Facebook pixelEsports Performance Academy and Center for BrainHealth Form Partnership to Implement Esports Protocol
Go to home page
Go to home page

Esports Performance Academy and Center for BrainHealth Form Partnership to Implement Esports Protocol

A gamer boy is playing games on the PC. teen computer gaming Charisma

Center for BrainHealth and Esports Performance Academy

The Esports Performance Academy is partnering with Center for BrainHealth® to implement a novel performance initiative for esports players. A targeted group of EPA clients and students is participating in The BrainHealth Project, a research-backed training protocol to improve cognitive performance and strengthen overall brain health. The goal of the collaboration is to see how the brain health measures of esports gamers can be affected by these protocols for healthy brain practices, leading to their eventual implementation throughout the esports industry. Few studies currently exist to provide a comprehensive understanding of players' brain health and ways to maximize performance. Over 95% of this study’s participants have collegiate, semi-pro, or professional experience in esports as a player or a coach, making this cohort a representative microcosm of high performers. “We aim to change the paradigm of this industry, to be proactive and preventive when it comes to players’ brain health,” said Andrew Cooley, chief executive officer of the Esports Performance Academy. ”Overtraining leads to stress and burnout, and the brain health science championed by the experts at the Center for BrainHealth points to a better way to encourage top performance.” A comprehensive focus on brain health offers a new approach to pro training. The BrainHealth Project protocols focus on various components of the brain’s health and fitness that are relevant to esports players – strategic attention (knowing what to focus on and what to tune out), reasoning and problem solving, and innovation (developing new strategies to beat an opponent), among others. “We are bringing to this collaboration our extensive experience working with top performers and people in high-stress environments, such as military special ops and first responders,” said Jennifer Zientz, deputy director of programs at Center for BrainHealth. “By learning and adopting healthy brain strategies and techniques, esports players will be able to operate more efficiently and continue to improve their cognitive skills well beyond the average for their peers.” The Esports Performance Academy focuses on holistic player development and its goal is to increase the longevity of professional players in the industry. It has implemented the world’s first High-Performance Coaching Certification for esports, which uses neuroscience to promote player mental and physical health. “The groundbreaking work that the Center for BrainHealth is undertaking will impact players around the globe by providing evidenced-based protocols to enhance player cognition,” said Andrew Cooley.About the Center for BrainHealthThe Center for BrainHealth®, part of The University of Texas at Dallas, is a translational research institute committed to enhancing, preserving and restoring brain health across the lifespan. Major research areas include the use of functional and structural neuroimaging techniques to better understand the neurobiology supporting cognition and emotion in health and disease. This leading-edge scientific exploration is translated quickly into practical innovations to improve how people think, work and live, empowering people of all ages to unlock their brain potential. Translational innovations build on Strategic Memory Advanced Reasoning Tactics (SMART™), a proprietary methodology developed and tested by BrainHealth researchers and other teams over three decades. About the Esports Performance Academy The Esports Performance Academy represents an all-star team of coaches, players, students and partners seeking to foster excellence in esports. It does this with a focus on holistic growth and development by providing the world’s only High-Performance Holistic Coaching Certification. It provides programs and standards-based curriculum that concentrate on player cognition and brain health and that use neuroscience and data to promote player long-term mental and physical health.

Share this article

Katie Hinds, MS, CCC-SLP

Senior Clinician

Jennifer Zientz, MS, CCC-SLP

Deputy Director of Programs and Head of Clinical Services

Related Information

Attend an Event

Whether you seek the latest neuroscience breakthroughs or a better understanding of your personal brain fitness – the Center for BrainHealth® offers an exciting array of educational events to raise awareness and promote the importance of brain health.

Precision BrainHealth

A just-completed BrainHealth® Project trial adapted proven protocols into a methodology that combines live virtual coaching with personalized training through an app-like online platform. The limitless scalability of this approach means that people everywhere can have access to transformational science.

Efficacy of Cognitive Training When Translated From the Laboratory to the Real World

This study presents preliminary evidence on the efficacy of SMART™ protocols administered to military, veteran and law enforcement populations over a condensed time frame.