Mind over matter.
A simple phrase that invariably underscores success within the sporting arena. Yet, taken on its surface, it’s widely considered to be easier said than done. Old Eastern-based adages permeates this space through meditation, mindfulness, and neurofeedback. These principles, when nurtured appropriately, tend to lead to a disciplined mind for athletic high performance. Harnessing the brain to deal with stress has largely been left to unconventional practices.
Not atypical in the infiltration of external innovation within sports derives from military use cases. The aforementioned neurofeedback, for one, is a biofeedback way to measure and aid bodily abilities from brain waves. This technique has helped pilots during flight simulations, including those suffering from chronic migraines and eye surgeons honing their craft. Controlled studies have legitimized these efforts.
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For sports psychologists, though, tasked to unearth potential results, the following mental facets are imperative for assessment: expedited decision-making, stress control, reactionary time, and focus. In order to better illustrate these aspects, one methodology that exists is to perform a standard quantitative electroenephalogram (qEEG) test to athletes, which, essentially, is a method that analyzes recorded brain activity enabled by electrodes via a computer. Neurofeedback sessions can be conducted then to help athletes achieve top brain wave patterns, where athletes look at a screen and the sensors attached allow them to control what happens in that screen.
The improvement that athletes can gain from such kind of treatment pertains to the following: quickly react to stressor stimuli, focus during stressful circumstances, recovery after mistakes, and relax their mind afterwards.
Concurrently, SenseLabs, a San Francisco-based startup, is at the vanguard of neuroscience for augmenting athletic performance, aiming to mobilize this field as a powerful training opportunity.
Led by a former ten-year Apple alumnus in Austin Miller and a neurofeedback doctor that has analyzed over 35,000 qEEGs in Dr. Leslie Sherlin, their goal from the outset has been to develop a repeatable, accessible, and objective way to train mental performance–training the brain. They have partnered with Red Bull’s High Performance division, P3, and the U.S. military special operations groups in order to chart a “brain map” of some of the world’s elite athletes. Through this process, SenseLabs was able to create the BrainBank, which is a database of neuroperformance measurement on the highest performing populations. By mining this repository, it has allowed them to identify the electrical patterns that correlate with the highest levels of performance; and develop training protocols that condition athletes to form those patterns when it matters most.
As a direct byproduct of this work, SenseLabs took clinically validated training protocols and used this research to enhance them. During this time, they trained these athletes through an expensive clinical operation; but they really wanted a process that could be more consumer-facing, to be utilized by anyone, anytime, and anywhere. Their commitment to accessibility produced its first mobile prototype called BrainSport; four years later, Versus is now manufactured as its best iteration after $4 million raised.
Recent research, indeed, supports SenseLabs’ product undertaking.
In 2006, the University of London and Columbia University detailed the substantiation towards neurofeedback for optimizing performance. This study reveals that behavioral and neurophysiological changes were related to an index that showed relative success at sufficing the operating feedback contingencies directly. Benefits for both impulsive and inattentive aspects of attention performance appeared to be the case. Tangible relevance of applying neurofeedback, though, is contingent on its potential to spur long-term effects.
With UCLA’s golf program participation, SenseLabs conducted a study to report on the impact of performance brain training as it pertains to certain measures of golf achievement. The results showed these golfers were able to increase fairways and greens in regulation while decreasing the number of putts, with output being sustainable after eight weeks later. Also, the findings suggest this process to be additive and enhanced more so than conventional ways possible during training as usual outings. For neurofeedback, though, to be considered viable of a service for elite athletes, performance data has to be intertwined, correlated with improvements produced by neurofeedback, in it by itself.
Such studies and SenseLabs’ work with ten different professional teams at the pro level reveals common negative effects that athletes experience relevant to mental preparation, be it during training, in-game, or recovery periods.
Due to the extreme passion to excel by athletes, it’s quite challenging to be able to contain internal sense of being thrilled from a mental standpoint.
Essentially, it comes down to this: when an athlete possess a high level of brain excitation–whether that’s from nerves or excitement–their brain begins to process information very quickly and they get heightened activation.
This action can prove to be good for increasing performance, provided it doesn’t become overwhelming to the system. There’s a climax at which the pressure and stressors insofar as the performance starts to deteriorate instead of improving.
With this in mind, there’s contrasting practices–both past and present–that affect athletes in their ability to follow-through in this capacity.
“Mental approaches to training have historically been only in the realm of what we could achieve from talking about and visualizing. These techniques of imagery, pre-performance routines, and various strategies for talking and working through the performance can have profound positive impact. The challenge is several fold,” tells Dr. Sherlin, SenseLabs’ Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer, to SportTechie.
“There has been a negative stigma around seeing the mental skills coach for years. The athlete who has to stay after or is caught in the counseling office is deemed to be crazy or somehow mentally impaired. So for many, the potential benefit wasn’t worth the risk of being ostracized.”
“Secondly, if the athlete did receive mental coaching, there was no way to objectively measure the impact. They are training their strength; they are training their skills; they are getting coached; and they may receive mental skills training.”
“How could we validate that the mental training made positive impact? How could the strength or weakness be objectively measured? These limitations made it feel too squishy or uncertain to seek mental training,” continued Dr. Sherlin.
Conversely, arguably the best case that currently exemplifies what SenseLabs wants to address via Versus is Atlanta Hawks’ sharpshooter Kyle Korver.
His ascension to become an All-Star and gaudy shooting statistics is nothing short of amazing, especially considering being 33 years of age and his journey to this point. It’s a testament to his desire to continually progress and open-mindedness to find a scientific solution to his training regimen. The latter of which Korver speaks to in this video:
Still, the “in the zone” reference that Korver mentions prescribes back to the aforementioned neurology concept known as EEG. Each time the brain reacts a stimulus, it fires off an electrical signal, or a wave. These very brain waves spark a person’s response to anything. People can control, alter, and train those impulses using a simple reward system. EEG, thus, identifies an athlete’s neurological activity location that’s anguishing, while neurofeedback conditions it back to a healthy state.
Subsequently, neuroregulation enables the brain learn new responses to external circumstances. The efficiency of neural pathways–billions of neurons and signals traveling back and forth—dictates an athlete’s ability to process information, control impulses, react quickly, etc. Neuroregulation then lets the brain regulate, strengthen, an even create new neural pathways–all vital pieces towards athletic performance.
Dr. Sherlin states the need for Versus based off these elements: “Mental toughness gets a lot of lip service, but telling someone to ‘shake it off’ is the mental equivalent of saying ‘be faster.’ It’s easy to say, but without proper training it’s nearly impossible to achieve. Versus finally gives athletes a tool to objectively train the physiology behind mental performance–the brain.”
Since SenseLabs built the BrainBank, they had to manufacture this product with renowned engineers in order to reinvent medical EEG sensory technology. The Versus headset stands as a wearable biosensor that identifies precisely when a user has accomplished the ideal brain wave patterns. Astro Studios, a San Francisco-based design team responsible for the Nike FuelBand and the Xbox 360, crafted the industrial makeup of Versus. SenseLabs then went ahead and implemented scientific-based software composed of mobile gaming apps.
The process for a user starts with a basic NeuroPerformance Assessment (NPA) across six key performance indicators. To take this assessment, a user has to complete certain tasks in the Versus app while wearing the headgear. This device passively monitors a user’s brain activity during performing the tasks required.
Based on the evaluation, Versus prescribes a custom training protocol to match the user’s unique needs. If a user struggles with the Stress Regulation and Impulse Control component, they receive a specific regimen for this very facet. The training process consists of a series of games that a user controls with their brain waves. If a user is focused (produce the desired brain waves) a car moves or a plane flies (as seen on the tablet), earning points for this event. At its culmination, users are given a reassessment to measure progress and compare it with numerous crop of athletes around the globe.
Jeff Troesch, an acclaimed mental performance coach that’s worked with the NBA, MLB, and Olympic development programs in the past, shares his perspective on how Versus works:
Thus, with Versus, SenseLabs has taken a data driven approach to enhancing performance and built a tool to train the brain of athletes at all levels.
“Thanks to the boon of empirical analysis and affordability of sensor technology, we live an era of unprecedented data collection. These data sets are being mined for remarkable insights into athletic performance, like predicting injuries and fine-tuning nutritional requirements. This influx of information clearly lends itself to a smarter approach for building athletes. It also presents an opportunity to empirically train the mental system (analyze existing strengths and weaknesses, identify foci for development, and apply a training plan) just as we do the body,” explains Dr. Sherlin.
Still, Dr. Sherlin acknowledges that it helps for the athletes, themselves, to actually believe in the technology, since they might be more inclined to participate.
Versus’ training model and the theoretical underpinnings are based on learning, and motivation isn’t a factor–participation is, though. Even if the athlete is highly skeptical of its functionality, the improvements that can be deduced would diffuse rhetoric that it comes from placebo and their belief system willing it to happen. It’s very much in the process, however, that subsists an athlete’s chances to better regulate their brain to optimally perform. The emphasis should be noted that it’s taken from a moment in time, with respects to results. It’s through process that shows what provides consistency of performing excellence.
SenseLabs recommends using Versus in 20-minute sessions, three times per week. For the athlete that’s committed to their improvement, they should make time of an hour each week. It takes 450 minutes (or about eight weeks of regular usage) to complete a training protocol. The NPA will enable customization for users, with more training protocols and games becoming available in Versus. The data sets comprised are evolving to account for any specific athlete, age, and sport.
In fact, three-time Olympic gold medalist and legendary volleyball player, Kerri Walsh Jennings, an advocate of Versus, informs SportTechie that this device brings a new level of awareness, where she can adjust and prepare for the task at hand. The protocols provide a direction towards reaching the elusive “in the zone” place more often; it’s simply “ignorance” of those that neglect to exercise their mental capabilities. The analytics offer a barometer that wasn’t available before, and it’s important for any athlete to celebrate small victories.
Bottom line, Walsh Jennings exclaims: “True confidence comes from yourself.”
Dr. Sherlin recapitulated SenseLabs’ purpose for Versus: “With the NeuroPerformance Assessment, you’re able measurable improvements in brain performance after training. It’s completely transparent in that way, and it makes the training process more empirical.”
“But with any training, the true measure of success is the athlete’s performance. If you’re playing better, it’s a success.”