The Beat How Ariel Garten and MUSE Are Using Brain Data to Transform Sleep, Focus, and Mental Health
About Ariel Garten:
Ariel Garten is a visionary neuroscientist, entrepreneur, and thought leader best known as the co-founder and chief evangelist of Muse, the brain-sensing headband that makes meditation easier through real-time neurofeedback. With a foundation in neuroscience from the University of Toronto, Ariel’s early research at the Krembil Neuroscience Centre focused on Parkinson’s disease and hippocampal neurogenesis. Her work bridges science, art, and mental wellness, a fusion evident in Muse’s elegant design and its mission to help users strengthen their minds through technology.
Before founding InteraXon, the parent company of Muse, in 2009, Ariel worked as a therapist in private practice, helping clients uncover clarity and overcome self-limiting beliefs. Her interest in brain-computer interfaces began in 2003 in Dr. Steve Mann’s lab, where she explored thought-controlled technologies—an experience that later inspired InteraXon’s debut project, Bright Ideas, which allowed participants at the 2010 Winter Olympics to control the lights on the CN Tower and Niagara Falls with their minds.
Things You’ll Learn:
- Daily brain tracking gives individuals and clinicians the kind of insights previously only available in labs, making brain health far more accessible.
- MUSE’s new AI sleep coach and Digital Sleeping Pill adjust audio in real time to help users fall asleep faster and return to sleep when they wake.
- The device’s dual EEG and fNIRS sensors measure electrical activity and blood oxygenation, enabling both sleep analysis and cognitive training.
- Research from the Mayo Clinic indicates that just five minutes of daily use resulted in a 54% reduction in burnout among healthcare professionals.
- Pharmaceutical companies, clinicians, and researchers are turning to MUSE for distributed sleep studies, cognitive data, and medication response tracking.
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