The San Francisco Giants are struggling through a dismal 2017 season. But the team has been experimenting with something potentially revolutionary, a headseat called Halo Sport from Halo Neuroscience, which is located a short distance from the Giants’ home stadium, AT&T Park.
“About a third of the major league roster, including “some big-name players,” are working out while using high-tech headgear that sends a weak electric current to the brain, says Geoff Head, the team’s official sports scientist,” Lesley McClurg of KQED wrote. “The technology, called transcranial direct current stimulation, or tDCS, theoretically improves athletic performance.”
McClurg also said that “Using Halo’s headset is kind of like plugging your brain into a 9-volt battery, giving your neurons a little extra jolt and priming them for action.”
So, how is it working? Unfortunately, none of the MLB players were named. So, the only real barometer we have is to judge the team’s record in 2017 as compared to 2016. Through 36 games in 2016, San Francisco was 18-18. In 2017, the 36-game mark is 12-24. So, in that regard, this isn’t going so well.
Of course, without knowing who’s using it, we can’t completely judge how much those players are contributing to the team’s record.
While no specific MLB players have been named, someone who has is Tyler Beede, the organization’s top pitching prospect, who’s pitching in Triple-A. For him, the results have been positive.
“It’s a very unique feeling,” Beede explained, per McClurg. “You put it on, and it does have that kind of tickling, zapping feeling on your brain, but that’s kind of the reason you know its working.”
Just think. If this is deemed successful, athletes everywhere can be zapping their brains.