NeuroTrainer hardware and software is demonstrated. (Courtesy photo)

MARQUETTE — Jeff Nyquist is a Yooper, born and raised. He and his wife moved to San Francisco for a time to build his business, NeuroTrainer.

He founded the business and started it here, but needed to move closer to Silicon Valley for the kind of funding and staff he would need to build the business.

Then COVID-19 changed things. There’s a San Francisco office, but Jeff and his wife moved home. Post COVID-19, most people can live and work where they want to a large extent. Jeff and his wife both graduated from Marquette Senior High School and they wanted to raise their kids here.

Their kids are a little spread out in age. The oldest is 27 and youngest is 4.

“I started my family as a young man, the way many people do in the U.P. And I had some kids when I was older, like many folks do in Northern California,” he said.

The focus of the business at the beginning was mental fitness for athletes. The premise was that having clear focus can boost any athlete’s performance.

For example, the trainer for National Basketball Association superstar Steph Curry uses the NeuroTrainer program with his elite athlete.

NeuroTrainer technologies and strategies are used by the National Hockey League, other NBA and collegiate teams, and top trainers and coaches.

NeuroTrainer is a mental fitness system that enables athletes to achieve new levels of human performance with a cognitive trainer to train the mind, improve focus, decision speed and situational awareness that translates to overall athletic performance.

The focus on athletics was a good place to start and monetize the company. But Nyquist’s dreams have always gone beyond that.

In his youth, he struggled with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder that remained undiagnosed until he was 19 years old.

His mother founded the first hospice in the U.S., and his overarching dream has always been to help society’s more fragile populations.

“ADHD is really a misnomer. It’s not a deficit of attention. It’s a different way of processing and focusing. I didn’t understand why I had to work twice as hard as other people to accomplish the same things,” Nyquist said.

“But many people who struggle to focus in one area can have incredible focus when they’re motivated,” he said. “Research shows about 25% of race car drivers have ADHD. Many people who struggle with focus or are diagnosed with ADHD can be wildly successful if they find their niche.”

His newest project may very well be what Nyquist considers the work of his life.

NeuroTrainer has received a $1 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct a clinical study of children dealing with ADHD.

The study will include students, parents and teachers from school districts in Marquette, Madison, Wisconsin, and Omaha, Nebraska. To qualify, the students, ages 11 to 17, must have symptoms of ADHD, but don’t have to be officially diagnosed as such.

The first phase of the study will begin in September, when Nyquist and his team will start identifying participants for the study. The second phase will begin in January, applying NeuroTrainer protocols, cognitive treatment and physical activity with the students. The third phase, starting in September 2025, will involve a follow-up to see how effective the protocol has been.

“The brain is a muscle. If we train it, the brain will change and adapt,” Nyquist said.

After this initial study, Nyquist said the program would expand to include other school districts and participants. “At this point, we would be mimicking pharmaceutical-style trials and rigor would increase. Sham controls (individual blinded clinical trials) would be used to control the placebo effect.”

“Ultimately validation would come from the peer review process — such as scientific articles, which we have done with NeuroTrainer,” Nyquist explained.

The student study will be mostly self-guided, with headsets and software during study hall and after-school programs. It will not compete with academic programs. Academic performance, behavior and mitigation of symptoms will be evaluated

“You always have a chance to improve if you believe in yourself,” Nyquist said.

Input from students, parents and teachers will provide multiple points of view to evaluate.

Students and their parents at Marquette Senior High School who would like to participate in the study in Marquette can contact Nyquist at JeffNyquist@NeuroTrainer.com. The deadline to sign up is mid-September.

Vickie Fee can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext, 542. Her email address is vfeea@miningjournal.net.