PROVO — A former Brigham Young University football player and Hall of Famer believes he’s found a groundbreaking solution to the devastating effects of traumatic brain injury — through a new kind of headgear.
The energy, the power, and the teamwork of BYU Football are all part of a program focused on elevating athlete performance. But for Colbey Clawson, BYU’s director of sports medicine and training, peak performance starts in the brain.
“I tell our players, everything starts in the brain. Movement starts in the brain, strength starts in the brain, speed starts in the brain,” Clawson said.
The secret to brain health may lie inside a small, light-emitting device that you put on like a strap. Though it looks unusual — with tiny flashing red lights and even a component that fits in the nostril — it’s showing promising results.
In 2021, BYU participated in a light therapy study using Vielight devices. During the study, 32 healthy football players wore the headsets for 20 minutes, three times a week. Half of the participants used working devices, while the other half wore placebo versions. The study measured cognitive performance, brain inflammation, and tissue damage.
Preliminary results showed increases in grip strength, sustained attention, mental speed, reaction time and cognitive control.
“The players that used it consistently, their grip strength actually started to improve through the season,” Clawson said. “Whereas the players that were in the sham group, their grip strength decreased through the season.”
Though the official results are still pending publication, BYU trainers say the benefits continue.