MLB Giants Become First Pro Team To Publicly Partner With Halo Neuroscience

The MLB Giants are the “first pro sports team to publicly partner with Halo Neuroscience” and are using Halo Sport, a “headphone-like device that shoots low-voltage electrical signals into the part of the brain that stimulates motor control, to help train major- and minor-league players,” according to Benny Evangelista of the S.F. CHRONICLE. Halo recently signed a multiyear agreement with the Giants, first reported by SportsBusiness Journal in March, and "took out a full-page ad in Giants Magazine.” The company’s technology “relies on transcranial direct current stimulation, which uses low-level electricity to enhance the brain’s natural ability to build neural connections to learn and retain skills.” Halo “concentrates on the part of the brain that controls motor skills, so the company markets to athletes and high-level sports enthusiasts.” Athletes are “told to wear the Halos for 20 minutes while warming up, which starts what the company calls a neural priming session.” The company said that the athlete then “removes the headset, leaving the brain better able to learn and retain muscle movements for the next 60 minutes of workouts.” Giants Strength & Conditioning Coordinator Geoff Head said that the organization has “purchased Halos for five of its six minor-league affiliates, and has made them available for the big-league players.” Giants minor league P Tyler Beede said that he is “better able to retain what he learns in practice and repeat those movements later on the mound.” Head said that the Giants “are not forcing players to use Halos, offering them as an option” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 5/31).