Brain-Zapping Headphones Could Make You a Better Athlete

Dan Chao is an avid cyclist who likes to train on a stationary bike. Lately while training he's been sporting a pair of trendy-looking headphones that also stimulate his brain. And he says the device has helped him improve his performance on his real bike. Chao is a cofounder and the CEO of a startup called Halo Neuroscience, which released the neurostimulating headphones, called Halo Sport, last month. The arch of the headphones contains two electrodes that deliver a very small amount of electric current to the wearer's head, aimed at the neurons in the motor cortex, a brain region that coördinates movement. The mild stimulation, called transcranial direct current stimulation, essentially makes it "slightly easier for the neurons to fire," says Chao.