Brain Training Is An Emerging New Trend For Athletes

What began in 2005 as a small organization devoted to investigating what visually demanding tasks did to the human brain, Doctor Jeff Nyquist and his team at Neuro Trainer have now developed an idea that can change not only the world of sport, but also has the potential to change everything around it.

Utilizing virtual reality technology, the team at Neuro Trainer have developed a ‘brain gym’. Brain training has been around for a number of years now and is slowly making its way into sport; however, this is the first time it will involve virtual reality and the use of a headset.

“Over the last decade there has been huge breakthroughs in brain sciences and we are starting to understand neuroplasticity and this idea that we can actually rewire the brain and the brain is much more like a muscle than we ever thought,” said Nyquist, according to Upper Michigan Source.

The initial exercise is to follow two moving white balls on a black screen and be able to track them amongst other balls. As levels are passed, the difficulty will increase and the user will have to track more balls.

“It improves focus, overall attention and also your peripheral fields, so it is opening up your vision to see more simultaneously,” said Nyquist.

“Wayne Gretzky is a famous example of what you can do when your brain is sharp. He was not the fastest or the biggest, but he dominated because he saw the whole rink all the time. He had a famous quote, ‘I don’t go to where the puck is, I go to where the puck is about to be’.”

For athletes with high mental expectations, this new tool could be game changing. Hockey players, football quarterbacks, point guards in basketball or a halfback in rugby are just some of the positions that need to have superior decision making skills and mental strength.

In many sports, athletes have become accustomed to slumping into a standard gym routine that allows them to achieve a benchmark, but doesn’t give them an edge. So many athletes focus on the same physical components to get them by and one day we may see a time where professional athletes are built and trained so similarly that sports take an underwhelming and predictable turn. The brain gym has potential to give a competitive edge to someone who may lack the physical attributes or who wants to reach their optimal playing heights.

While the gym is already up and running, Neuro Trainer are still crowd funding to continue research and experiment with new training exercises. If you are interested in making a donation or finding out more, you can follow this link.