WILKES-BARRE — Wilkes University’s new NeuroTraining and Research Center will help students and staff train their brains to stay calm and get more focussed.

“The brain can change,” Wilkes psychology professor Ed Schicatano said, explaining you can train the brain to “become calmer” and focus better.

The NeuroTraining and Research Center officially opened Thursday with a ribbon cutting and open house. It was developed to support the work of students and faculty in Wilkes interdisciplinary neuroscience major.

Students can complete internships at the center, and psychology and neuroscience majors will use it for research. Wilkes is also offering center services for free to faculty, staff and students. It is not open to the public.

Evenlyn Cabrera, a senior from Lansford and an intern at the center, demonstrated some of the techniques on training the brain.

An electrode, dabbed with a little cream, was attached to the top of her head, and she leaned back in a chair to watch a computer screen.

The graphics and images looked like a video game. She focussed on her sensorimotor rhythm waves.

The computer equipment and software, which cost less than $15,000, also measures alpha waves, Schicatano said.

“It trains you to produce more alpha waves,” Schicatano said, explaining that will keep you calm.

Athletes, performing artists and students suffering from anxiety can benefit from the techniques taught at the center. Faculty and staff can learn ways to reduce stress and improve their focus.

“It made me so relaxed,” said Cabrera, a psychology major. “It made me feel sleepy.”

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