The Brain's Full Potential is Being Unlocked by Businesses Everywhere

The goal of this multi-year research project was to develop methods for assessing the efficacy of training (including live and simulated platforms) by validating measures of cognitive workload that characterize skill acquisition.

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10 evaluation pilots (100-300 flight hours of experience) were selected to perform low, medium and high difficulty flight manoeuvres in both a jet flight simulator and live jet flight (Aero Vodochody L-29 jet trainer) using experimental conditions. During flight ECG data (NeXus-4) and eye-tracking data (Dikablis) was collected. Flight performance was analysed for altitude, roll, and vertical speed errors, and cognitive workload was subjectively assessed (10-point Bedford Workload Scale). As a validated tool for evaluating perceptual-cognitive skills, NeuroTracker was selected as to measure spare cognitive capacity via extraneous load (Cognitive Load Theory). All pilots first completed home-based NeuroTracker consolidation training (15 Core sessions). NeuroTracker was integrated into the flight testbed. Low, medium and high difficulty flight manoeuvre tests were performed by all pilots, both without NeuroTracker, and while simultaneously performing NeuroTracker Core sessions.

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Compared to performing NeuroTracker alone, live and simulated flight across all manoeuvres, caused a drastic decrease in NeuroTracker speed thresholds (average of ~97%). This, perhaps for the first time, objectively demonstrated that jet flight involves very high intrinsic cognitive loads. Live flight resulted in lower NeuroTracker speed thresholds and physiological performance than simulated flight, with greater differences for higher difficulty maneuverers. This evidence suggests that physiological and cognitive loads are significantly heavier in live flight, supporting the theory that that brain dynamics differ in real-world environments compared to those of a laboratory.

To assess if the mechanism of perceptual-cognitive training can transfer to spatial and semantic abilities in students.

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60 male lower secondary school students were randomly assigned a NeuroTracker training group (21 sessions over 7 days) or a passive control group (no training). Pre- and post-training assessment were carried out with the Test of Spatial Ability and the Test Of Semantic Skills–Intermediate.

The control group showed negligible change between pre and post tests, whereas the NeuroTracker group showed significant transfer with around a 50% gain in spatial ability and a 55% gain in semantic skills. The researchers concluded that a NeuroTracker intervention can increase cognitive abilities in secondary school students.

This study measured the capacity of older participants to improve their tracking speed thresholds (NeuroTracker), to investigate if age related cognitive decline can be reversed with a training intervention known to be directly relevant to the effects of healthy aging.

20 healthy younger adults (mean age 24 years old) and 20 healthy older adults (mean age 67 years old) performed 15 NeuroTracker training sessions distributed over 5 weeks.

Both groups obtained benefit from training with a similar rate of progression. Though the older group started off at a significantly lower level than the younger group, they obtained speed thresholds that were similar to those of untrained younger adults by the end of the training program. Furthermore, towards the end of the training program the rate of learning appeared to have slowed for the younger group, yet the older group still showed a strong learning curve, suggesting greater improvements with continued training. In conclusion, although healthy older people show a significant age-related deficit in the NeuroTracker task, they respond strongly to training effects and demonstrate an ability to fully reverse age-related functional decline with a short intervention of NeuroTracker training.

To assess the learning capacities of elite athlete populations compared to amateur athletes and nonathlete university students on a neutral cognitive training assessment (NeuroTracker).

308 participants were assessed by completing 15 distributed NeuroTracker sessions, grouped as the following: 102 professional elite athletes (NHL, EPL and Top 14 Rugby), 173 NCAA elite non-professional athletes, and 33 non-athlete university students.

The results showed a clear distinction between level of athletic performance and corresponding fundamental mental capacities for learning a demanding abstract and dynamic scene task. Elite athletes showed significantly higher initial baselines than the other groups, along with substantially superior learning rates. The elite non-professional athletes also similarly significantly higher learning rates over the non-athletes group. For the first time this evidence suggest that a defining characteristic of elite professional athletes is their perceptual-cognitive learning prowess, associated with unusually high levels of neuroplasticity, and that NeuroTracker is a sensitive tool for objectively assessing these abilities.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the effects of 4-weeks of NeuroTracker training on in-game soccer performance measures.

13 NCAA Division I soccer players were split into trained and control groups. Both groups completed a NeuroTracker baseline. The trained group then completed 10 NeuroTracker training sessions (60 minutes) over a 4-week period. Soccer performance metrics were obtained from WyScout where 2 game averages were examined to compare pre-post-NT performance.

Data analysis revealed a moderate improvement of the trained group over the control group in passing accuracy, a 8.5% increase post-training, versus a 3.5% increase. Small non-significant improvements were also observed for successful actions and short+medium passes for the NeuroTracker trained group.

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To compare the learning efficiency 3D-MOT (NeuroTracker) with 2D-MOT, and investigate whether any advantages can be reflected by heart rate variability (HRV).

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26 female U15 soccer players completed the 2D- and 3D-MOT tasks with the order reversed for half of the participants. HRV measures were recorded live during the training.

The female soccer players displayed higher learning efficiency in the 3D-MOT task than in the 2D-MOT. HRV analysis revealed that the training had some stimulation associated with inducing flow states in 2D, but that this effect was significantly greater with 3D-MOT. The researchers concluded that this study highlights the role of flow experience in the utility and applicability of 3D-MOT in soccer sport.

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To investigate if older populations with clinically diagnosed cognitive impairments associated with fine-motor skills difficulties could measurably benefit from a short cognitive training intervention.

38 elderly participants, half with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and half with mild dementia (MD) completed a total of 36 sessions of NeuroTracker training. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test was used to assess the baseline cognitive status, and two batteries of manual motor skills assessments completed before and after the training program.

The results showed clear and significant post-training improvements in both manual dexterity tests. Analysis indicated that only 90-minutes of NeuroTracker training was needed to achieve these benefits with these populations. The researchers concluded that this type of intervention could have a broad impact on the aging population in terms of their daily quality of life.

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To evaluate whether 30 days of dark sweet cherry (DSC) consumption improves executive function, NeuroTracker 3D-MOT performance, neuropeptide levels, and circadian rhythm biomarkers in adults with obesity.

Method
• Single-blind randomized controlled trial
• 40 adults with BMI 30–40 kg/m²
• DSC drink (200 mL twice daily) vs isocaloric placebo for 30 days
• Executive function assessed using TMT, Digit Span (forward/backward), and DSST
• Visual Cognitive Performance (VCP) assessed via 15 NeuroTracker CORE sessions
• Blood biomarkers: neurotensin, substance P, oxytocin, cortisol, melatonin

NeuroTracker performance was evaluated using speed threshold changes across baseline (sessions 1–3) and final (sessions 13–15) blocks.

Executive Function
• Significant improvements in Digit Span Forward (p = 0.006) and Backward (p = 0.01) in the DSC group
• No between-group differences in TMT or DSST
• Benefits were more pronounced in females and higher BMI subgroup

NeuroTracker (VCP)
• Both cherry and placebo groups improved significantly over 15 sessions (practice effect)
• No significant between-group differences
• Mean change (Δ) VCP: Cherry 0.26 vs Placebo 0.25 (p = 0.94)

Biomarkers
• Neurotensin increased significantly in placebo group only
• Melatonin increased significantly in placebo group only
• No significant treatment effects on cortisol or oxytocin

This paper covers foundational concepts of NeuroTracker’s relevance to training of cognitive capacities deemed critical in sports performance, particularly in dynamic team-sports. It also contains a study investigating the effects of attentional loads in learning paradigms, with the aim of understanding optimal load conditions for training perceptual-cognitive ability.

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4 elite professional sports teams trained their athletes on NeuroTracker (15-30 sessions) during their competition seasons. An English Premier Team club, a National Hockey League team, and a European Rugby team were all trained in the standard sitting down position to isolate any influence from attentional mechanisms involved in posture control. Another NHL team performed the training in standing position, involving basic balance demands on attention.

Taking the statistical average for learning progression on NeuroTracker, the three professional sports teams training in sitting position showed near identical progression, with rapid early learning slowing down towards longer term but continued learning. The standing sports team showed much lower NeuroTracker scores, but more importantly slower overall learning progression, with a large magnitude of difference to the other teams. The findings clearly demonstrate the link between balance control mechanisms and perceptual-cognitive demands solicited by NeuroTracker training. This demonstrates that cognitive training loads need to be sensitively optimized to attentional thresholds in order to generate effective short and longer term learning adaptations.

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