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Higher, Better, Stronger, Faster — Brain Science Is Trying To Get There

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The tried and true way to improve at sports, or music or anything, really, is practice. What if we could master skills a lot faster — with less practice — simply by wearing a brain-boosting headset? I tried the technology behind this claim to improve my vertical jump. In Future You Episode 3, check out the technology and whether my vertical jump got higher — and hear from an Olympic athlete who has tried it as well as the founder of Halo Neuroscience, a company that makes brain-boosting headsets.

If we can boost our brains to learn in less time, could we keep our brains younger, for longer? Where could we apply this brain hack to get an edge? Should we consider it performance enhancement, like drugs? We'll explore these questions in this latest episode.

Our season of Future You is dedicated to the human body and what it will be able to do in the future. You can find the latest episodes onYouTube or npr.org/futureyou. And send us your ideas about upgrading humans at futureyou@npr.org or through Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Elise Hu is a host-at-large based at NPR West in Culver City, Calif. Previously, she explored the future with her video series, Future You with Elise Hu, and served as the founding bureau chief and International Correspondent for NPR's Seoul office. She was based in Seoul for nearly four years, responsible for the network's coverage of both Koreas and Japan, and filed from a dozen countries across Asia.