MindBody CONNECTION Students Use EEG Headbands to Measure Mindfulness
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hese days, there are few among us who don’t own a smartphone. And with those smartphones comes an endless fountain of distractions. Emails, text messages, social media posts, news alerts, and the resulting pop-up notifications and visual and auditory reminders that come with them. Add to that the lure of on-demand streaming and deliveries at the click of a button, and what do you get? A whole lot of distractions. It’s no wonder, then, that mindfulness — and the practices and techniques
associated with it — has emerged as a popular trend. But what exactly is mindfulness, what are its benefits, and how do you know when you are doing it right? Through its year-long 10th grade PACE course known as “Mind-Body Connections,” CSW seeks to educate students on this important life skill. The goal is to promote an understanding of mental, physical, and emotional connections, teaching students how to exercise self-care, and in doing so, build a positive self-identity and practice effective decision-making skills. In an effort to observe and measure the impacts and effects of mindfulness training, course instructors have taken
the innovative step of partnering with BrainCo, a tech startup incubated in the Harvard Innovation Lab. The Somerville-based company — with offices around the world — has used its technology in a number of spheres, with projects in education, cognitive training, fitness, and wellness. In addition to developing brain-machine interface (BMI) technology for prosthetics, BrainCo researchers have been working to address the issue of student engagement in the classroom. “How efficient are you with the time and content you have when it comes to studying?” Max Newlon, President of BrainCo, USA, asked students during a campus visit this fall. “You can study longer, but how can you study better? How do you quantify focus?”
