Our brain is constantly flooded with information. Every perceived stimulus (input) and every conscious and unconscious response (output) has to pass through the gateway of the nervous system, much like a computer processor. 

However, there aren’t many computer processors boasting the amount of memory powering the human brain. The average adult human brain has the ability to store the equivalent of 2.5 million gigabytes of digital memory. 

Despite this vast landscape of memory space, the human brain—again, like a computer—is susceptible to malfunction. Some researchers have hypothesized that this may be partly due to overstimulation, resulting in debilitating symptoms such as lethargy, anxiety, depression, and insomnia. 

Cereset, an emerging biotechnology player in Orem, has harnessed a proprietary technology to help press the “reset” button on the human brain. And according to testimonials from prominent individuals such as singer-songwriter Amy Grant, the technology seems to be working. 

Cereset’s BrainEcho® neuromodulation technology aims to empower the brain through the reflection and resonance of brainwave rhythms. Cereset uses an “echo” of the real-time dominant frequency of the brain and associates each dominant frequency with an engineered note. When the dominant frequency is low, the note the client hears is also low. If the dominant frequency is high, the client hears a high note. These notes are played in a brain rhythm as it changes; thus, the brain can “see” itself and “correct” itself.

But how does this technology actually work? Can you really reset someone’s brain? 

“For probably 50 years, science has had what they call a ‘neural output,’ and that just means EEG [electroencephalogram] sensors are placed on the scalp to pick up the electromagnetic activity of the brain,” explains Carl Bowcut, an executive partner at Cereset. “And while there have been modest improvements over the decades, this neural output tracking technology really hasn’t evolved…Our technology works similarly but focuses on neural input rather than the traditional output.” 

By tracking neural input, Cereset has shown that the brain can perceive its own functionality in real-time, supporting brain oscillation patterns to optimize in patient-specific ways. The underlying technology allowing for this unique approach to brain monitoring and feedback is called HIRREM®—High-resolution, Relational, Resonance-based Electroencephalic Mirroring—a research technology used for specific indications including insomnia, PTSD, concussions, hot flashes, pain, and more. Cereset is the sole provider of this technology, with patent rights exclusively acquired. 

Cereset’s breakthrough in the neuroscience space is the first and only example of closed-loop, allostatic neurotechnology—a form of precision medicine for the brain that allows for real-time monitoring of brain states and returning signals to the user that do not depend on clinical evaluation or conscious learning. This is in direct contrast to open-loop approaches, which do not consider the brain’s changing functionality. Allostasis means “stability through change,” and it is a 21st-century model of physiological regulation that identifies the brain as the organ of central command. Allostasis aligns with evolutionary perspectives in biomedicine and predicts that more optimal brain function should entail more optimal health and context-dependent performance.

With clinical studies ongoing in prominent institutions throughout the country and peer-reviewed publications in the scientific literature to provide evidence of safety and efficacy, Cereset’s neurotech is poised to make a substantial impact for many, many people who may be “maxing out” their brain’s RAM capacity. 

Cereset was originally formed as a “grassroots”-type movement in Scottsdale, Arizona, and it remains that way. “[Cereset’s founder and CEO Lee Gerdes] has always felt that he did not want this to be bought out by some large [healthcare] corporation or pharmaceutical company that would take it over and maybe even bury it if they don’t like it in relation to their other products,” Bowcut says. “And now, it has grown under his leadership to a multimillion-dollar corporation of its own.”