Smartwatch Tracks Your Mental Health Through Your Heartbeat

An estimated 225 million people around the world today wear a smartwatch, using it to keep track of text messages, emails and even how many steps they have taken. 

And now, thanks to software created by an Israeli startup and the little sensor on the device itself, smartwatch owners can also keep track of their emotional wellbeing, including stress levels, anxiety and amount of sleep they are getting. 

NeuroBrave co-founder and CEO Dror Talisman tells NoCamels that the startup’s NeuroSpeed AI analysis software takes data about the user’s blood flow gathered by the photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor on the back of the smartwatch, and uses that to determine the heart rate.  

“It’s a very simple, but very clever sensor,” Talisman says. 

From the heart rate, he explains, it is possible to measure any fluctuations in the length of time between heartbeats, a phenomenon called heart rate variability (HRV). And it is that HRV, he says, that can offer insights into the wearer’s state of mind as well as their overall health. 

This is because HRV is used as an indicator for emotional wellbeing as well as the correct functioning of the body’s physical mechanisms. Talisman says HRV is directly connected to the autonomic nervous system, which autonomously controls the processes in our bodies. 

The autonomous nervous system is split into two – the sympathetic nervous system, which among other things controls our “flight or fight” response to perceived danger, and the parasympathetic nervous system, which controls our rest and relaxation response. 

Therefore, Talisman explains, by measuring the HRV, it is possible to have a clear idea of the state of mind of a smartwatch wearer. 

“Through that HRV we run our AI and statistics [analysis],” he says. “And we provide, for example, emotional stress levels, which is crucial to understanding chronic stress and anxiety and a lot of the mental health issues that we have today.” 

It is, says Talisman, a platform that is “pretty unique.” 

The data is transferred to the cloud where the analysis takes place. But Talisman emphasizes that the company does not store any of the data it uses, saying that once it has been analyzed, this information “just goes away.” 

Nor is the data kept by the various smartphone companies on whose devices the software can be installed. 

As NeuroBrave operates on a B2B model, its software is delivered to the user via the third parties with which the startup works. 

“Our customers are insurance companies, healthcare providers, wellness apps, anyone that [can] provide those therapies,” Talisman says. 

He points out that smartwatches are becoming increasingly ubiquitous, in particular in the United States. 

“I used to go on the New York subway and count how many people around me had smartwatches. And now I’m actually counting how many people don’t,” he says.   

In addition to the software that monitors a smartwatch wearer’s mental health through blood flow, NeuroBrave has also created what Talisman explains are wellness solutions such as stress reduction and improved physical activity, which are also available through the business with which the company works. 

Founded in 2020, the Be’er Sheva-based startup has seen financial backing from what Talisman calls “very, very good investors,” saying that he prefers to receive external investment rather than bootstrapping, as it is a measure of the potential of the concept. 

“If I speak with 50 investors, and not one of them says, ‘okay, I’m willing to take the risk with you and give you money,’ maybe it’s not a very good idea,” he explains.

In fact, NeuroBrave is currently raising money in multiple countries, among them Israel and the US. 

Talisman says its technology is available in the US, Japan and in Europe. Israel, he explains, was not a sufficiently large market to focus on due to its small population size. 

Even so, the company has launched an initiative in Israel to help people suffering from emotional stress due to the October 7 terror attack by Hamas and the ensuing war in Gaza. 

The company set up an initiative to provide smartwatches with NeuroBrave technology – and an app specially created for Hebrew speakers – in 12 communities in the Western Negev that bore the brunt of the Hamas attack as well as to first responders and members of the security forces. 

“We said, ‘let’s do something for Israel, for the people around us’,” Talisman recalls.  

The company is also working with Ichilov Hospital (Sourasky Medical Center) in Tel Aviv, where its technology is in use in the Functional Neurosurgery Unit. The partnership is seeking a breakthrough in the brain-computer interface field – helping people with neurological conditions use AI to translate their thoughts and emotions in real time through a direct link between the brain and an external device. 

According to Talisman, this collaboration is bringing Israel into the brain-chip race, alongside Elon Musk’s Neuralink and the Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates-backed Synchron. 

While the technology is for now centered on the smartwatch, Talisman says it can be adapted for different wearable devices, adding that NeuroBrave has in fact started working with headphone and eyewear companies, as well as partnering with American wireless technology giant Qualcomm and Garmin, one of the largest makers of smartwatches in the world. 

Talisman says the company is planning massive expansion, on the grounds that there is a dearth of mental health experts worldwide. 

“Mental health is aching for a solution,” he says. “There aren’t enough therapists and you cannot just multiply them.” 

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