Atom Sarkar, Drexel University
Athletic footwear has entered a new era of ambition. No longer content to promise comfort or performance, some brands now claim their shoes can activate the brain, heighten sensory awareness and even improve concentration by stimulating the soles of the feet.
Nike, for example, says it is “tapping into the brain–body connection” to help wearers feel more present and focused. Other companies sell “neuro-insoles,” socks and textured footwear designed to stimulate the nervous system.
It is a compelling idea. The feet are rich in sensory receptors, so could stimulating them really sharpen the mind?
As a neurosurgeon who studies the brain, I find the neuroscience suggests the reality is more complicated – and far less dramatic – than the marketing implies.
The soles of the feet contain thousands of mechanoreceptors that detect pressure, vibration, texture and movement. Signals from these receptors travel through peripheral nerves to the spinal cord and up to the somatosensory cortex, which maintains a map of the body. The feet occupy a meaningful portion of this map, reflecting their importance in balance, posture and movement.
Footwear also affects proprioception – the brain’s sense of where the body is in space – which relies on input from muscles, joints and tendons. Because posture and movement are closely linked to alertness and arousal, changes in sensory feedback from the feet can influence how stable or grounded a person feels. This is why neurologists and physical therapists pay close attention to footwear in patients with balance disorders or gait problems. Changing sensory input can alter how people move, but influencing movement is not the same as enhancing cognition.
Minimalist shoes, with thinner soles and greater flexibility, allow more sensory information to reach the brain than heavily cushioned footwear. In laboratory studies, reduced cushioning can increase awareness of foot placement and ground contact, sometimes improving balance or gait stability. However, more sensation is not automatically better. The brain constantly filters sensory input, prioritising what is useful and suppressing what is distracting. For people unaccustomed to minimalist shoes, increased sensory feedback can raise cognitive load, drawing attention toward the feet rather than freeing mental resources for focus or performance.
Scepticism deepens when claims turn to concentration. Sensory input from the feet activates somatosensory brain regions, but brain activation alone does not equal cognitive enhancement. Focus and attention rely on distributed networks involving the prefrontal cortex, parietal regions and the thalamus, as well as neuromodulators such as dopamine and norepinephrine.
There is little evidence that passive underfoot stimulation – textured soles, novel foams or subtle mechanical features – meaningfully improves concentration in healthy adults. Some studies suggest mild sensory input may increase alertness in specific populations, such as older adults training balance or patients in rehabilitation, but these effects are modest and highly context-dependent. Feeling more sensation does not mean the brain’s attention systems are working better.
That does not mean reported mental effects are imaginary. Belief and expectation play a powerful role in perception and performance. Placebo effects are well documented in neuroscience, and believing a shoe improves focus can change behaviour enough to produce measurable effects. Footwear that alters posture or movement may indirectly affect mood, confidence or perceived mental clarity.
Neuroscience supports the idea that shoes can change sensory input, posture and movement. It does not support claims that footwear can reliably improve concentration for the general population. Shoes may change how the journey feels, but the most meaningful mind-altering effects still come from sustained movement, training, sleep and attention – not sensation alone.
[Abridged]
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