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CLEAR provides a dynamic feedback system to improve cognitive performance on specific tasks to help military analysts meet increasing work demands

Boosting Performance with Brain Stimulation: Charles River Analytics Develops Noninvasive Neurostimulation System to Enhance Cognition

Charles River Analytics Inc., developer of intelligent systems solutions, has received additional funding from the US Air Force Research Laboratory to integrate proven, noninvasive neurostimulation techniques into our Closed-Loop Extracranial Activation using Reinforcement Learning (CLEAR) system. CLEAR enhances the performance of military analysts, who must conduct high-stakes and complex intelligence missions.

“Our CLEAR system is a prime example of how artificial intelligence helps people—CLEAR provides accurate brain-state and performance assessments of military analysts slogging through dense intelligence data,” said Dr. Aaron Winder, Scientist at Charles River Analytics and Principal Investigator on the CLEAR effort. “Our research allows us to better understand when and why neurostimulation works.”

CLEAR is a neurostimulation system that detects performance decrements on surveillance tasks. Our CLEAR system augments attention and reduces fatigue to improve task performance. We will conduct several large-scale experiments to measure the physiological and behavioral effects of brain stimulation on human performers. The CLEAR system integrates neurostimulation electrodes with electroencephalogram sensors to measure electrical potentials from the brain, fNIRS sensors to measure cerebral hemodynamics, and head-mounted accelerometers. These sensors provide valuable brain-state data, such as spatial and temporal brain measurements, and track blinking, fidgeting, and posture during task performance and stimulation.

Contact us to learn more about CLEAR and our other Cognitive Neuroscience capabilities.


This material is based upon work supported by U.S. Air Force under Contract No. FA8650-19-C-6039. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of U.S. Air Force.

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