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

Attention and concentration are crucial abilities that affect the decision-making of athletes; e.g. during a soccer action, an athlete has to divide attention on the field (teammates, opponents, ball), to use selective attention (which player to give the ball to) and to focus attention (staring at the net to score). To this purpose, many benefits may arise from the high-level NeuroTracker conditioning technique as it stimulates active processing of dynamic visual information and trains perceptual- cognitive functions of athletes. In particular, it targets selective, dynamic and sustained attention, as well as working memory.

23 university soccer players participated in the study and were randomly allocated to three different groups. Experimental group: performed 30 NeuroTracker Core sessions over a 5 week period Active control group: performed 30 3D soccer videos sessions over 5 week periodPassive control group: No particular training activity over a 5 week period.Players ’ decision-making was evaluated during standardized small sided games before and after the training period. Decision-making of soccer players was objectively analysed through video recordings of the small sided games by a soccer coach blinded to the experimental protocol and using a standardized coding criteria. Subjective decision-making accuracy was directly evaluated from players’ confidence levels in decision-making promptly after the games using a Visual Analog Scale (Sport Performance Scale).

Only the NeuroTracker trained group showed an increase (15%) in passing decision making on the field after the training. Moreover, players’ subjective decision-making assessment was quantitatively proportional to the improvement in decision-making accuracy rated during video analysis for theNeuroTracker trained group.These results seem to demonstrate that passing decision-making accuracy improvement in the trained group represents a meaningful training effect. For the first time, this study demonstrates a perceptual-cognitive transfer from the laboratory to the field following a non-sport specific perceptual-cognitive training program.

To investigate if working memory in Canadian Armed Forces can be improved with unsupervised remote NeuroTracker training as a practical performance enhancement tool.

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66 Canadian Armed Forces soldiers were randomly assigned to NeuroTracker training (30 sessions over two weeks), Dual n-back training, or a passive control group. Verbal and matrix WM span were assessed before and after training, along with the Multi-Attribute Task Battery: MATB-II multi-tasking assessment.

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Both active groups improved on the training tasks with 10-50% improvement in post-training working memory measures. No significant transfer was found for the MATB-II multi-tasking assessment.

To examine if NeuroTracker training transfers to useful field of view (UFOV) performance, a measure strongly associated with driving performance.

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Twenty healthy young adults between the ages of 23 and 33 years were recruited and evenly assigned to either a NeuroTracker training program or active control group using a math game (2048). Both groups completed 5 hours of training distributed over 5 weeks. Both groups completed pre-post standardized assessments of UFOV.

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The NeuroTracker training group exhibited significantly improved UFOV performance, whereas the active control group showed only a small, statistically nonsignificant improvement in the task. The researchers suggest that NeuroTracker and UFOV performance are likely dependent on overlapping cognitive abilities, and that these abilities can be trained and measured in young adults which could lead to improving driving safety.

To investigate if a NeuroTracker intervention could improve cognitive abilities in older adults with subjective cognitive decline, and determine if AI models could be used to increase training efficacy.

48 participants between 60 and 90 years of age with subjective cognitive complaints, but otherwise healthy, were assigned to NeuroTracker training group (26) or a control group (22). All participants provided detailed socio-demographic information via questionnaires and baseline neuropsychological assessments (California Verbal Learning Test, Digit Span, D-KEFS Trail Making Test, D-KEFS Verbal Fluency Test, and Stroop Test). The NeuroTracker group performed 7 weeks of training, the control group only performed NeuroTracker baseline assessments. Both groups performed follow-up neuropsychological assessments at 8 weeks and 11 weeks. Machine Learning models were used to analyze demographic and assessment data to test if cognitive performance and responsiveness to training could be predicted.

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The NeuroTracker group experience a large improvement in scores of around 70%, along with wide and robust performance transfer on the neuropsychological assessments at week 8, with further gains (without training) at week 11. AI models yielded highly accurate predictions of responsiveness to the training intervention. The researchers propose that such models can be used to effectively tailor NeuroTracker programs to the needs of individuals.

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 investigate of NeuroTracker baselines can be a predictor of air traffic control task performance.

46 participants completed 2 hours of assessments including a NeuroTracker baseline, the Corsi Block Tapping and Automated Operation Span tests, followed by a simulated air traffic control task.

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After controlling for age and video game playing, NeuroTracker baselines significantly predicted correct detections of conflicts between aircraft, fewer false alarm responses to conflicts, and faster aircraft acceptance and hand-off performance. NeuroTracker was a stronger predictor of these outcomes, than the Corsi Block Tapping and Automated Operation Span tests. The researchers concluded that the findings demonstrate that NeuroTracker and could be useful for applicant screening and selection of air traffic control personnel.

To investigate the relationship between visual tracking speed (NeuroTracker) and soccer-specific performance measures.

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19 NCAA Division I soccer players completed 1 NeuroTracker core session baseline and soccer performance metrics were obtained from WyScout.

Statistical analyses showed a nonsignificant correlation between NeuroTracker score and passing accuracy, and a strong correlation found between consistency score (a sub-component measure of NeuroTracker) and passing accuracy. Specifically for attacking players there was a stronger correlation with consistency and passing accuracy. For defenders, consistency and defensive win rate had a strong correlation.

Working Memory (WM) capacity has been linked to performance on a wide range of elementary and higher order cognitive tasks. Due to evidence suggesting that NeuroTracker speed thresholds are an indicator of the quality of high-level brain function, and because it is an adaptive task, the researchers selected NeuroTracker to investigate whether training could improve WM capacities. A further reason was to test a training approach with short intervention times for practical military implementations for the Canadian Armed Forces.

41 soldiers in the Canadian Armed Forces volunteered for the study. First they were tested on three WM span tasks: word (verbal) span, matrix span, and visual span, establishing a baseline measure for each test. Participants were then distributed evenly into 3 groups based on demographic and cognitive factors,Experimental group: performed 10 NeuroTracker Core sessions over a 2 week periodActive control group: performed an adaptive dual n-back task over a 2 week period Passive control group: No activity over a 2 week periodAt the end of the two weeks, the three WM span tests were retaken.

For the NeuroTracker group, speeds thresholds increased considerably over the 10 sessions, and training resulted in a significant pre-post increase in word span, matrix span, and visual span, with medium to large effect sizes. In contrast, for the active control, group training did not alter any of the WM span measures. Similarly, WM span measures did not alter for the passive control group. The researchers concluded that a short amount of NeuroTracker training can benefit WM capacity in a military sample. Additionally, the consistent NeuroTracker improvements across each type of WM span reflect a primarily domain-general construct (a generality of WM capacity).

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To combine several tests known to assess driving fitness and propose a methodology to bring these together under a single index termed the ‘Driver’s Safety Index’.

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115 licensed drivers between the ages of 18 and 86 were separated into two groups: 64 young participants (average age of 29 years), and 51 older participants (average age of 77 years). Each participant was assessed on three different experimental phases. 1. Visual tests: visual acuity test (V1), stereoscopic vision test (V2), and a binocular visual field test (V3). 2. Simulator driving tests across 3 difficulty based scenarios: highway (low), rural (medium) and city (high). 3. NeuroTracker as a visuo-cognitive test. A wide range of driving performance metrics from the simulator test were analyzed for correlations with the visual tests, age, and NeuroTracker scores.

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There were limited correlations between driving performance and the visual tests. High NeuroTracker scores correlated strongly with high driving performance, and low scores with low driving performance, along with a strong relationship for crash risk. NeuroTracker scores were also a better predictor of driving performance than age. Driving abilities are strongly associated with NeuroTracker scores. These findings highlight the importance of visuo-cognitive abilities in the assessment of driving abilities. This study paves the way toward a single, common indicator of driving behaviour. The study authors recommend that NeuroTracker should be a component in the battery of tests for obtaining or renewing a driving license.