The science behind Optim

Where human performance meets real physiology

Watch Dr. Jon Solheim in talks with Optim CEO Dr. Charles Ethan Paccione about why and how the nervous system matters for performance.

WHY THE NERVOUS SYSTEM MATTERS FOR PERFORMANCE

Your autonomic nervous system controls focus, recovery, alertness, sleep, and even pain perception. By learning to modulate it intentionally, you unlock:

  • Faster recovery
  • Better performance and focus under pressure
  • Improved energy management
  • Higher HRV and better cardiovascular resilience

HRV (heart rate variability) – an index of your autonomic nervous system - reflects how well your nervous system can respond to stress and performance demands. OPTIM trains this responsiveness via real-time biofeedback and median nerve stimulation, raising your baseline capacity to adapt and perform.

OPTIM is designed to regulate your body’s engine—your nervous system—using scientifically validated stimulation methods and breathwork techniques to enhance recovery, focus, energy, and adaptability. Unlike wearables that merely track, OPTIM acts to change your STATE in real time.

OPTIM Performance Model

Performance peaks at the right balance of arousal. Too little and you’re flat, too much and you burn out. OPTIM keeps you in the zone with median nerve stimulation and breathing: up when you need energy, down when you need recovery, balanced when you need focus.

  • Upregulation: High-frequency MNS + rapid breathing to elevate arousal before competition.
  • Downregulation: Low-frequency MNS + slow breathing to accelerate recovery and prevent drop-off.
  • Regulation: Moderate-frequency MNS + paced breathing to sustain focus and adaptability.

Performance and the Nervous System

Athletic performance depends on the autonomic nervous system. The sympathetic branch drives readiness and action. The parasympathetic branch restores calm and recovery. OPTIM keeps both in balance—before, during, and after performance.

  • Before: High-frequency stimulation primes focus, alertness, and readiness.
  • During: Moderate stimulation sustains energy and precision without overstrain.
  • After: Low-frequency stimulation accelerates recovery and restoration.

OPTIM’s proprietary machine learning and AI model adapts to every stage of training, helping athletes perform at their peak and recover faster.

OPTIM Life Mode

Your nervous system follows a 24-hour rhythm: alert in the morning, balanced through the day, and restorative at night. Stress disrupts this cycle—spiking arousal, delaying recovery, and impairing sleep.

OPTIM keeps you aligned.

  • Daytime: Moderates stress spikes, sustains focus, and restores balance.
  • Nighttime: Eases wind-down, stabilizes sleep, and enhances recovery.

OPTIM actively regulates your autonomic cycle, helping you perform, adapt, and recover—around the clock.

Unique path to HRV optimization

MEDIAN NERVE ⇄ VAGUS NERVE

Many patients and consumer neurotech devices use transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) to drive recovery and HRV. OPTIM takes a safer, more wearable, more adaptable, and more effective wrist-based approach to regulating the nervous system and increasing HRV by stimulating the median nerve at the wrist.

Decades of research conducted on peripheral nerve stimulation has determined that median nerve stimulation is a reliable and non-invasive method to influence vagal tone and autonomic balance.

OPTIM´s novel patent-pending means of regulating the nervous system via median nerve stimulation at the wrist in combination with biofeedback provides a more accessible and user-friendly approach to regulating vagal activity (i.e. HRV) daily.

PEER-REVIEWED FIELD SCIENCE

PEER-REVIEWED FIELD SCIENCE

1. Median Nerve Stimulation Improves HRV

• Transcutaneous median nerve stimulation increases HRV (SDNN) and vagal activity in healthy individuals without adverse effects.

https://ht.amegroups.org/article/view/8726/html

• Systematic reviews show frequency-specific effects of wrist nerve stimulation (40–200 Hz) can modulate autonomic activity.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S109471592400028X

2. HRV Biofeedback Enhances Athletic Performance

• A systematic review showed HRV biofeedback significantly improved both fine and gross motor performance in athletes.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28573597/

• A 2020 meta-analysis confirmed HRV biofeedback is safe, user-friendly, and effective at improving HRV, fine and gross motor function in athletes. 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7386140/

3. Breathing Techniques Improve Baroreflex & HRV

• Resonance frequency breathing is found to improve baroreflex sensitivity, peak expiratory flow, and heart rate recovery.

Lehrer et al., 2003 – DOI: 10.1023/A:1022461130125

• Breathwork produces greater improvement in mood and reduction in respiratory rate more than mindfulness meditattion

https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-medicine/pdf/S2666-3791(22)00474-8.pdf

4. Vagus Nerve Stimulation Builds Resilience

• Auricular tVNS improved HRV in healthy participants, enhancing vagal tone and emotional regulation.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8830655/

• Broader reviews identify vagal modulation as a key tool for enhancing resilience, emotional regulation, and executive function in both athletes and general populations.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1639866/full

MEET OUR INVENTOR

DR. CHARLES ETHAN PACCIONE, Founder and CEO of OPTIM

OPTIM is not just using science from the field—we’re embodying it. Dr. Charles Ethan Paccione’s professional publications on breathing physiology, vagus nerve stimulation, HRV, biofeedback, stress resiliency, and recovery have contributed to the field of frontier human performance science on a global scale. This has been instrumental in growing the body of peer-reviewed scientific evidence which supports non-invasive neural modulation and wearable tech for advancing health and performance.

OPTIM draws from this work to create a validated, practical, science-forward platform and patent-pending system that does not just track — it transforms.

• Fibromyalgia RCT comparing tVNS vs. diaphragmatic breathing—explored clinical and HRV outcomes

— Paccione et al. (2022), Frontiers in Neurology: DOI 10.3389/fneur.2022.1030927

• Protocol for resonance-breathing vs. tVNS trial

— Paccione et al. (2020), Trials: DOI 10.1186/s13063-020-04703-6

• Investigated HRV’s indirect effects on pain tolerance through psychological distress

— Paccione et al. (2021), Pain Reports: DOI 10.1097/PR9.0000000000000970

• Explored motivational nondirective resonance breathing in chronic pain

— Paccione & Jacobsen (2019), Frontiers in Psychology: DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01207

• Investigated diaphragmatic breathing’s effects on anxiety

— Czub et al. (2024, with Paccione): Stress & Health: DOI 10.1002/smi.3496