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Muse S Athena: What's New?

We’re proud to announce the all new Muse S Athena! Expanding on the award-winning features of Muse 2 and Muse S (Gen 2) with advanced sensors, Muse S Athena offers brain-powered focus training, sleep support, and now, eyes-open brain training. It’s the first consumer wearable to integrate both EEG (electroencephalogram) and fNIRS (functional near-infrared spectroscopy) sensors. Muse is your complete platform to help you track and improve your mental fitness.

Muse S Athena for improving mental fitness
The new Muse neurofeedback Strength session
Neurofeedback at a glance
What’s new in Muse S Athena hardware?
Muse S Athena FAQs

Muse S Athena for improving mental fitness

We track our steps. We monitor our heart rate. But what about our brain? Muse S Athena helps you train for better mental focus, endurance, and recovery, just like physical fitness, but for your mind.

Your brain thrives when neuropathways stay strong and flexible. Dealing with daily stress, distractions, and even long term brain health, depend on how well these pathways function. The good news: you can train them. Muse helps you do this through 3 pillars of neurofeedback training:

Mental Clarity and Focus - This is your ability to focus, stay present, and shift between mind states, like anxious to relaxed, or stressed to calm. Muse helps train mental clarity through focus attention neurofeedback training, or mind sessions. These EEG neurofeedback practices provide real-time audio feedback, guiding your brain into a more settled mindful state. With regular practice, you’ll strengthen concentration, minimize distractions, and improve your overall awareness.
Mental Strength - With Muse S Athena exclusive Strength sessions, you’ll ramp up cognitive effort, improve decision making, and build mental endurance. These fNIRS powered, neurofeedback sessions, track blood flow in your prefrontal cortex, measuring how much energy your brain is using. The goal: engage deeply. Make a high mental effort by concentrating, and sustain it throughout the session.
Mental Recovery - The foundational support for everything, mental recovery is your brain’s ability to relax, recharge, and reset, clearing away mental effort, and restoring balance. It’s directly linked to how well you sleep, and how effectively your brain disengages to rest. Muse helps train mental recovery through digital seeping pills and deep rest guided meditations. These EEG neurofeedback digital sleeping pill sessions use real-time audio feedback to cue your brain into deep relaxation and optimize your sleep.

The new Muse neurofeedback Strength session

Exclusive to Muse S Athena, a Strength session uses fNIRS (functional near-infrared spectroscopy) sensors and works with a new visual neurofeedback experience in the Muse app.

During your Strength session, you’ll exert as much mental effort as possible and propel an owl to fly toward the horizon—all by the power of your mind!

Muse S Athena fNIRS sensors tracks blood flow oxygenation in the prefrontal cortex area of your brain during your session, measuring your mental effort.

Your brain needs oxygen to function—just like muscles need oxygen during exercise. When you make a strong mental effort, your prefrontal cortex works harder and demands more oxygen. Blood carries oxygen and nutrients to fuel decision-making, focus, and problem-solving. The more oxygen flow, the better your cognitive endurance and sustained mental effort.

Mental strength refers to how much oxygen-rich blood you’re able to send to your prefrontal cortex to support your mental effort.
Mental or cognitive endurance refers to your ability to sustain that effort.

Neurofeedback at a glance

Neurofeedback trains your brain by rewarding it for reaching desired states—all on an unconscious level. Here’s how It works:

Muse measures brain activity during your session - Using EEG (electroencephalogram) and fNIRS (functional near-infrared spectroscopy) sensors.
Real-Time Feedback - The data is measured and the Muse app session audio or visuals change based on your brain activity.
Training and Reinforcement – When the brain produces desired patterns (e.g., high focus, or high mental effort), positive feedback is given. Over time, the brain learns to self-regulate.

Regular practice helps us achieve ours goals because, as we practice using neurofeedback, the brain forms new connections and pathways. These changes, also known as neuroplasticity, can help us sustain our brain function as we age. Muse empowers your mental fitness through neurofeedback by providing:

Real-Time Feedback: Muse S Athena provides visual and audio cues, training your brain to recognize and replicate optimal states of focus, effort, or relaxation.
Adaptive Learning: With consistent practice, your brain becomes more efficient at achieving and maintaining these desired states, enhancing overall cognitive performance.
Progressive Improvement: Initial challenges are normal. Like any training, your brain strengthens over time with regular practice.
Data Tracking: To reach a goal, you need to measure your baseline. Like standing on a scale, Muse gives you real feedback on how you’re performing today, so you can measure your progress tomorrow.

What’s new in Muse S Athena hardware?

Muse S Athena is among the most significant technological upgrades in the history of Muse, driven by customer feedback, and designed to make Muse your home for tracking and improving your mental fitness. Here’s some of the biggest highlights:

New fNIRS (functional near-infrared spectroscopy) sensors:

5-optode sensor tracks frontal cortex hemodynamics, analyzing blood oxygenation levels in your brain.
64Hz sampling rate delivers high-resolution measurements.
📌 Why It Matters: Unlike EEG, which tells you if you’re focused, fNIRS shows how hard your brain is working to stay focused—offering an entirely new layer of cognitive training.

EEG sensor upgrade for shaper precision:

Increased resolution: 14-bit vs. 12-bit in Muse S Gen 2, meaning more precise brainwave readings.
Stronger reference signals: Improved DRL + Reference channels enhance signal clarity for better real-time neurofeedback.
📌 Why It Matters: These enhancements ensure finer brainwave detection, giving you clearer insights into focus, relaxation, and mental effort.

PPG Sensor upgrade, better heart & sleep tracking:

Athena’s PPG (photoplethysmography) sensor now uses triple-wavelength technology: Infrared (850nm), Near-IR (730nm), and Red (660nm) wavelengths improve accuracy.
📌 Why It Matters: More precise PPG tracking means more accurate heart rate, stress, and recovery insights.

Reliability and materials upgrades:

New conductive silver thread sensors significantly improve life-span.
More durable, flexible, and skin-friendly material.
Better conductivity, ensuring a cleaner EEG signal.

Upgraded Bluetooth LE 5.3 from BT 4.2 for stronger connection and stability:

Stronger, faster data transmission with lower power consumption.
More stable real-time neurofeedback, even in high-interference environments.
Improved design for easier, snappier, and more reliable assembly.

USB-C charging.
Colour options: Carbon and Opal

Muse S Athena FAQs

Where and when can I buy Muse S Athena?
Exclusively at www.choosemuse.com, Muse S Athena is available for purchase world-wide.

Where does Muse ship?
Muse ships to most locations world-wide. For a complete list of exceptions, check out our Shipping and Delivery FAQs.

Does the 30 day money back guarantee apply?
Yes! Your Muse of Muse S Athena is covered under our 30 day money back guarantee - if you’re not satisfied for any reason, reach out to us within 30 day of receiving your Muse and we’ll assist you with a full return.

For more details, see our Returns and Exchanges FAQs.

Is my device compatible with Muse S Athena?
All Muse headbands require a minimum of Bluetooth LE 4.0. (We recommended devices with Bluetooth LE 5.3)
The Muse app is compatible with the following device operating systems:

Apple iOS 15 and above.
Android 8 and above.

For more details on compatibility, see our Muse App and Headband Compatibility FAQs.

I already have a Muse Premium Subscription, do I need to buy another for Muse S Athena?
No, your subscription is tied to your Muse account, not the Muse device.

Is Muse S Athena backwards compatible with Muse S Gen 2 Sensor Bands?
No, Muse S Athena is a leap forward in technology and design, much of which was driven by customer feedback. To deliver this next-level upgrade, Muse S Athena needed changes not compatible with the previous Muse S design.

Is Muse S Athena compatible with Muse research tools, like the SDK?
Yes! The SDK is compatible with Muse S Athena fNIRS.