Consumers appear hungry to know more. According to McKinsey’s 2025 Future of Wellness report, 61% of respondents consider cognitive function very important, yet brain health remains one of the areas where consumer demand is going unmet. Younger consumers, especially Gen Z, reportedly feel that gap the most.
“For a long time, it was all about physical performance, having beautiful top-performing bodies as late as possible in life,” says Olga Donica, longevity innovation director at luxury longevity clinic Clinique La Prairie. “Now, we are switching to something much more advanced, complex and sophisticated, and this for sure is the brain.”
Part of the appeal lies in growing research into neuroplasticity, which has overturned the idea that the brain becomes fixed in adulthood, revealing its capacity to rewire itself and adapt throughout life. For wellness brands, it’s an enticing proposition: if they’ve built lucrative businesses helping us optimize our bodies to perform better for longer, why not our brains?
A cognitive “edge”
In June, Mandarin Oriental Mayfair added a Brain Gym residency to its wellness offering, led by Natalia Ramsden, performance psychologist and founder of Sofos Associates, a cognitive performance consultancy. The experience begins with a 75 to 90-minute brain-mapping assessment, during which clients wear a cap fitted with 24 sensors that record electrical activity as they rest and complete short cognitive tasks. The results inform personalized recommendations and, for those who want to continue, a course of 10 to 20 neurofeedback sessions, where an on-screen game responds to their brain activity in real time. Some clients return for maintenance sessions and repeat assessments. “You don’t get fit in one session at the gym, and the brain is no different,” Ramsden says.
It’s a far cry from a doctor’s office. Sessions take place in the hotel’s private residences and suites, though most bookings come from external clients rather than hotel guests — largely business leaders, founders, and entrepreneurs based around Mayfair.
“You don’t get fit in one session at the gym, and the brain is no different.”
Natalia Ramsden, performance psychologist and founder of Sofos Associates.
