Above Threshold
Welcome! This is your space to run some fun experiments and play some quick interactive games to see how your brain responds to stress and perception. Check your stats, learn the science and find out what's really going on in your head.
- 15interactive modules
- 102minutes of reading and play
- 11real statistics to guess
- 17boxes on the stress map
- 1,000+students reached
- 10+school STEM programs
What are you most curious about?
Pick your style
How much time do you have?
You’re a…
Start with these three:
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Stress and the body over time
See how school, money, and housing stress add up over a year, and how rest and support help your body recover.
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Where you live and how you feel
Dive into real CDC data from 2,300 U.S. counties to see how food insecurity and mental distress rise together.
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The sleep you owe
Calculate your weekly sleep debt and discover why the teenage brain is biologically wired to stay up late.
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Breathing and the stress switch
Test out a one-minute breathing pacer to see how slowing down your exhale can help ease physical tension.
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Fast and stressed
Test how a ticking clock and sudden pressure change your reaction time and error rates.
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Focus in a noisy world
Solve quick math in a quiet round, then tackle it again with honks and pop-ups to see how much background noise really costs your focus.
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The Stroop effect
Test your brain's cognitive control by naming ink colors while ignoring clashing words.
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Working memory
Test the strict capacity limits of your mental scratchpad with our interactive digit span challenge.
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Turning shapes in your head
Test how your brain physically simulates spatial rotation by matching shapes across varying angles.
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Change blindness
Test how easily your brain misses major visual changes when a brief flash interrupts your view.
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Finding things in a crowd
Test how your visual attention operates by finding a unique item hidden among a crowd of distractors.
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When your eyes disagree with a ruler
Test how surrounding arrow fins trick your brain into seeing identical lines as different lengths.
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The blind spot
Test your visual field to find the exact point where your optic nerve creates a natural blind spot.
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How a neuron fires
Test how electrical pulses accumulate in a neuron and discover the exact moment an action potential fires.
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How neurons talk
Test how neurotransmitters, receptors, and reuptake speeds control chemical communication between neurons.
Play first. Then find out why.
- 1
Try a module
Every article starts with a game, test or simulation you can do in a couple of minutes.
- 2
See your own results
Your scores are charted right away and collected in your own lab notebook, saved only in your browser.
- 3
Learn the science
Tap through interactive diagrams, watch a short video, and check yourself with a quick quiz.
Teaching a class? Get free 20-minute lessons and a class data board →
Follow stress from someone’s life all the way into the brain.
17 boxes and 20 connections. Tap any one to see where it leads, and switch on what protects.
Open the map →Be your own scientist.
Does sleep, music or your phone change how your brain performs? Pick a module, name two conditions, write a hypothesis, and test it on yourself. Your notebook compares the results and tells you honestly if the difference is real or just luck.
Start an experiment →Guess the real numbers
Social media, bullying, feeling safe, feeling connected. Guess first, then see the real number from a national survey of high school students. More numbers are inside the articles.
What percent of U.S. high school students use social media at least several times a day?
The same report looked at how frequent social media use relates to bullying and sadness.
What percent of U.S. high school students feel close to people at their school?
The CDC says students who feel connected at school are less likely to experience poor mental health.
What percent of U.S. high school students were bullied at school in the past year?
Another 16% were bullied electronically, for example by text or on social media.
What percent of U.S. high school students skipped school in the past month because they felt unsafe at school or on the way there?
This counts students who missed at least one day in the past 30 days because they felt unsafe at school or on the way to or from school.
What percent of U.S. high school students say their parents or other adults in their family usually know where they are and who they are with?
The CDC counts this kind of parental monitoring as a protective factor.
Pick one and play
You haven’t tried any yet. Each one takes 1 to 3 minutes.
-
Stress and the body over time
See how school, money, and housing stress add up over a year, and how rest and support help your body recover.
-
Where you live and how you feel
Dive into real CDC data from 2,300 U.S. counties to see how food insecurity and mental distress rise together.
-
The sleep you owe
Calculate your weekly sleep debt and discover why the teenage brain is biologically wired to stay up late.
-
Breathing and the stress switch
Test out a one-minute breathing pacer to see how slowing down your exhale can help ease physical tension.
-
Fast and stressed
Test how a ticking clock and sudden pressure change your reaction time and error rates.
-
Focus in a noisy world
Solve quick math in a quiet round, then tackle it again with honks and pop-ups to see how much background noise really costs your focus.
-
The Stroop effect
Test your brain's cognitive control by naming ink colors while ignoring clashing words.
-
Working memory
Test the strict capacity limits of your mental scratchpad with our interactive digit span challenge.
-
Turning shapes in your head
Test how your brain physically simulates spatial rotation by matching shapes across varying angles.
-
Change blindness
Test how easily your brain misses major visual changes when a brief flash interrupts your view.
-
Finding things in a crowd
Test how your visual attention operates by finding a unique item hidden among a crowd of distractors.
-
When your eyes disagree with a ruler
Test how surrounding arrow fins trick your brain into seeing identical lines as different lengths.
-
The blind spot
Test your visual field to find the exact point where your optic nerve creates a natural blind spot.
-
How a neuron fires
Test how electrical pulses accumulate in a neuron and discover the exact moment an action potential fires.
-
How neurons talk
Test how neurotransmitters, receptors, and reuptake speeds control chemical communication between neurons.
Collect them all
- ★First spark
- ★Stress scientist
- ★Perception pro
- ★Mind bender
- ★Action potential
- ★Halfway there
- ★Whole brain
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