- First study to show that delivering information at the natural tempo of our neural pulses accelerates our ability to learn.
- Participants who received a simple 1.5-second visual cue at their personal brainwave frequency were at least three times faster when it came to improving at a cognitive task.
- When participants were tested again the next day, those who had improved faster were still just as good – the learning stuck.
- Priming brains for optimal rhythms could help us remain quick learners throughout life, help people with learning difficulties, and give professionals an edge in training simulations, according to neuroscientists.
Scientists have shown for the first time that briefly tuning into a person’s individual brainwave cycle before they perform a learning task dramatically boosts the speed at which cognitive skills improve.
Calibrating rates of information delivery to match the natural tempo of our brains increases our capacity to absorb and adapt to new information, according to the team behind the study.
University of Cambridge researchers say that these techniques could help us retain “neuroplasticity” much later in life and advance lifelong learning.
“Our brain’s plasticity is the ability to restructure and learn new things, continually building on previous patterns of neuronal interactions. By harnessing brainwave rhythms, it may be possible to enhance flexible learning across the lifespan, from infancy to older adulthood,” Kourtzi said.
The findings, published in the journal Cerebral Cortex, will be explored as part of the Centre for Lifelong Learning and Individualised Cognition: a research collaboration between Cambridge and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.
The neuroscientists used electroencephalography – or EEG – sensors attached to the head to measure electrical activity in the brain of 80 study participants, and sample brainwave rhythms.
The team took alpha waves readings. The mid-range of the brainwave spectrum, this wave frequency tends to dominate when we are awake and relaxed.
Alpha waves oscillate between eight to twelve hertz: a full cycle every 85-125 milliseconds. However, every person has their own peak alpha frequency within that range.
Scientists used these readings to create an optical “pulse”: a white square flickering on a dark background at the same tempo as each person’s individual alpha wave.
Participants got a 1.5-second dose of personalized pulse to set their brain working at its natural rhythm – a technique called “entrainment” – before being presented with a tricky quick-fire cognitive task: trying to identify specific shapes within a barrage of visual clutter.
The learning rate for those locked into the right rhythm was at least three times faster than for all the other groups. When participants returned the next day to complete another round of tasks, those who learned much faster under entrainment had maintained their higher performance level.
“It was exciting to uncover the specific conditions you need to get this impressive boost in learning,” said first author Dr. Elizabeth Michael, now at Cambridge’s Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit.
“The intervention itself is very simple, just a brief flicker on a screen, but when we hit the right frequency plus the right phase alignment, it seems to have a strong and lasting effect.”
Importantly, entrainment pulses need to chime with the trough of a brainwave. Scientists believe this is the point in a cycle when neurons are in a state of “high receptivity.”
“We feel as if we constantly attend to the world, but in fact, our brains take rapid snapshots and then our neurons communicate with each other to string the information together,” said co-author Prof Victoria Leong, from NTU and Cambridge’s Department of Paediatrics.
Professor Zoe Kourtzi, head of the Adaptive Brain Lab and Professor of Experimental Psychology at the University of Cambridge. Credit: University of Cambridge
“Our hypothesis is that by matching information delivery to the optimal phase of a brainwave, we maximize information capture because this is when our neurons are at the height of excitability.”
Previous work from Leong’s Baby-LINC lab shows that brainwaves of mothers and babies will synchronize when they communicate. Leong believes the mechanism in this latest study is so effective because it mirrors the way we learn as infants.
“We are tapping into a mechanism that allows our brain to align to temporal stimuli in our environment, especially communicative cues like speech, gaze, and gesture that are naturally exchanged during interactions between parents and babies,” said Leong.
“When adults speak to young children they adopt child-directed speech – a slow and exaggerated form of speaking. This study suggests that child-directed speech may be a spontaneous way of rate-matching and entraining the slower brainwaves of children to support learning.”
The researchers say that, while the new study tested visual perception, these mechanisms are likely to be “domain general”: applying to a wide range of tasks and situations, including auditory learning.
They argue that potential applications for brainwave entrainment may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but are increasingly achievable. “While our study used complex EEG machines, there are now simple headband systems that allow you to gauge brain frequencies quite easily,” said Kourtzi.
“Children now do so much of their learning in front of screens. One can imagine using brainwave rhythms to enhance aspects of learning for children who struggle in regular classrooms, perhaps due to attentional deficits.”
Other early applications of brainwave entrainment to boost learning could involve training in professions where fast learning and quick decision-making is vital, such as pilots or surgeons. “Virtual reality simulations are now an effective part of training in many professions,” said Kourtzi.
“Implementing pulses that sync with brainwaves in these virtual environments could give new learners an edge, or help those retraining later in life.”

News
A potential milestone in cancer therapy
Researchers from the University of Bern, Inselspital, University Hospital Bern, and the University of Connecticut have made a significant breakthrough in the fight against cancer. They identified a previously unknown weak point of prostate [...]
Cardiovascular Crystal Ball: New Tool Predicts Future Heart Disease Risk
Faculty members at the UM School of Medicine have created a cutting-edge tool that enables the early identification and assessment of risks in vulnerable patients. Heart disease, being the leading cause of death globally, [...]
Scientists analyze a single atom with X-rays for the first time
In the most powerful X-ray facilities in the world, scientists can analyze samples so small they contain only 10,000 atoms. Smaller sizes have proved exceedingly difficult to achieve, but a multi-institutional team has scaled [...]
AI Demonstrates Superior Performance in Predicting Breast Cancer
AI algorithms outperformed traditional clinical risk models in a large-scale study, predicting five-year breast cancer risk more accurately. These models use mammograms as the single data source, offering potential advantages in individualizing patient care [...]
Stanford Medicine Reveals: Tiny DNA Circles Defying Genetic Laws Drive Cancer Formation
Tiny circles of DNA harbor cancer-associated oncogenes and immunomodulatory genes promoting cancer development. They arise during the transformation from pre-cancer to cancer, say Stanford Medicine-led team. Tiny circles of DNA that defy the accepted laws of [...]
Death to Blood Cancer Cells: New Drug Combination Could Revive the Power of Leading Treatment
Future clinical trials will be conducted to investigate whether the combination of chloroquine and venetoclax can prevent disease recurrence. Although new drugs have been developed to induce cancer cell death in individuals with acute [...]
Illuminating Science: X-Rays Visualize How One of Nature’s Strongest Bonds Breaks
Scientists have deciphered how an activated catalyst breaks down the strong carbon-hydrogen bonds in potent greenhouse gas methane, according to a study published in Science. Using advanced X-ray technology and quantum-chemical calculations, they tracked the [...]
Using magnetic nanoparticles as a rapid test for sepsis
Qun Ren, an Empa researcher, and her team are currently developing a diagnostic procedure that can rapidly detect life-threatening blood poisoning caused by staphylococcus bacteria. Staphylococcal sepsis is fatal in up to 40% of [...]
Team develops nanoparticles to deliver brain cancer treatment
University of Queensland researchers have developed a nanoparticle to take a chemotherapy drug into fast growing, aggressive brain tumors. Research team lead Dr. Taskeen Janjua from UQ's School of Pharmacy said the new silica [...]
Tumor Avatars – A New Approach to Personalized Cancer Treatment
A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has devised a novel method for customizing treatments by testing them on artificial tumors. Determining the optimal treatment for colon cancer can be challenging as each [...]
STING Like a Bee: MIT’s Revolutionary Approach to Cancer Immunotherapy
A cancer vaccine combining checkpoint blockade therapy and a STING-activating drug eliminates tumors and prevents recurrence in mice. MIT researchers have engineered a therapeutic cancer vaccine that targets the STING pathway, vital for immune response [...]
AI Battles Superbugs: Helps Find New Antibiotic Drug To Combat Drug-Resistant Infections
The machine-learning algorithm identified a compound that kills Acinetobacter baumannii, a bacterium that lurks in many hospital settings. Using an artificial intelligence algorithm, researchers at MIT and McMaster University have identified a new antibiotic that can kill a [...]
Cancer and AI – Can ChatGPT Be Trusted?
A study published in the Journal of The National Cancer Institute Cancer Spectrum delved into the increasing use of chatbots and artificial intelligence (AI) in providing cancer-related information. The researchers discovered that these digital resources accurately [...]
Breathing New Life: Oxygen Therapy Improves Heart Function in Long COVID Patients
A small trial has found that hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) may help restore proper heart function in patients with post-COVID syndrome, with participants in the HBOT group experiencing a significant increase in global longitudinal [...]
Wireless Brain-Spine Interface: A Leap Towards Reversing Paralysis
Summary: In a pioneering study, researchers designed a wireless brain-spine interface enabling a paralyzed man to walk naturally again. The ‘digital bridge’ comprises two electronic implants — one on the brain and another on the [...]
New study reveals a gel that promises to wipe out brain cancer for good
An anti-cancer gel promises to wipe out glioblastoma permanently, a feat that's never been accomplished by any drug or surgery. So what makes this gel so special? Scientists at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) have [...]