- Remove the current class from the content27_link item as Webflows native current state will automatically be applied.
- To add interactions which automatically expand and collapse sections in the table of contents select the content27_h-trigger element, add an element trigger and select Mouse click (tap)
- For the 1st click select the custom animation Content 27 table of contents [Expand] and for the 2nd click select the custom animation Content 27 table of contents [Collapse].
- In the Trigger Settings, deselect all checkboxes other than Desktop and above. This disables the interaction on tablet and below to prevent bugs when scrolling.
Chances are, you’ve spent much of your life associating the words “brain-computer interface” (BCI) with sci-fi movies like The Matrix, Avatar, or Inception. Movies where a character’s brain is somehow “plugged in” to a computer, enabling them to do extraordinary things.
The concept of connecting our minds to machines has been a science fiction staple, partly because the brain, an incredibly complex organ, has been a black box for much of human history. BCI technology creates a direct communication pathway between your brain and external devices, helping scientists, researchers, doctors—and now everyday consumers—“unlock” and shine a light into that black box. Understanding BCIs, and their corresponding terminology, can get equally complex pretty quickly. For those new to the world of BCIs, here are the fundamentals.
BCIs: Active vs. Passive, Invasive vs. Non-Invasive
Active vs. Passive BCIs
There are two types of BCIs: active and passive. Active BCIs require users to send commands to control a device or communicate through an interface, such as a robotic arm. Passive BCIs, such as Neurable’s MW75 Neuro LT headphones, don’t require any conscious effort on the part of a user. They’re able to detect and measure your brainwave activity while you go about your day. (Fun fact: Neurable's Mobile App does include an Active BCI component in the form of the Rocket Game. Users can control a rocket ship’s movement with their brain!)
Invasive vs. Non-Invasive BCIs | Medical vs. Consumer BCIs
There are also a couple of different types of BCIs. Invasive BCIs require surgically implanted electrodes to be placed directly on the surface of the brain (think Neuralink). Bulky and expensive, invasive BCIs are largely used by scientists, doctors, and researchers in professional settings like hospitals and labs. Non-invasive BCIs, such as Neurable’s headphones, record brain activity painlessly and directly from the surface of the head using external sensors called electroencephalograms (EEGs). Our headphones are considered consumer or commercial BCI devices because they help everyday users monitor their cognitive state, detect focus levels, and track their mental performance throughout the day in the comfort of their own homes, offices, or wherever they are!
Brainwaves | Frequency Bands | Spectral Bands
“Neurons that fire together, wire together,” is a common phrase in Neuroscience 101. It highlights the fact that different regions of the brain often work together, creating synchronized electrical pulses called brainwaves. Brainwaves are measured in Hertz (Hz), or cycles per second, and are categorized into frequency bands or spectral bands, named after Greek letters, that are correlated with different mental states.
Here’s how Neurable classifies frequency bands:
Delta 0.5-4 Hz
Theta 4-8 Hz
Alpha 8-13 Hz
Low Beta 13-20 Hz
High Beta 20-30 Hz
Gamma 32-80 Hz
At Neurable, we split your beta band into two segments: low beta (13-20 Hz) and high beta (20-30 Hz). We’ve observed that low beta is more strongly correlated to activities like focused attention and problem solving, while high beta is more closely associated with anxiety, enhanced mental effort, and working memory.
Each frequency band has a broad range of values because everyone’s brain is different, and—another fun fact—frequencies can change as you age! The metrics Neurable shares with users are derived from these frequency bands. Click into each metric on the Neurable App to see a detailed description of each band, and navigate to the “Chart View” to see how your spectral bands change throughout the day.
Electroencephalograms (EEGs)
EEGs measure electrical activity in the brain via small electrodes that are attached to or are in contact with the scalp.
Dry vs. Wet Electrodes
Until recently, most EEG research had to take place in labs or clinics. That’s because traditional EEG equipment is large and stationary and records brainwaves with wet electrodes, which use a sticky conductive gel to increase conductivity and signal quality between the electrodes and the skin. Unfortunately, the gel leaves residue in a participant’s hair and requires a considerable amount of time to apply. In contrast, dry electrodes, which are embedded in the ear cups of our MW75 Neuro headphones, don’t require conductive gel and are easier to use in everyday situations.
Signal-to-Noise Ratio | Signal Processing | Artifacts
The convenience of using dry electrodes, however, comes with a tradeoff: noisier signal quality. A big reason most medical-grade EEG devices are large and difficult to use is that the electrical signals the brain emits are so small in comparison to the overall electrical noise in our surrounding environments. Reducing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in order to pick up these tiny electrical signals more accurately is key. Neurable’s proprietary AI does this by using signal processing techniques that clean, filter, and reduce artifacts or environmental noise in order to isolate, amplify, and correctly interpret the tiny electrical signals coming from the brain.
Neurable Metrics
In addition to common neuroscience and neurotech terms I’ve just outlined, there are a few metric definitions that are unique to the Neurable experience. You’ll find these throughout our website, mobile app, and packaging.
Brain Age
With cognitive wellness on the rise, Brain Age is becoming a more commonplace term. Brain Age is an estimate of your brain’s biological age. Ideally, your Brain Age is the same or lower than your chronological age. For Neurable users, your Brain Age is updated every Sunday and is based on all the activities you record throughout the week. (You must have at least 30 minutes of recorded EEG data each week to get your Brain Age score.) If your Brain Age is higher than your actual age, we recommend prioritizing healthy habits like eating well, exercising, and getting plenty of sleep!
Cognitive Strain and Anxiety Resilience
Cognitive Strain measures how hard your brain is working. For Neurable users, your Cognitive Strain starts at 0 each day and accumulates as you record a new activity. You can accrue Cognitive Strain at different rates, depending on how much mental effort you’re exerting at the time. Some Cognitive Strain is good. Just try not to reach Overload status!
Anxiety Resilience is a sub-metric of Cognitive Strain and measures your brain’s capacity to resist, recover from, and manage stress.
Cognitive Speed
Cognitive Speed measures how quickly your brain processes and responds to information. For Neurable users, your Cognitive Speed is updated after each recorded activity. Cognitive Speed will shift in real time and naturally fluctuate throughout the day. Use your Cognitive Speed score to see how mentally prepared you are to take on your tasks!
Focus
Our Focus metric measures how your concentration peaks and dips over time, nudging you to improve your focus habits. Brain Break notifications prompt you to step away and recover before you feel burnt out.
Mental Recovery
Mental Recovery measures how well-rested your brain is each morning. This metric is somewhat cumulative. If you aim for consistent sleep habits, you can see it improve. Use your Mental Recovery score to gauge how much to push yourself each day!
Neurofeedback
Neurofeedback is real-time feedback about your brain activity that helps you learn to recognize and actively change your cognitive states. BCI wearables can provide neurofeedback through audio cues, visual displays, or haptic notifications. In the case of Neurable, visual and audio neurofeedback is available during Focus sessions, showing focus state changes in real time. The Rocket Game is another form of neurofeedback in the Neurable Mobile App.
The Future of BCI Technology
As wearable brain-computer interfaces continue to evolve, all these terms will become as familiar as “heart rate monitor” or “step counter” are today. The integration of BCI technology into headphones, fitness wearables, and productivity tools represents a new frontier in understanding and optimizing human cognitive performance.
Whether you’re exploring Neurable’s BCI headphones for focus enhancement, researching neurotechnology for workplace productivity, or simply curious about brain-sensing wearables, the era of accessible, wearable neurotechnology is here—and understanding the language of BCI is your first step toward harnessing your brain’s full potential.
2 Distraction Stroop Tasks experiment: The Stroop Effect (also known as cognitive interference) is a psychological phenomenon describing the difficulty people have naming a color when it's used to spell the name of a different color. During each trial of this experiment, we flashed the words “Red” or “Yellow” on a screen. Participants were asked to respond to the color of the words and ignore their meaning by pressing four keys on the keyboard –– “D”, “F”, “J”, and “K,” -- which were mapped to “Red,” “Green,” “Blue,” and “Yellow” colors, respectively. Trials in the Stroop task were categorized into congruent, when the text content matched the text color (e.g. Red), and incongruent, when the text content did not match the text color (e.g., Red). The incongruent case was counter-intuitive and more difficult. We expected to see lower accuracy, higher response times, and a drop in Alpha band power in incongruent trials. To mimic the chaotic distraction environment of in-person office life, we added an additional layer of complexity by floating the words on different visual backgrounds (a calm river, a roller coaster, a calm beach, and a busy marketplace). Both the behavioral and neural data we collected showed consistently different results in incongruent tasks, such as longer reaction times and lower Alpha waves, particularly when the words appeared on top of the marketplace background, the most distracting scene.
Interruption by Notification: It’s widely known that push notifications decrease focus level. In our three Interruption by Notification experiments, participants performed the Stroop Tasks, above, with and without push notifications, which consisted of a sound played at random time followed by a prompt to complete an activity. Our behavioral analysis and focus metrics showed that, on average, participants presented slower reaction times and were less accurate during blocks of time with distractions compared to those without them.
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