells, a process called neurogenesis. This even occurs into old age.

Like with neural pruning, if new neurons aren’t put to use they’ll likely die off. But if they are involved in some kind of effortful learning, or activities which demand concentration over an extended period of time, then they can be kept long term. This emphasizes the importance of learning in the growth of our brains throughout our lives.

Something few people are aware of, is that new neurons in adult brains are actually more plastic and have increased excitability. For this reason it’s thought they can play a special role in improving cognitive rehabilitation outcomes for conditions such as brain injury or stroke.

More recent science is showing that rates of neurogenesis are affected by our lifestyles. In fact there are many ways being discovered to boost the growth rates of new neurons, so let’s take a look at 5 of them here.‍‍

1. An Enriched Environment

Activities such as learning a new skill, traveling, language learning, making new or deeper social connections, and taking on intellectual challenges, are all stimulants of neurogenesis. It’s all about getting out of your comfort zone, experiencing novelty, and being mentally challenged on a regular basis.

This approach of new experiences and fresh challenges is key, because not only does it trigger new neuron growth, it also makes those new brain cells likely to stay with you long term. An enriched environment also means simple things like good sleep, which helps clear the brain of toxins, and exposure to sunlight, which triggers production of vitamin D and growth hormones.

2. Exercise

Considered a panacea for health, exercise has significant effects on the brain as well as the body.

Aerobic activities such as running, cycling, swimming, and even sex, are effective ways of boosting neurogenesis. The aim is getting the heart pumping for more than 20 minutes at a time, and on a regular basis. In this state levels of several growth hormones are elevated in the brain.

In addition, increased endorphins help reduce stress, something which can have negative impacts on neurogenesis.

3. Diet

We are what we eat, and without the right biological materials to work with the body cannot produce new cells of any type efficiently. We covered Superfoods for the brain in a recent blog. A key thing is consuming the right fats, as these make up 60% of the brain raw material. Omega 3s are especially important for neurogenesis.

Somewhat counter-intuitively, there are also indications that temporary fasting or caloric restriction triggers increased growth of neurons, due to a survival response.

4. Psychoactive Substances

Though most forms of psychoactive substances are illegal for public use, there is interest from a medical perspective for the treatment of cognitive conditions or diseases. Perhaps due to reducing fear, psilocybin (AKA magic mushrooms) has been found to boost neurogenesis, as has cannabis, which also appears to increase neuroplasticity. Other more traditional substances such as Ketamine (a mild anesthetic) and Ibogaine (from a tree root) likewise show promise for upping levels of neurogenesis.

Some forms of anti-depressants may also be helpful, but more research is needed.

5. Meditation

In another recent blog, we also revealed that there are many studies showing how meditation (in the form of yoga) can be beneficial for both mind and body. Practiced over time, meditation can support neurogenesis by increasing grey matter density, hippocampal volume, and melatonin levels.

It is also known to be effective in decreasing stress, anxiety, and depression – all factors which can restrict the growth of new neurons.

Neuroscience is discovering a great deal about the way your brain can adapt by growing new brain cells throughout your life. It’s likely that in this new domain of research, much more will be discovered in coming years. However, what we already know is that there are plenty of practical strategies for enhancing your brain function and health, with long term benefits.

If you’d like to learn more about the fascinating field of neuroscience, try this blog.

5 Reasons Why Neuroscience is Amazing

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By Mick Clegg

Basic low-cost tools like boxing pads, cones, and touch lights can be really useful for customize training routines to the needs of any athlete. That said, high-end technology is moving fast. Virtually every month new hi-tech gear gets released with the promise to take athletic performance to the next level. Back in my Manchester United days part of my role was to assess the latest all singing and dancing kit available, year on year.

I've continue that role with Elite Lab because every now and then a piece of kit does come along that is truly valuable, and getting added to the lab's arsenal. However, the majority of sports tech simply doesn't cut the mustard. So it's easy to find yourself spending limited cash on equipment that ends up gathering dust. Here are some rules I've learned for assessing what's going to work, and what's not.

1. It is Practical?

At the end of the day, it really doesn't matter what a tech can actually do if you simply don't have time to set it up and run it during real training sessions. As a coach your own mental focus is valuable, and distractions come at a cost in terms of devoting your attention away from athletes. Think about simple things like battery life/charging time, easy to use interfaces, automated programs you can set running, and the ultimate litmus test: can athletes use the tech on their own? When you look at purchasing a tech, check the manual online for real use and reviews online or from anyone you know with experience on how it runs when you're down in the trenches.

2. Is it Reliable?

As a general rule, the more sophisticated a tech is, the less it will work as intended. Therefore you can find that the more you invest, the greater the risk of it quitting on you when you need it most. In particular, tech's that are complex from both a mechanical and software viewpoint will be the most unreliable - and repairs won't come cheap! Generally the more practical the kit is, the simpler and more dependable it will be. Less parts equal less things to go wrong.

3. How New is it?

Cutting-edge sounds great, being ahead of the curve, and the excitement of trying out something that's never been seen before - like some bionic shorts I tried recently! However be weary of brand new techs. The trend these days is to release products that are still essentially in development, leaving you waiting on essential fixes or software updates needed make the gear work as you really want it to. Generally it's best to wait a year after release, then check if there's a new version on the horizon because that will have a lot of the features that the early adopters have been calling out for.

4. Do you get Results on the Spot?

The success of any training routine depends to some degree on what the athletes themselves feel they get out of it. One of the most powerful motivators is getting results in the moment. To give an example, I've been testing out 'Blast', an upcoming app from the States which uses a tablet to film a sports drill such as a jumping header, then instantly replays it in slow mo just at the action points with stats overlaid such as jump height, acceleration and rotation. Athletes love it and it fires up their commitment to the session and their competitivity when training in groups.

5. Does it Integrate?

Ultimately the most important thing on this list. A standalone piece of equipment can only go so far. If you can blend it with a variety of aspects or equipment in a routine, then you really take can take training to the next level. This is the sort of synergy I found invaluable with kit like FitLight (e.g. dribbling, boxing drills) and NeuroTracker (e.g. agility, weight-lifting drills), and even both those in combination with each other. Check out blogs, YouTube demos and forums for insights into how existing users having been integrating the tech.

No kit is perfect, and none checks all the ticks on the list, but getting most ticked should go a long way to developing a fully fledged range of equipment that can keep your coaching game on it toes.

If you'd like to read more from Mick, then check this out.

How Can New Developments In Cognitive Training Enhance Human Performance?

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About Mick Clegg

Mick has been a personal coach and trainer 36 years. Mick had the amazing privileged to work at Manchester United Football Club from 2000 to 2011. He was the Power Development (Strength & Conditioning) Coach to many of the worlds top football players including Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville, to name just a few.

Since he left Manchester United he has continued to coach other top class athletes including Mike Eade, Kyle Howarth, Matt Gilks and Aaron Cook, as well as working with those in golf, BMX, ruby and American football. Learn more about Mick’s work by visiting seedofspeed.co.uk

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If you’ve never tried yoga and wonder whether there's actually any health benefits to it, then you might be surprised to find out there are plenty. Meaning union in Sanskrit, yoga is an age old traditional practice focused on bringing the mind and body together. It not just about holding positions, it also involves breathing exercises and meditation aimed at encouraging mental relaxation and states of calmness. Let’s take a look at 7 ways science has found that yoga can actually improve your health.

1. Quality of Life

Yoga is increasingly being associated with good living, and it turns out there might just be something to it. Research has found that yoga may generally help improve sense of wellbeing and social function.

Researchers sought to find out if yoga could have a positive influence on quality of life when used as an adjunct therapy. In a placebo controlled study, yoga was found to significantly the improve quality of life of older people. This included improved mood and reduced fatigue, compared to the control participants.

Similarly yoga has shown positive effects as treatment to help patients with cancer manage their symptoms. This included reducing the common side effects of the symptoms of chemotherapy, such as nausea and vomiting, and for recovering levels of invigoration and relaxation.

2. Stress and Anxiety

In manic schedules of today’s information infused lifestyles, yoga is seen as a way to switch focus from the outer world, to the inner world.  Accordingly, studies have shown that yoga can reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol. This has been found to be true in people who were in a state of on-going emotional distress when they starting practicing. Though yoga isn’t mastered overnight, a three month program showed lowered levels of stress, fatigue and depression. Other studies have shown similar effects over 10 weeks.

A study with 34 women diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, showed that twice weekly classes for two months significantly improved their condition. This has also been backed by positive effects shown for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some theories suggest that the act of being present in the moment, rather than worrying about the future, could be an important factor. Some research also shows that yoga may have an anti-depressant effect.

3. Heart Health

It’s well known that aerobic exercise helps keep your heart in good shape, which is a bedrock of a healthy body. It seems that yoga may also improve heart health and reduce risk factors for heart disease.

A major cause of heart problems is high blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart attacks and stroke. Long term yoga practice has been found to result in lower blood pressure and pulse rate compared to normal people that don’t practice.

There are also other indications that yoga as a lifestyle choice may slow the progression of heart disease. When combined with diet changes, study participants who were considered at risk, exhibited a 26% reduction in “bad” LDL cholesterol. For many of the participants this had a direct effect on their condition.

4. Sleep Quality

We all enjoy a good night’s rest. It comes as no surprise that poor sleep quality is associated several types of health problems.

Evidence shows that adding regular yoga into your routines could help promote better sleep. Specifically it appears that benefits apply to falling asleep faster, sleeping longer, and feeling better rested in the morning.

It has also been found to help people with medical conditions that cause sleep disturbances, reducing the need for sleep medications. It could be that yoga increases the secretion of melatonin, a hormone which regulates sleep cycles.‍

5. Flexibility and Balance

Probably one of the more intuitive expectations of yoga benefits. As such, it is well established that specific poses which target flexibility and balance, do actually improve them.

It’s not just about unfit people either. In fact, even collegiate athletes have been found to get measureable gains following a 10 week yoga program. In non-athlete populations, one year of yoga practice has been seen to improve total flexibility to four times that of normal people. Other findings show better balance and mobility in older people.

6. Breathing Abilities

As we mentioned earlier, breathing techniques are a central component of yoga. Yogic breathing focuses on slowing and controlling inhalation and exhalation through conscious control.

The benefits of this practice were shown in 287 university students with a 15 week class. The classes measurably increased the maximum amount of air that can be expelled from the lungs. Known as ‘vital capacity’, this measure is important for anyone with lung diseases, heart problems, or asthma.

Supporting this, another yoga study with people with asthma conditions, saw that breathing improved symptoms and lung function in patients with mild-to-moderate asthma.

7. Strength

There are many degrees of exertion in yoga, which generally vary in accordance with the type of positions used, and how long they are held for. Though they are not very dynamic, many poses involve applied static strength for a variety of muscle groups across the body. Or they use steady movements which expand range of motion.

A study using repeated cycles of sun salutations (raising upper body and straight arms from the toes to the air), revealed a significant increase in upper body strength over 24 weeks of practice. For female particpants this also came with the benefits of a decrease in body fat percentage.

Other studies correlate with these findings, along with gains in endurance. Though it’s likely that newcomers to yoga will be guided through gentler exercises and poses, before moving onto advanced practices.

A Sound Practice for Well-being

Considering the surprising amount of research into yoga, the wellness hype for both body and mind appear well justified. From improving your mental state, to priming your physical fitness and health - a regular yoga routine can deliver wide benefits. If you haven’t tried it, or done it for a while, it might just be worth signing-up for some local weekly classes.

If you found the sleep aspect of yoga interesting, then also check out this blog.

Simple Life Hacks for Great Sleep

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Speed is always initiated through cognitive processes, it depends on sufficient mental resources being activated that then distribute the necessary nervous and muscular responses across many physical body parts at the same time. Substantial speed gains must come from a training approach that hones this synchronous coordination of cognition and physical activity. It's a lot more than just quick muscles. Here we'll cover my fundamentals principles for mastering the athletic role of speed.

‍The Speed-Cognitive Principle

Speed can be improved with cognitive processing, which can increase efficiency across the whole physical system. It's also key from a bio-mechanical standpoint - quick movements are not useful unless they are accurate movements. This allows higher ratios of muscular exertion because the body has learned to accurately position the skeletal frame and muscular tension at each moment for optimal force.

Achieving Bio-Mechanical Efficiency

An everyday example of the brain and central nervous system improving faster physical motion is seen with a simple exercise such as standing up from a floor position. This is a sensory experience involving factors such as perception, proprioception and balance, including from the vestibular (ear) system. If you test most athletes from a lying flat position on their front with their arms stretched forward, hands down, it's often surprising just how inefficient they are. Then when drilled repetitively on the seemingly simple task, their brain and nervous responses become wired to engage these processes more effectively. Quite quickly they become more efficient, and faster. In this instance muscle fitness is unchanged, unlike the brain.

This idea expands more broadly. To achieve higher and higher speeds the brain must know the best position for every part of the body to work from and to, and then through rapid cognition excite impulses to the physical system on shorter timescales to meet continual force demands. To operate beyond normal thresholds, the activity itself must become an innate process to the whole physical system. This is why speed is one of the most complex aspects of performance to train – it involves everything.

Progressive Speed Training Methodology

To train speed of movement effectively across many actions, we need to first train the brain to accurately understand each exercise form. This means learning without unnecessary sensory complexity, such as extra weight or too much speed before a foundation of coordination is properly established.

Then through closely monitored progression, perfect form is built upon with small increases in factors such as speed, weight or movement complexity. These need to be part of a total progressive overload methodology. This is a pivotal concept, because the overload training principle should be achieved for mental resources as well as physical.

Essentially these are shared resources in a single combined system. The key is controlling the individual variables that contribute to how challenging each exercise is to each athlete, at each step of their training. It’s not simply about increasing force or effort, it’s about the subtle interplay of cognitive and physical stimuli, and adaptivity to them through conditioning. The aim is to make the training exercises multi-functional one step at a time.

In this sense it’s worth thinking about training drills as a cognitive assimilation of the exercises themselves. This assimilation provides the foundation on which speed can effectively progress.

Physical Excellence Through Mental Focus

In this broader progressive overload approach, we can now see that adding more complex sensory challenges can be as, or more important, than just increasing physical factors. For example testing balance, perception, awareness, and decision-making during exercises increases the total performance load of an exercise, directly impacting the speed of physical responses. This impact can also be a measure of performance readiness – as we know, the mental pressures of competition are a major threat to skill performance.

Finally it’s essential to recognize that total concentration on an exercise is of absolute importance. It's amazing how much help athletes can need guidance with this discipline. Their whole system needs to be active and tuned in to make every moment in training as efficient and impactful on performance as possible. Simply going through the motions of exercises is ultimately not enough to excel. This is one reason I believe Olympic-Lifts are invaluable power exercises - with clean and jerk the athlete must be totally focused and engage their whole system.

Teaching Gradual Mastery

From a coaches standpoint overall, this approach means 1) stripping down carefully all exercises, then utilizing them in ways that apply the correct total load, 2) teaching athletes to concentrate on every aspect of the exercise and master it through their combined sensory systems, and 3) to continuously build up the foundation of speed through training at threshold across of all the necessary cognitive and physical components involved in an exercise. It’s with this approach of constantly moving performance boundaries over time, that athletes can make unprecedented gains in speed that can transfer to competition.

If you'd like to read more gaining a sports performance advantage, then check this out.

Brain Holds Key to Performance Edge in Elite Sports

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The path through education can be a long and challenging one. Some students shine while others struggle. But what makes the difference between an A star student and a college drop out?

Whether its children just entering high school, or students graduating college, there are a range of psychological characteristics that make great learners.  The first step to nurturing these, is to be aware of them. So here we’ll take a look at 8 key traits that contribute to student excellence.

1. Independence

Successful students understand that their teachers and instructors are facilitators of their own learning journey. The classroom is just one part of knowledge discovery, and learning is not simply about listening. It involves processing, internalizing, and understanding knowledge at different levels.

Independent learners take seeds of knowledge, and grow them in ways that become personally meaningful. This leads to unique and long lasting understandings that are the prerequisites of genius.

2. Curiosity

Education is fueled by an inherent curiosity to know, and an urge to question. Neuroscience shows that being puzzled as to why something is the way it is, primes it’s absorption into long term memory.

Students with a desire to ponder and discuss what they are taught after leaving the classroom, are those who assimilate learning long term.

3. Optimism

Expectation of success breeds motivation. Whether it’s facing an exam, a daunting study project, or contemplating graduation prospects, having a positive attitude empowers students with the will to succeed, day after day.

Aiming high may seem risky, but actually the psychology of meeting expectations nurtures self-belief, yet the flipside provokes self-examination to do better.

4. Persistence

Part motivation, persistence is a hard-work ethic that allows learners to perform well term after term. It goes hand-in-hand with consistency, where having routines makes completing homework and assignments seem like an automatic task.

The antidote to procrastination, persistence comes with an internally imposed approach to educational self-development. In the long run it makes the journey of learning an efficient one.

5. Personal Growth

Being a closeted book worm doesn’t actually make for great student development. Students with a passion to expand their learning also need to take on challenges that teach them about themselves.

Extracurricular roles and recreational activities which involve social interactions, teamwork, leadership, and acquisition of new skills, bring novelty and challenges. This not only fosters confidence and self-esteem, but keeps the brain in an optimal learning state.

6. Resilience

A typical student experiences close to two decades of education in order to graduate college. Whether a personal event or an academic woe, from time to time, there will always be things which try to take the wind out of a student’s sails.

The resilience pick things up and move on can make the difference between a student’s progress being derailed, and them coming out of it a stronger person.

7. E-Literacy

We live in a digital and connected world. Not only do computers provide access to vast and immediate sources of knowledge, proficient use of them develops skills that increasingly matter in academia and careers after graduation.

There is also the fast growing world of online learning. At any age, students have the opportunity to expand their academic horizons and acquire qualifications from universities like Oxford, MIT and Harvard.

8. Trained Cognitive Abilities

Students all need mental focus to learn. Becoming lifelong learners is an imperative for the 21st century. The challenge is that information loads are increasing exponentially, consuming more and more attention. Since 2000 it has been reported that the average attention span of a student has dropped from 12 seconds, down to 8 seconds in 2013, and by some estimates may drop to 2 seconds.

Students who actively train their selective attention and sustained attention gain an educational performance advantage, which will become ever more critical as we move further into the 21st century.

These 8 traits have one thing in common – personal development. When we think about educational success we often think first of schools and colleges. However, it could be more useful to consider what actually makes great students, just like the way we think about what makes great athletes.

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If you’d like to read about the latest approaches to student development, check out this blog,

How Can we Enhance Learning Outcomes?

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In recent years Attention Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been found to be remarkably common, with estimates that around 11% of American children suffer from the condition. There can be many challenges for living with this condition that affect most aspects of life. Without making light of these, there can also be surprising upsides for some people. Let’s get an idea of what the benefits might be.

The Lowdown on ADHD                                                                                

ADHD is a known medical condition that causes inattention (lack of mental focus), hyperactivity (lack of calmness), and impulsivity (tendency to make rash decisions or actions). It can also trigger high energy levels. Some of the common challenges of ADHD include difficulties with,

• patience
• self-control
• completing tasks
• listening to instructions
• losing things or train of thought
• being aware of others’ mindsets
• talking over people

Brainwaves that are symptomatic of ADHD can be measured through EEG and qEEG scans, and treatment typically involves medication that changes those brain waves towards more normal levels of activity. However, Neurofeedback to promote self-awareness and mental control is also used as therapy, as well as other types of cognitive training interventions. Such treatments make ADHD manageable for most people, helping them concentrate on what they need to in daily life.

Personality Traits of ADHD

Every person is different, yet there are tendencies for people with ADHD to be inclined towards certain personality traits. These can actually be seen as strengths rather than drawbacks. Here are four such characteristics.

• Hyperfocus - studies have shown that ADHD can actually lead to hyperfocused states of mind. This can result in becoming oblivious or not caring about anything else, except the one thing that matters at the moment. This can be a great advantage when surrounded by noise or under high levels of pressure, such as taking a penalty in soccer.
• Energy – a sense of vim and get up and go often comes with the territory of hyperactivity. This can be a great plus in situations where people typically lack zeal or simply get fatigued. Sport is a great example where high energy can have a great impact.
• Creativity - ADHD can bring a different perspective in life that others miss. In situations where thinking outside of the box or an experimental approach is favored, it can lead the way to unconventional solutions. As such, some people with ADHD find themselves particularly inventive or artistic.
• Spontaneity - some people with ADHD are willing to just dive in where others dawdle. Socially they may be the icebreaker at parties, or in challenging tasks or projects, a lack of fear to get stuck-in can inspire others to overcome their doubts and translate to leadership. A willingness to try new things regardless, can also lead to a life richer in experience and variety.

Honing ADHD Strengths

The first step to harnessing the benefits of ADHD is recognizing them at an individual level. Positive feedback from friends and family can help people with ADHD realize they have abilities which are easily missed amidst all the difficulties. Once realized, teachers, counselors, therapists, coaches, and parents can all help in mentoring or providing opportunities to nurture these hidden talents.

To give a key career related example, a surprising number of professional athletes have ADHD, estimated to be double that of the general population of adults. As sports coaches tend to be part psychologists, it’s likely they play a big role in turning hyperfocus, energy, creativity, and spontaneity, into success on the field.

Over time ADHD personality traits can blossom from strength to strength, so lastly, let’s a look at some role models who have converted their behavioral challenges into success.

Famous People with ADHD

Let’s face it, most well-known people with ADHD are unlikely to shout it from the rooftops. Yet still, there are plenty of celebrities who have been clinically diagnosed with ADHD. Some of these include giant of science Albert Einstein, pop star Adam Levine, business tycoon Richard Branson, Hollywood actress Whoopi Goldberg, and the infamously creative artist Salvador Dali.

In professional sports, some iconic athletes include NBA stars Michael Jordon and Magic Johnson, NFL Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw, tennis supreme Serena Williams, prolific record-breaking swimmer Michel Phelps, and baseball legend Babe Ruth.

So although ADHD undoubtedly brings many challenges, it doesn’t necessarily put people at a disadvantage throughout their lives. In fact, there are many with ADHD who have reached the pinnacles of their fields, and many more will continue to do so.

Want to get more clued up ADHD? Then

Read our past blog.

5 Myths Exposed about ADHD

If you're still looking for more information on ADHD, then also check out this excellent educational resource by the team at Edu Birdie.

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Leadership is about human connection. Leadership is about communication, rapport, being culturally fluent, setting the beliefs and values for the group, directing and strategizing all behaviors towards the beliefs and values, and being a role model.Leadership in football is the same outside of football, it’s about how you make people feel. If those that you lead feel safe, feel that you are consistent, fair, and successful, they will follow your lead. If your beliefs and values within the work environment resonate with those that you lead, they will follow your instructions beyond your expectations. In Soccology, KPMG Senior Partner Tim Payne shared stories  from his 20 years in Leadership, that involved leaders taking a personal interest in those they lead.

The people felt like people and not commodities. Former Manchester United player Quinton Fortune shared his experiences under the leadership under Sir Alex Ferguson and former Chelsea player Alexis Nicolas and coach Michael Beale shared what it was like under Jose Mourinho. None of those in football spoke about football in regards to leadership, they spoke about how Ferguson and Mourinho made others feel.

For years football bred leaders that shouted when things didn’t go well because that’s what those before them did. In fact, I remember sitting in a changing room at half time, losing 2-0 and my manager swearing every other word. I thought to myself how does phrases like “f***ing pull your socks up” and “You f***ing need to work harder” help us to change this game in our favor? Everyone, in their eyes were working hard and doing their job. We were struggling and needed someone to direct us in a different way to which we went about the game in the first half.

This is not to say that shouting and swearing doesn’t work for some, but what is the overall message? For some people it works and for others it doesn’t. Personally I didn’t need motivation, I needed strategy, so when I heard those team talks I would switch off. I know from experience that this happened a lot with others and continues to happen.

How can you connect to those you lead?

Leadership Tips:

1. Mindful Management

Steer aware from judgments and more towards curiosity. If a member of your team is struggling, being curious as to why and how you can both overcome the problem will increase the chances of having a positive outcome in the situation and the relationship as a whole. Know the uniqueness of your team, the “back in my day” or “my way or the highway” mentality will lead to a high turnover of staff and will negatively affect achieving your objectives. Seek to understand your team, acknowledge where they are lacking and apply a solution.

2. The Message

‍What is your message? Once you connect with those that follow you they will become more receptive to your words. Your message should be consistent throughout your behavior and all the work you direct your team to do.

3. Modelling Excellence

‍Leading by example creates realistic goals, motivation and gives you credibility as the leader. There are many ways to lead, the more the better. If you lead in a limited amount of areas, those you lead will begin to question your capabilities. Being a good communicator, having up to date knowledge in particular field, representing what you preach (congruency) etc.

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Whether it’s assessing human performance abilities, or improving soccer player and jet pilot performance, a lot has been happening in the field of NeuroTracker research.  With so much being published across diverse areas of human performance, it can be challenging to keep track. For that reason, let’s take a bird’s eye view of 4 key areas of the published peer-reviewed studies.

1. Enhancing Decision-Making on the Field (1)

Far transfer is the ultimate test of any training method.  It’s also extremely rare in sports. This study trained soccer players on 30 sessions of NeuroTracker and compared them to active and passive control groups.  Players’ passing decision-making accuracy was evaluated across competitive games pre- and post-training. Video recordings of play were objectively analyzed by a neutral expert.

The NeuroTracker trained group showed an increase of 15% improvement in passing decision-making skill, compared to negligible change with the control groups.

Out 1,692 reviewed studies, this was the only study to show reliable evidence of far transfer to competition performance.

2. Improving Jet Pilot Training (2)

In an experimental combination of man-machine technology, an L-29 jet plane had a NeuroTracker system integrated into the dashboard and pilots were hooked up with eye tracking and ECG equipment.

The aim was to use NeuroTracker to measure pilots’ spare cognitive capacity under different levels of flight difficulty, both in simulators and in live flight, and provide an objective assessment of training effectiveness. This could lead to reduced attrition rates, accelerated learning, and personalized training.

The findings showed that the more difficult the flight maneuver the less spare cognitive capacity was available for NeuroTracking, with greater effects for live flight compared to simulated flight. This is part of a multi-year research project looking to assess pilots’ training capabilities in order to optimize training loads to individual needs.

3. Predicting Sports Injury Risks

College athletes were tasked with performing jump sequences while their movements measured via force plates and advanced motion capture. NeuroTracker was also performed as a dual-task on half of the trials.

For 60% of the participants, performing NeuroTracker on the jumps caused their knee abduction angle to change in ways associated with increased risks of ACL injury.

This study showed that using NeuroTracker to simulate the mental demands of sports performance could reveal those individuals who are particularly susceptible to ACL injury.  A follow-up study will see if NeuroTracker training can reverse these types of injury risk factors.

4. Assessing Driving Safety

3 separate studies all put people’s driving skills to the test using advanced simulators.  These provided a wealth of performance metrics under low, medium, and high difficulty driving conditions

The largest study also tested young, adult and elderly drivers.  The driving metrics were compared to NeuroTracker baselines.  

Analysis showed that NeuroTracker scores strongly correlated with key aspects of driving performance.  This included predicting crash risk, driving speed, and emergency response behaviors. NeuroTracker was a more significant predictor of driving performance than age. Authors of the studies collectively agreed that NeuroTracker could provide a valuable and practical method for assessing driving skills.

Other Findings

Outside of these key studies, other published research included the following findings,

• NeuroTracker measures predict running intensity in rugby competition.
• NeuroTracker training may sustain and enhance the effects of neuropharmaceuticals.
• Stadium crowd noise can be used to boost NeuroTracker learning rates.
• Dynamic stereoscopic visual capacities decline with healthy aging.

As we can see, the movement in NeuroTracker science is continuously growing and evolving in diverse and exciting ways.

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Original Studies

1. ‘3D-Multiple Object Tracking task performance improves passing decision-making accuracy in soccer players’
NeuroTracker training provides improvements to passing and decision-making in competitive performance.

2. ‘Perceptual-Cognitive & Physiological Assessment of Training Effectiveness’
NeuroTracker measures reveal the cognitive demands of simulated and live flight performance.

3. ‘Evaluating the effect of a perceptual-cognitive task On landing biomechanics of the lower limb’
NeuroTracker combined with motor-skill dual-task measures reveal associated ACL injury risk factors.

4. ‘Driving simulator scenarios and measures to faithfully evaluate risky driving behavior: A comparative study of different driver age groups’
NeuroTracker baselines showed significant predictability for driving risk and behavior.

5. ‘Three-Dimensional Multiple Object Tracking Speed Thresholds are Associated with Measures of Simulated Driving Performance in Older Drivers’
A single NeuroTracker measure strongly correlates to older driver’s risks of crashes.

6. ‘Above and beyond driving abilities: toward a single index’
Using combined assessments to develop a Single Index measure of driving ability.

7. ‘Spatial Awareness is Related to Moderate Intensity Running during a Collegiate Rugby Match’
NeuroTracker measures correlate with moderate intensity movement patterns of rugby players.

8. ‘Cholinergic Potentiation Improves Perceptual-Cognitive Training of Healthy Young Adults in Three Dimensional Multiple Object Tracking’
Combined cognitive training and Aricept intervention show increased learning and neuroplasticity.

9. ‘Exploring the Effect of Simulated Crowd Noise on Multiple Object Tracking Performance in USPORT Football Athletes’
NeuroTracker training with noise shows that training may be enhanced with athletes.

10. ‘Effect of age and stereopsis on a multiple-object tracking task’
NeuroTracker reveals age-related effects in processing stereoscopic information.

We all know how sleep deprivation and poor quality sleep is not just about feeling tired, it can deeply affect our mood and mental focus. Conversely, good quality sleep is known to improve memory, mental focus and awareness. However we rarely think about how to improve our sleep quality beyond normal, to reap such benefits. By following some pretty straight-forward tips, you can not only recharge yourself overnight, but also prime yourself for optimal performance. Let’s take a look at some of key things sleep science has to teach us.

Avoid Disrupting Sleep

While you might not get insomnia, it’s surprisingly easy to disrupt your body’s intention to get a restful night in the sack. Here are 4 steps to make sure you don’t get in the way of sleep.

1. A first mistake for who are feeling overly tired, is to try to make up by forcing extra sleep time, by going to bed earlier or getting up later. In reality, your normal amount of time in bed promotes more restful sleep and maintains a balanced circadian rhythm.

2. A second common error is for people to find something to do in bed when they can’t sleep. Doing things like watching TV, going on social media, or even reading in bed, teach your body that your bed isn’t for sleeping. The trick is to condition yourself that your bedroom is for sleep, so that it becomes automatic. When you can’t sleep for whatever reason, it’s best to leave the bedroom, take some time out that’s involves relaxing, then go back to bed when ready.

3. Another simple thing to avoid is eating late at night. Your body has an internal clock that is not just aligned to the daily cycles of light and dark, but also how you eat. Research shows that your blood sugar and fat levels naturally elevate at night to prepare for going without food. Eating on top of this simply creates an energy surplus, just as your biological system trying to drop down gears for rest.

4. Finally, perhaps the most disrupting thing for a peaceful slumber is a worrying mind. Ironically it’s worrying about the effects of lack of sleep that is the most potent way to prevent it. When this happens often, it becomes a mental habit. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one solution to this, which involves training your conscious thinking to trade negative thoughts for positive ones, setting realistic goals and learning to let go of inaccurate thoughts that can interfere with sleep. Tomorrow is simply another day of the 20 to 30 thousand we have in a life time.

Get into the Zone

In recent years there have been a slew of scientific studies showing the numerous benefits of mindfulness. As mindfulness exercises are all based on relaxation techniques for both mind and body, when done pre-bedtime they go hand-in-hand with setting yourself up for a great night’s sleep. It doesn’t have to be time-consuming either, just a 10-20 minute routine of using meditation, breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, or biofeedback based apps will help create an optimal transition state before retiring to the bedroom.

Fine-tune Your Sleep Time

Each night we go through a succession of REM cycles, typically 4-5 each night. These start off short, getting progressively longer and deeper throughout the night. REM is considered to be the most important aspect of sleep as far as our mental well-being goes. Accordingly, the worst time to be woken is in the middle of REM, which scientists have found makes people irritable and leaves them feeling particularly groggy.

If your alarm clock goes off like a sledge hammer and you awake amidst thoughts of crazy dreams, then it means your longest REM cycle has just been disrupted, and you will pay the price for it. The trick is to try altering your sleep time to be shorter or longer, so that you wake up outside of REM. Get the knack of this rhythm and even though your body may feel tired when you rise and shine, mentally it will feel natural. Also alarms that start quietly and gently, slowly rising to a crescendo, are a neat way to make waking up a smoother process.

Learn Things Before Sleeping

Lots of research shows that sleep plays a critical role in synthesizing each day’s events through learning and memory. This includes ‘acquisition’ (new information into the brain), ‘consolidation’ (creating stables memory formations), and ‘recall’ (improving the ability to access the information) – all achieved by strengthening of the neural connections.

It turns out your brain has a natural bias towards information absorbed later in the day, and even just before napping. Importantly this also encompasses creative problem-solving, which means that learning new things, or contemplating intellectual challenges in the evening, can set you up for success. One tip is to switch some TV time for quality reading.

So there we have it, it’s not rocket science to enhance the effects of what you do for a third of your life!

If you’re interested discovering ways to boost your mental wellness, then

Check out these blogs.

5 Ways Exercise Benefits Your Brain

9 Super Foods for Your Brain

Can Fasting Get Your Brain Into Shape

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Whether its to get a bit of extra spark in neurons or to keep your brain healthy, diet is a great way to look after your grey matter. Rather than taking expensive supplements or chugging caffeine all day to keep your concentration going, consider adding these 9 superfoods regularly into your diet to keep your brain fighting fit.

1. Wild salmon

Salmon are a deep-water fish rich in Omega-3 essential fatty acids, which reduce oxidative stress and enhance synaptic plasticity and learning and memory. Since the body can't produce Omega-3s, they have to be consumed to maintain an adequate supply. They also contain important anti-inflammatory substances.

Other oily fish that provide the benefits of omega-3s are sardines and herring. Eating a combination of these two to three times a week will keep your Omega-3 supplies plentiful.

2. Blueberries

Similar to other small dark fruits like blackberries, these tiny berries are loaded with antioxidants, which protect your brain from oxidative stress. They can also reduce inflammation, which may improve cognition and memory. Some research indicates that blueberries could provide a range of benefits against neurodegenerative diseases.

Luckily these fruity treats are tasty and couldn't be easier to add to a daily breakfast.

3. Walnuts

Perhaps the easiest snack to remember as brain food, simply because it looks like one. Again walnuts have Omega-3 fatty acids and pack a range of nutrients into a single nut. Quite a few studies suggest that walnuts can positively affect brain aging and brain health, may prevent memory impairment and help with remembering things commonly forgotten.

As a standalone snack they are easy to eat on-the-go, providing a nice balance of protein and healthy fats.

4. Spinach

Not quite the muscle boosting veg we associated with Popeye, spinach is actually high in potassium rather than iron, which helps keep the electrical conductivity of the brain on par – needed for quick thinking. It doesn’t stop there though, spinach is a veritable cornucopia of nutrients, including vitamin K, vitamin A (in the form of carotenoids), manganese, folate, magnesium,  copper, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin E, calcium, potassium, vitamin C, dietary fiber, phosphorus, vitamin B1, zinc, protein and choline! In combination these help maintain cellular functioning and healthy blood flow to the brain.

Though it can be bitter, it’s less so when cooked, and complements any stir fry. Bought frozen it can easily be added fresh in small amounts when cooking dishes.

5. Avocados

Containing healthy fats along with potassium, vitamins K, C and E, folate, iron, fiber, magnesium, potassium, and B vitamins, avocados are a simple way to get a broad range of nutrients in soft chunks. In fact they contain at least trace amounts of every single vitamin and mineral the human body needs, which may be why they’re known to improve memory and concentration, as well as help prevent blood clots in the brain, and brain dysfunction caused by diabetes.

Need a reason to make those chips healthier? Get some guacamole every time you buy a bag!

6. Dark Chocolate

Often misconceived as a diet sin, chocolate without the heavy sugar is practically a saint when it comes to health and enjoying a treat in-between or after meals. It’s well known that cacao can help with mood, but less well known that bioflavonoids in chocolate can significantly restore blood flow to the brain – a common problem for healthy aging. The stimulating effects of chocolate have also been demonstrated to improve cognitive performance and mental alertness.

85% cacao or higher chocolate is a great treat any time of day, but hot cocoa also works well for getting a cacao boost.

7. Broccoli

Another famous dark green veg, broccoli has high levels of vitamin K, which has been seen to help prevent Alzheimer’s disease, as well as keep arteries from clogging up. This cruciferous vegetable also has choline, important in cellular repair, and may improve memory and brain function. It’s also a decent source of folic acid, which also helps cognitive function. Finally, a chemical called sulforaphane, is important for strengthening the blood-brain barrier to keep unwanted toxins out of the brain.

Broccoli is a favorite for stir fry, but isn’t bitter, so also works chopped in salads.

8. Beets

Beets are practically loaded with nitrates, providing a natural means of getting nitric oxide in the body, keeping blood flow levels healthy in the brain. When chewed well, saliva also breaks them down in a way that regulates blood pressure for up to 24 hours.  Beets have been found to stimulate activity in the frontal cortex, a region of the brain where high-level cognitive processes such as decision-making take place.

Popular in salads, but also make a standalone snack when pickled - great for munching on while preparing meals.

9. Green tea

Drunk for centuries in China, green tea is a potent way to deliver herbal infusions that are great for your brain. Green tea contains polyphenols (such as flavonoids) - powerful antioxidants that protect your neurons from damage by free radicals floating around in our bodies. Studies show that green tea improves memory. Black tea is also beneficial, but has less antioxidants.

Perhaps the easiest way to get a nutritional boost for your brain is with a tasty cuppa, anytime anywhere! Next time you’re about to grab a coffee on-the-go…try tea.

It turns out your neurons like tasty treats, so giving your brain some TLC isn't actually a sacrifice. These 9 superfoods are also great for your body, so time to get a pen out and add them to your next shopping list!

Want to learn more about brain health? Check out our blog on fasting.

Can Fasting Get Your Brain Into Shape?

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The Asian Games is the second largest sporting event in the world. At this year’s games, eSports featured as a demonstration sport, and was then accepted to be an official sport in the 2022 games. Following suit, Paris is also looking to include eSports in the 2024 Olympic Games. The notion of gamers being able to earn gold medals for their nations from the comfort of a chair is raising very heated, yet interesting debate. Let’s take a look at a 3 key debates as to whether gaming should be an Olympic sport, or not.

Is gaming even a sport?

Con - The traditional definition of sport involves some level of physical exercise or exertion. Going back to ancient Greece, the Olympics symbolized the pursuit of physical perfection, and striving to reach beyond our mortal bodies.

Sat down twiddling a mouse and keyboard, or a game-pad, epitomizes the direct opposite. Gaming actually encourages a lack of physical fitness - staring at a screen for hours on end is something that clashes with the very notion of sport.

Pro - The definition of sport has always been more than physical exercise. Skill and mental acuity have long been considered defining traits of elite athletes, which is why chess, snooker, and darts have long been held to be sports. There are already non-physical sports in the Olympics, such as rifle shooting, which actually involves not physically moving anything, accept a finger.

The most important element in sports is competition. eSports has this in spades, creating some of the highest competitive pressure in any sport. In multiplayer sports, many eSports also require a level of teamwork play that surpasses any other areas of human performance.

Is gaming an admirable pursuit?

Con - Video gaming is a problem for society, so pro gamers should not be presented as role models for children to emulate. The IOC has already voiced concerns that violent video games should not be part of the Olympics. Gaming is fundamentally unhealthy as it encourages a lack of exercise and social disconnection.

China has recognized these problems and defined gaming as addictive, setting up treatment centers to deal with gaming disorders - just like drug abuse is treated. The Olympics is meant to promote sports that help people improve their lives, not degrade them.

Pro - Elite gamers are extremely dedicated, committing huge amounts of hours to their pursuit of excellence that go beyond most other sports. This combined with the exceptional talent required to rise above millions of other competitors, makes them role models of human performance in the mental domain.

For this reason gamers are worshiped and adored by hundreds of millions of fans who pack out stadiums to watch them. Particularly for younger generations, this inspires them to better themselves in ways other sports do not. Gamers are the sports heroes of the next generation.

Is gaming something people actually want to watch in the Olympics?

Con - Fans of eSports already have their lots of their own tournaments and championships that cater specifically to this form of entertainment. Polls show that most gamers don’t really care if eSports becomes an Olympic sport, because they don’t naturally associate gaming with it. eSports has its own entertainment niche.

Additionally, eSports tend to be highly esoteric. Only certain fans watch certain games, and the demographic of eSports fans is heavily biased towards young males who are generally not interested in traditional sports. For those new to eSports, many games are too complex to understand without knowing how to play, so spectatorship will exclude the majority of the population.

Pro - Part of the role of the Olympics is to widen people’s horizons and introduce them to new sports. Dressage is an example of a sport which excludes the majority of people from participating and is also difficult to understand, yet it has been in the Olympics for over a century.

More importantly, eSports is already a massively established global entertainment industry. With big money and sponsorship behind it, it has been evolved to deliver maximum entertainment value – something like the Super Bowl. Out of any new Olympics sports, eSports is the one which will be the most popular, and it has fans in every country.

Interested in learning more about eSports?

Check out our other blogs.

The Unstoppable Rise of eSports

What It Takes to Be a Professional eSports Athlete

The Special Brains of Gamers‍

Avoiding eating altogether is often associated with religious discipline. However in recent years fasting has been gaining popularity for those seeking its health benefits. The theory goes that our ancestors regularly went through periods of feast and famine, and this resulted in our biological make-up being well adapted to going without food for extended periods. Going further, it activates survival mechanisms that step your body out of cruise control and into a higher gear.

Medical science seems to agree, with countless studies showing that fasting can have numerous major health benefits. But the question is, do these benefits carry over to the brain? The answer appears to be yes, and potentially with rapid and long term effects. Here we will see some of the ways science shows that taking a break from eating could boost the condition of your grey matter.

Boosting Production of Brain Cells

A modern discovery in neuroscience, neurogenesis allows your brain to grow neurons even into old age. Increased neurogenesis has been shown to be linked to better brain functions. In contrast, reduced growth of new neurons could be a factor in many neurological diseases associated with aging.

Fasting has been found to stimulate the growth of new neurons. The great news here is that brain cells can last up to an entire lifetime!

Amping Up Neuroplasticity

As we covered in a previous blog, neuroplasticity is your brain’s remarkable ability to physically adapt to challenges and become more efficient at what it does. A big part of this involves growing and rewiring neural connections between brain cells. And there are a lot of them – around 100 trillion! The greater neuroplasticity you have, the more capable you are at learning.

Fasting boosts production of an important protein called Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) by up to 400%. BDNF has been hailed as “Miracle Grow For Your Brain”, allowing the brain to continue to change and adapt. This makes your grey matter more resilient and adaptable, in turn boosting memory, mood, and learning.

Reducing Inflammation

Research shows that intermittent fasting has been shown to damp down the fires of inflammation.  Typically this involves eating 25% of your normal daily calories, twice per week. Why is this good for the brain? Well excessive inflammation is well known to be the cause of many diseases that chronically impair brain health, such as Alzheimers and dementia.

One way fasting helps is through assisting with autophagy, cleaning old or damaged cells more efficiently, reducing their inflammatory effects. Another is producing Ketones, which are created when fats stores start being burned for fuel instead of sugar.  Ketones in turn block part of the immune system that increases the risk of inflammatory disorders. Finally, fasting improves insulin sensitivity, preventing glucose build up in the blood and its associated inflammation.

Empowering Energy Systems

Somewhat surprisingly, intermittent fasting has been demonstrated to aid mitochondrial biogenesis - creation of the biological machinery responsible for creating energy in each and every one of the cells in your body. Like the batteries for your cells, they convert the food you eat, quite literally, into power.

This is important for your brain because it burns fuel like there is no tomorrow, consuming up to 25% of all your bodies calories.

Increasing Human Growth Hormone

Human Growth Hormone (HGH) has powerful anti-aging and longevity benefits when produced naturally in your body. More specifically, HGH can improve cognition and improve neuroprotection, helping preserve brain health.

Intermittent fasting has been shown to naturally increase HGH levels to provide anti-aging and longevity benefits for brain health.

So while keeping trim and looking after your body might be great goals for trying out fasting, the benefits between your ears might just surprise you!

Your Brain’s Remarkable Neuroplasticity

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Pretty much everyone knows exercise can improve your physical health, but did you know that benefits between the ears can also be profound? A growing field of neuroscience research is showing that not only can your brain become healthier, but working out can also boost your cognitive prowess. Here are five key reasons to get your heart pumping.

Increased Mental Focus

Even on apparently quiet days, our increasingly digital lifestyles mean we are often bombarded with competing information coming at us from all angles. The cost is distraction.

Fortunately, research shows that physical fitness can boost our ability to concentrate and focus on what we need to, when we need to. If you’re not so fit now, the good news is that exercise helped research participants do better on challenging cognitive tasks, both for existing sports people, and those new to exercise.

Enhanced Executive Functions

Found in the ‘command centers’ of the brain, executive functions are basically the mental muscles that make us more intelligent than the great apes. Among others, this includes street smarts such as decision-making, task switching, and attention.

A scientific review of exercise studies found that overall, physical activity is an effective way to optimize higher level brain functions. What’s even better is that positive effects were found for all ages of healthy people. In another review, it was found that for unfit people who started exercising, heightened executive functions was the biggest cognitive benefit.

Improved Memory Skills

There is some interesting new research showing that high-intensity exercise, following tasks that involve remembering information, helps people retain the information better. As long as it’s followed by a decent night’s sleep.

However, it’s also known that working memory is improved with regular exercise. Though it doesn’t sound too exciting, working memory is a powerful system in the brain that drives processing of multiple streams of information on the fly. A 2014 study showed that 30-minute workouts of moderate intensity exercise significantly increased working memory afterwards.

Expanding Cognitive Flexibility

There are times when you have to juggle several things at once going on around – anyone with children will know this well! In busy environments or workplaces, staying on track often means being able to switch mental focus from one thing to another quite frequently. Rather than actually multitasking, this is how most people function at their best – by using cognitive flexibility.

In one study, frequent aerobic exercise over 10 weeks was evaluated to see if it had an effect on a cognitive flexibility. It improved, along with attention and processing speed – two mental skills that are strongly interrelated with flexibility. It was also found that more aerobic exercise equated with larger benefits. Therefore running, cycling and swimming could be great ways to boost these cognitive abilities.

Resisting Impulsiveness

Inhibition varies from one person to the next. Whether it’s resisting a sticky donut when on a diet, or not saying something in the moment later regretted, self-control is key. If we are lacking in impulse control, then we quickly fall prey to poor decision-making that affects our careers, health and social relationships.

The British Journal of Sports Medicine Exercise published a meta-review of studies with children through to adults aged 35, testing this kind of impulse control. They found that just short bouts of exercise improved inhibition and response control. This provides a strong indication that physical activities can change human behavior in positive ways.

These are five ways that physical fitness can lead to mental fitness, but other research also shows benefits for mood, confidence and stress relief. So the next time you are working out, think about the positive effects you might be getting between the ears!

If you’re also interested in how training the mind can improve sports performance, then check out this blog.

3 Reasons Athletes Should Train their Minds

Athletes spend a great amount of time and effort working out to be physically ready for the rigors of playing sports. They do strength and conditioning exercises, plyometrics, and interval training to improve their strength, speed, quickness, balance, coordination, reflexes, and endurance. This approach is all well and good; after all, the bigger, faster, quicker and more explosive an athlete is, the better.

But if the body is being trained, shouldn’t athletes also train the brain? This is exactly the concept behind the founding of deCervo, described by The Star as “a baseball-focused company founded by a pair of neuroscientists.” According to deCervo co-founders Jordan Muraskin and Jason Sherwin, it is possible to measure, and ultimately train, a batter’s ability to recognize pitches. It is, as the The Star notes, “about the effectiveness of one’s neural processors,” which can purportedly be trained by deCervo. Sherwin calls this “finding the million-dollar brain” and it is both intriguing and contentious at the same time.

Focusing on the Brain

New York Times contributor Zach Schonbrun, who authored The Performance Cortex: How Neuroscience Is Redefining Athletic Genius, is one of deCervo’s firm believers. In an interview with the New York Times about his book, Schonbrun expressed optimism that the concept behind deCervo is legitimate science, and that it can translate to pretty much any other sport apart from baseball. “. . . The idea of using neuroscience to look at decision making — and really fast, rapid decision making — I think can be used in other domains,” explains Schonbrun. “Certainly, in sports like tennis, which is another reactionary sport and even football; how the quarterback makes decisions, or how a lineman jumps off the ball, and so on.”

Additionally, there is the possibility that deCervo’s method can be used to at least detect brain conditions as well, including those that we discussed in ‘5 Risks of Repetitive Head Impacts’. Most notable is chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma, like football players. Granted, the NFL is already maximising technology to protect its players when it comes to concussions, with Coral discussing the introduction of smart helmets in the league. These hi-tech helmets use sensors and magnet technology to detect and reduce the risk of brain injuries. Then again, CTE results from an accumulation of head hits and routine monitoring of the brain would greatly complement the use of smart helmets.

Using Electricity to Amp Up Neurons

While deCervo seems focused more on the theoretical side of things as of the moment, Halo Neuroscience is taking things several notches higher. Made by Halo Sport, this hi-tech, headphone-looking wearable applies electrical pulses to the motor cortex. The idea behind Halo Neuroscience is to “trigger a neuroplasticity state in which neurons in the motor cortex can more easily build and strengthen neural connections to muscles.” The motor cortex, happens to be the region involved in the planning, control and execution of voluntary movements (think running, jumping, etc.) and routinely putting it in neuroplasticity state means, at least in theory, improvements in movement.

From the Lab to the Field

Oakland Raiders cornerback TJ Carrie uses Halo, and he swears by it, firmly convinced that it has helped him make considerable athletic gains. Perhaps it has truly helped Carrie, who has gained 6 inches on his vertical leap and has added 100 pounds on his body squat. Then again, it might be entirely possible that those same gains were caused by his lower body workouts.

Technology is now truly an integral part of sports, with more and more athletes turning to gain an advantage, like an increase in vertical leap in the case of Carrie. In other words, technology, when used correctly, can give athletes a competitive edge, and with that, a better chance of winning. Evidently, neuroscience is the next frontier for technology in sports, and the gains it can yield may be more than marginal.

Like NeuroTracker, these are just some examples of how technology and neuroscience are fusing together for new methods of performance enhancement, but there are many other coming to market quickly. Expect big changes for the sports world in coming years.

This blog was written for NeuroTracker by guest writer Andrea Camper.

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Every now and then technology advances in leaps and bounds in ways that surprise us all. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has long been seen of as either limited use in our everyday lives, or as some far off sci-fi vision of the future. Yet happening almost stealthily among our midst there is a revolution going on in machine intelligence that’s poised to change our world as we know it. Here we’ll gain a glimpse into a new dawn of AI super-minds, and why it’s being driven by the neuroscience to do with the way our very own brains work.

The Traditional AI Paradigm

The conventional approach to computing has basically remained the same ever since Alan Turing first developed machines to help crack the Enigma Code in World War II. This involves writing a computing script or set of behavioral rules, known as an algorithm, then serially crunching one calculation at a time. Although computing power has increased exponentially, following the infamous Moore’s Law, the methodology behind computing has for the most stayed unchanged. The main difference these days is that computers are vastly faster at crunching data points due to superior hardware. Take a modern smartphone for instance, its processor compresses literally billions of transistors into a tiny chip.

Brawn Over Brains

From an AI perspective this has fueled an increase in what’s known as brute force computation – as long as a programmer writes the right kind of algorithms, computers can tackle large problems just by the sheer speed and amount of calculations they can perform.  Most famously this led to the defeat of long running world chess champion Gary Kasporov by IBM’s Deep Blue.  Though such feats are impressive, there has long been skepticism of how useful this type of machine intelligence is. Dubbed Narrow or Weak AI for a reason, it’s generally only useful for tackling very specific problems that basically don’t translate to the complexity of the real world. This leaves little or no hope for emulating the type of creative intelligence possessed by human consciousness.

Another example is Google’s Deep Mind project which created Alpha Go, the AI that was developed to take on the fiendishly complex game of ‘Go’. In this game brute force techniques don’t work well, whereas humans excel through use of intuition. Although Alpha Go did manage to defeat world champion Lee Sedol, it did so by being fed massive amounts of games from elite Go players, copying and combining their strategies, and then executing moves without errors. Yes it was successful, but on the grander scheme of AI progress, Alpha Go is essentially limited by the knowledge that humans have figured out, with little prospect of going any further.

The New AI Paradigm

Though few people are aware, AI has been going through a revolution in recent years by taking a completely new and innovative approach to computing that actually emulates the way our brains solve problems. Rather than taking a rule based algorithmic approach, a novel method called ‘deep learning’ has taken a giant leap in evolution to create a new form of general AI that literally does not need to be told what to do. Instead it starts out pretty much like a new born baby, and from a blank slate it tackles problems by learning about its world through experiment after experiment. Then at each step it creates its own inherently new behaviors based on what it finds to be the best solution.

This gave genesis to Alpha Go Zero - zero meaning starting from nothing but the simple rules of the game. This seemingly innocuously change in name represents an AI that has redefined what computers are capable of.

Independent Learning

Alpha Go Zero starting playing Go against itself, experimenting with what worked and didn’t work, refining, and then playing again.  In just 3 days, and in stunning fashion, it used what it had learnt to defeat the version of Alpha Go that defeated Lee Sedol. However it didn’t stop there, and went on to beat the most evolved version of Alpha Go (Master), winning 100 games 0. What’s truly impressive, is that it wasn’t built specifically to play Go – it just seemed to like it.

So then it was given chess to play with. In just 4 hours of self-practice it became good enough to conquer the current AI world chess champion.

It did so in ways that dumbfounded human chess experts. This is because it created new strategies no one had ever seen the likes of. This included concatenations of novel tactics like sacrificing a queen to gain a positional advantage, and attacking with its king piece. Experts called it ‘alien chess’, or ‘crazy attacking chess’. Alpha Go Zero’s freshly discovered style of play changed the way humans actually perceive the game itself.

Deep Neural Networks

So how is this kind of creative and self-learning intelligence made and how does it relate to human brains? Well, it’s really about qualitative over quantitative calculations.  The human mind is what’s known as a complex system, from which intelligence and consciousness emerges from the collective interactions of billions of neurons talking to each other. Efforts to understand how it truly works involve Complexity Theory or Systems Theory. This is ultimately about the idea the whole is more than the sum of the parts. For example a single neuron has zero intelligence, so the classical reductionist approach to scientific progress doesn’t really cut it when it comes to how the brain works overall.

Humans, for the most part, are not built with a predefined set of rules how to behave. Instead we experience the world, learn, and then adapt. This is done primarily through the neo cortex, which uses non-linear, non-algorithmic processing to figure out solutions for optimal behaviors. These new discoveries can then even be coded become automatic behaviors, performed without actually thinking - imagine someone popping a balloon next to you.

The new revolution in AI takes an uncannily similar approach, where learning emerges through Deep Neural Networks, operating very much in the same way our neo cortex works. Rather than serially processing information one data point at a time, calculations are performing in parallel and through almost organics interactions. This method uses a lot less computational resources than traditional AIs, yet achieves much broader levels of intelligence. Most importantly, there’s no programming work once created - it’s simply a case of presenting the AI problems to solve.

Strangely, and much like the brain, how deep learning actually happens at a fundamental level, is still a bit of a mystery.

Beyond Board Games

Fascinating though these developments are, the ultimate question is will this new form of AI tackle real world problems? After all there’s not a lot of practical use in computers that just play board games all the time.

The answer is yes. Google’s self-driving cars and speech learning engines are cursory examples of applications that are being developed today, but expect this to be the tip of the ice berg. Corporate giants such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook are all investing huge resources into developing deep learning AIs as a core feature at the heart of their businesses. There is also the tantalizing prospect of a breakthrough in quantum computing, which holds promise for a gargantuan rise in computing power.

On the flip side, the new momentum in AI is sparking a fresh and serious level of concern that AI might not only replacing us, but is potentially becoming an existential threat to humanity. Even the likes of Elon Musk and the late but great Stephen Hawking have given public warnings on how very real such a threat is.

As we saw with Alpha Go Zero, the results of this next level evolution in machine intelligence will probably surprise us, but one thing is for sure - AI super-minds are coming and they will change life as we know it.

If you’re curiosity has been piqued on the neuroscience of the brain, then why not check out these blogs?

5 Reasons Why Neuroscience is Amazing

Your Brain’s Remarkable Neuroplasticity

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