What is the Clarity score measuring?
Clarity tells you how ready your mind is to perform cognitive tasks, an HRV for thinking. Am I focused and attentive? Or am I finding it hard to concentrate, and maybe I need to go for a walk or clear my mind - whatever it is that helps me reset and prepare for the next task.
The parameters behind the Clarity score were selected from almost 100 years of scientific literature. They range from classic "brainwave" parameters (power at gamma, beta and other bands) to waveform analysis parameters commonly used in analyzing data from brain implants and single-brain-cell recordings, and even parameters from other fields, applied to neuroscience (information theory, complexity and stock trading). These parameters were chosen for their demonstrated ability to react to global, important changes in brain and mental state. Changes in things like alertness, sleepiness, stress, hunger or mental engagement for instance have been shown to be measurable both in published literature and in real life, as demonstrated and validated in studies we ran in our labs.
Clarity Contributor Scores: Vitality and Agility
While there are a number of different parameters that can affect your Clarity, Atlas presents two contributors that can be independently tracked along side your overall Clarity score to give you more insight into your mental performance.
Vitality
Vitality
This attribute reflects how alert and energized the brain is when you’re awake. We used patterns in brain activity to build a model trained against validated sleepiness scales. Vitality tells you how alert and vital (lively) your brain is, on that lethargy-to-energy spectrum.
Vitality influences attention and the ability to sustain focus but not your ability to do work; And it reflects your mental sleepiness, not physical fatigue.
Notice how sleep, stress, illness, caffeine, and workload influences your wakefulness.
If your Vitality is higher than usual:
Take advantage by tackling work that requires intense or deep focus
Schedule meetings or learning tasks that require sustained attention
If your Vitality is lower than usual:
Reduce tasks requiring sustained attention
Reduce late nights or alcohol to avoid compounding fatigue
Try using short walks, daylight, upbeat music, and hydration to support wakefulness
Agility
Agility
This attribute reflects how quickly and precisely the brain can track and adapt to external patterns. When you do a Benchmark, we measure how well your brain responds to the rhythm of the stimuli despite the surrounding noise. It’s like clapping along to the beat of a song at a crowded restaurant.
Agility supports filtering relevant information from noise which is helpful for planning and problem solving.
Notice how different lifestyle factors (sleep, stress, alcohol, exercise, caffeine, etc) influence your agility.
If your Agility is higher than usual:
Do your more complex work (strategy, writing, analysis).
Schedule meetings or decisions that require complex analysis or discussion
Tackle activities that require more context switching
If your Agility is lower than usual:
Reduce context switching.
Focus on steady, simple tasks with less mental complexity
Prioritize sleep, recovery, and stress reduction.
Check to see if your agility improves after a caffeinated beverage or a walk
Individual Alpha Frequency (IAF)
Individual Alpha Frequency (IAF)
This attribute reflects the speed of your brain’s processing rhythm. IAF is based on the dominant alpha wave in your brain activity (typically 8–12 Hz). It acts like a mental metronome, indicating how quickly your brain cycles through information.
Higher IAF indicate faster processing and quicker information uptake
Lower IAF indicate slower, more deliberate processing
IAF supports cognitive processing speed, which is helpful for learning new information, responding quickly, and adapting to fast-paced or mentally demanding tasks.
Notice how factors like sleep quality, mental fatigue, stress, and long-term habits influence your brain’s processing speed.
If your IAF is higher than usual:
Take on tasks that require quick thinking, learning, or rapid decisions
Engage in dynamic or fast-paced work
If your IAF is lower than usual:
Focus on deeper, slower thinking tasks
Avoid time pressure where possible
Support recovery with rest and reduced cognitive load
Power Balance
Power Balance
This attribute reflects how your brain allocates its resources between conserving energy and actively engaging with the world.
Power Balance is derived from how activity is distributed across slower (internal, restorative) and faster (external, task-focused) brain dynamics. It can be thought of like a balance between “idling” and “engaged” modes.
Higher values indicate greater external engagement and readiness to act
Lower values tend to reflect a more internally focused or energy-conserving state
Importantly, neither state is inherently better. Your ideal balance depends on what you’re doing.
Power Balance supports aligning your mental state with task demands, which is helpful for knowing when to engage in active execution vs. reflection, managing energy allocation, and optimizing performance across different types of work.
Notice how your environment, workload, and type of activity (e.g., focused work, social interaction, or downtime) influence how your brain shifts between internal and external modes.
If your Power Balance is higher than usual:
Lean into active, externally focused work (meetings, collaboration, execution)
Take advantage of momentum and responsiveness
If your Power Balance is lower than usual:
Focus on planning, reflection, or solo work
Allow time for recovery or lower-demand tasks
Stress
Stress
This attribute reflects your brain’s level of strain or pressure. Stress captures patterns in brain activity associated with cognitive and physiological load. It’s not just emotional stress - it reflects how taxed your system is overall.
Higher stress can reduce clarity, flexibility, and performance
Lower stress supports stability and sustained cognitive function
Importantly, neither state is inherently better. Your ideal balance depends on what you’re doing.
Stress supports understanding your overall cognitive load, which is helpful for managing task intensity, maintaining decision-making quality, and supporting mental resilience over time.
Notice how workload, emotional demands, sleep, and recovery habits influence your overall level of mental strain.
If your Stress is higher than usual:
Reduce task intensity or complexity
Avoid stacking cognitively demanding activities
Use recovery strategies (breaks, movement, breathing, sleep)
If your Stress is lower than usual:
Take advantage of stability for focused work
Engage in planning, decision-making, or learning
How These Fit Together
How These Fit Together
Clarity is not driven by a single signal - it emerges from the interaction of all contributors:
Vitality - How awake and energized you are
Agility - How well you adapt and filter information
Power Balance - How your brain allocates resources
IAF - How fast you process information
Stress - How taxed your system is
Together, these metrics give you a more complete picture of when and how to work, not just how you feel.