By Yuvan Rasiah

Dr. Nathan Whitmore, a research scientist working at MIT’s Media Lab, is working on a revolutionary project to boost sleep quality, performance, and memory. The experiment he is a part of, which tests the use of frequency-emitting smartwatches, tests the effectiveness of enhancing the brain’s natural slow wave process with the use of sound pulses.

Dr. Whitmore doesn’t consider himself a sleep researcher, rather choosing to focus his attention on the cognitive enhancement aspect of this work. During grad school, Dr. Whitmore’s focus on improving human memory led him to study the importance of sleep. He quickly discovered that the brain, when undisturbed, replays memories while in deep sleep and that this process is a natural one designed for the formation of long term memories. As he researched further, Dr. Whitmore came across the concept of slow waves: electrical signals generated within the brain during the deepest parts of sleep.