The future of mental fitness starts now. Meet Muse S Athena

We track our steps. We monitor our heart rate. But what about our brain? In a world driven by wellness and longevity, there’s been a heavy focus on peak physical performance, while mental fitness has been often overlooked. 

Cognitive decline is a real concern, with early signs emerging as early as our mid-20s [1], yet only a fraction of people prioritize mental health over physical health [2]. As distractions continue to rise and mental demands increase, staying mentally sharp has become more challenging than ever. Just like our bodies, our brains need structured training to perform at their best. 

Muse S Athena is the first wearable to combine Electroencephalogram (EEG) and Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), giving you the tools to train your brain for peak focus, endurance, and resilience.

Athena is paving the way for wearable technology

• Most neurofeedback devices measure only EEG or only fNIRS: EEG measures mental clarity: your ability to focus, stay present, and shift between mind states with ease.  

• fNIRS measures mental strength: how well you handle stress, sustain attention, and recover, through analyzing blood oxygenation levels in the brain's prefrontal cortex.

Athena is the first ever consumer wearable that integrates both EEG and fNIRS.

This dual-sensor approach gives Athena a clear advantage over EEG or fNIRS-only devices. It actively trains your brain with two types of neurofeedback, helping you build sharper focus, greater resilience, and stronger cognitive control.

Muse has spent a decade advancing brain training technology. With 1 billion minutes of data collected, Muse has built the world’s largest EEG dataset. This fuels Athena’s AI-powered neurofeedback, delivering unmatched precision in brain training.

Entering the new era of mental fitness

Distractions are at an all-time high—people spend 47% of their waking hours thinking about something other than what they’re doing [3], and in the workplace, every distraction costs 23 minutes to regain focus [4]. As demands on our attention grow, maintaining mental sharpness has never been more crucial.

Athena expands Muse beyond sleep and meditation into a full-spectrum brain training system, combining EEG and fNIRS to transform how we approach mental fitness. By providing real-time, personalized neurofeedback, Athena turns brain training into an integrated, everyday practice—helping you build focus, resilience, and mental endurance for peak performance in both your personal and professional life.

Train your brain like an athlete

Athletes train their bodies to perform at the highest level—Athena helps you do the same for your brain. Mental fitness is about training your mind to sustain focus, build cognitive endurance, and recover efficiently—allowing you to perform at your best.

Your brain constantly shifts between effort and recovery, influencing attention, creativity, and resilience. Athena measures these shifts in real time using EEG and fNIRS neurofeedback, tracking brain activity and oxygenation to help you optimize mental performance.

Athena’s training is built on three core pillars of mental fitness:

• Mental clarity & focus – Strengthen concentration through EEG-powered biofeedback meditation sessions and focused-attention training.

• Mental strength & endurance – Train cognitive resilience with fNIRS-powered neurofeedback, including our interactive owl-controlled challenge, which measures sustained attention under pressure.

• Mental recovery & recharge – Optimize rest with Digital Sleeping Pills, guided meditations, and the Brain Recharge Score, which tracks your brain’s capacity to reset and recover.

Powered by Muse’s AI-driven Foundational Brain Model (FBM), Athena turns real-time brain activity into personalized insights, helping you sharpen focus, build resilience, and enhance recovery—so you can train your brain like an elite athlete.

Dual-sensor technology for a full picture

Athena measures both real-time brain activity and sustained cognitive effort by combining EEG and fNIRS. Together, they provide a full view of cognitive performance. 

• EEG (brainwave activity) responds instantly but is sensitive to movement noise. 

• fNIRS (blood flow and 02 levels in the prefrontal cortex) provides deeper physiological data but can be affected by breathing and circulation changes. 

EEG and fNIRS work together to provide a more complete and dynamic picture of cognitive performance. EEG captures real-time electrical activity in the brain, revealing patterns of focus, relaxation, and cognitive states with millisecond precision. Meanwhile, fNIRS measures blood oxygenation in the prefrontal cortex, indicating how much effort the brain is exerting to maintain focus or process information. 

By combining these two technologies, EEG provides insights into immediate neural responses, while fNIRS uncovers the metabolic demands behind those signals. Together, they create a fuller, more actionable understanding of cognitive workload, mental resilience, and brain efficiency.

AI-Powered, personalized neurofeedback

Athena adapts to your unique brain activity using Muse’s AI-driven Foundational Brain Model (BM), trained on 80,000+ brain training sessions. It analyzes your focus patterns, cognitive effort, and recovery to deliver real-time, personalized neurofeedback.

Each session begins with Muse calibrating to your baseline resting state for a personalized experience. As you train, Athena fine-tunes difficulty, refines insights, and optimizes feedback to strengthen your cognitive habits. The more you use it, the smarter it gets—guiding you toward enhanced focus, endurance, and mental fitness.

Cognitive aging & long-term brain health

Cognitive decline can start as early as your mid-20s [1]. By 2050, an estimated 12.7 million Americans aged 65 and older will be living with Alzheimer’s [5]. However, research suggests that up to 40% of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed through lifestyle changes, including cognitive training [6].

Athena track blood flow and oxygenation levels in the prefrontal cortex. These measurements can offer insights into mental endurance, stress resilience, and sleep quality. With this data, you can make informed choices to support cognitive function and long-term brain health.

Your brain’s best performance, measured 

Your brain constantly shifts between effort and recovery, influencing focus, creativity, and mental endurance. Different brainwaves play key roles: 

• Delta waves support deep sleep

• Theta waves enhance relaxation and creativity 

• Alpha waves promote calm alertness 

• Beta waves drive focus and problem-solving. 

• Gamma waves

Athena helps you see and understand these brain states in real time using EEG and fNIRS. By tracking your brain’s activity and oxygenation levels, it shows how your mind responds to focus, stress, and rest—helping you train smarter.

• See tour focus in action – Track brainwave changes to understand when you're at peak concentration and when distractions take over.

• Measure mental stamina – Learn how well your brain sustains effort and adapts under pressure.

• Improve recovery – Sleep tracking, guided meditations, and the Brain Recharge Score help you reset and recharge more effectively.

Powered by Muse’s advanced EEG system and now integrating fNIRS, Athena helps you train smarter, enhancing focus, resilience, and recovery for peak mental performance.

What else is new? 

• EEG neurofeedback

• fNIRS neurofeedback

• Updated Bluetooth

• New Electrodes: All new electrode durability, which means you no longer need to purchase replacement bands 
  
  

The newest edition to the largest EEG platform

Athena incorporates the latest advancements, built from continuous research, user feedback, and thoughtful improvements to offer an enhanced and seamless experience. Designed for easy use with wireless connection, USB-C charging, and a comfortable headband. It tracks brain activity with advanced sensors, includes a long-lasting battery, and works seamlessly with the Muse app on iOS and Android devices.

Get Musing

From calming the muses (distractions) to channelling Athena’s wisdom for sharper thinking—this is the next step for consumer brain training. The future of mental fitness starts now, and Athena is leading the way. 

Entering your own era of mental fitness goes beyond actively tracking brain activity to improve cognitive performance. It is about improving focus, resilience, and recovery in real time using the most advanced insights available, to improve your personal and professional life.

Athena seamlessly integrates into your daily routine whether you're deep in focus, practicing mindfulness, or tackling high-pressure tasks. With its lightweight design and eye-open and eye-closed training modes, you can maximize both effort and recovery..

Order Athena Today. Available now for $474.99.

 

References

[1]  Salthouse, T. A. (2009). When does age-related cognitive decline begin? Neurobiology of Aging, 30(4), 507-514. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2007.09.018 

[2] Massachusetts Association of Health Plans. (2021, June 17). 95% of us say mental health is important, yet only 26% prioritize it. Retrieved from https://www.mahp.org/2021/06/17/95-of-us-say-mental-health-is-important-yet-only-26-prioritize-it-heres-why-you-should/ 

[3] Killingsworth, M. A., & Gilbert, D. T. (2010). A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Science, 330(6006), 932. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1192439

[4] Mark, G., Gudith, D., & Klocke, U. (2008). The cost of interrupted work: More speed and stress. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. https://doi.org/10.1145/1357054.1357072

[5] Alzheimer's Association. (2024). 2024 Alzheimer's disease facts and figures. Alzheimer's Association. Retrieved from https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/facts-figures 

[6] Livingston, G., Huntley, J., Sommerlad, A., et al. (2020). Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2020 report of the Lancet Commission. The Lancet, 396(10248), 413-446. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32622834/