The Cognalyzer®
The Cognalyzer® is Zentrela’s neurotechnology platform, a combination of proprietary hardware and software that documents objective, science-backed product effect data.
It’s the only scientifically-proven test that converts raw EEG data into a psychoactive effect level from 0 to 100. Read on to learn how the Cognalyzer® works and captures the complete product effect experience!
Step #1 - Data Collection
The Cognalyzer® includes robust data collection capabilities to ensure accurate data. The proprietary EEG collection technology is an 8-channel system with a 250-Hz sampling rate and 24-bit resolution. Conductive gel is applied to achieve the high quality EEG recordings without external noise that dry sensors can create. Electrodes are held in position using a ten-electrode headband and the entire process is monitored by an algorithm that determines whether the headset is properly installed and whether the connections between the headset and the person’s head are sufficiently high quality.
During the data collection phase, the Cognalyzer® collects overlapping five second segments of data. For each data segment an algorithm determines whether or not that data is high enough quality or if it contains what is known as an artifact. If it is sufficiently free from any artifact, then it becomes a good segment. The system will continue collecting data until it collects 20 to 30 good segments.
An important addition to the objective EEG data collection is the extensive demographic and psychographic information collected from each participant.
Step #2 - Data Analysis
Once the target number of good data segments is collected, another algorithm analyzes each segment, compares it to a proprietary library of neural patterns and classifies whether the segment shows evidence of psychoactive effect. The level of THC psychoactive effect (aka how “high” an individual feels) is determined by the percentage of time that the participant is experiencing the THC psychoactive effects. If the Cognalyzer® collects 20 EEG data segments, for example, and the proprietary algorithm determines that 12 EEG data segments are altered by the THC psychoactive effect, then the psychoactive effect level is 60%.
This unique conceptualization of psychoactive effects has been shown in internal and in third-party research to have a high level of correspondence with subjective ratings of psychoactive effect level on an individual level – but the algorithm output has all subjectivity removed and is therefore free from effects due to the expectations of the participant.
Step #3 - Capturing the Complete Experience
By administering multiple Cognalyzer® tests before, during and after product consumption, Zentrela documents the complete experience (psychoactive, relaxation, energizing, etc., broken down by individual consumer profile. The additional psychographic and demographic information, collected throughout the study, provides a valuable complement to the objective data. This is the foundation of the Zentrela CUSIC™ consumer research model.
The Result
A Continuous Learning Platform
The Cognalyzer® algorithm has been continuously refined over its development by incorporating new data collected from many individuals into a discriminator that is able to provide an objective magnitude estimate of the effect level. Data from each additional individual can be labelled and incorporated into training or validation sets to refine the algorithm’s performance. By collecting even more detailed data, additional objective discriminators can be created to refine and enhance the classification ability of the algorithm. Since the original labelled EEG data always remains available, enhancements can always be re-applied to original data to provide further insights.
