The brain science behind kwale
Every metric in kwale maps to a specific brain region and cognitive function. Here is the science.
Regions that drive content response
Each kwale metric maps to specific brain regions measured by fMRI.
Ventral Striatum
Responds to unexpected, rewarding stimuli. Drives the initial "hook" that captures attention in the first seconds.
Amygdala
Processes emotional salience -- fear, surprise, joy. Higher activation indicates stronger emotional response.
Hippocampus
Central to forming new memories. Activation predicts whether content will be remembered days or weeks later.
Prefrontal Cortex (dlPFC)
Engages during complex reasoning and working memory. High sustained activation indicates content may be too complex.
Visual Cortex (V1-V4)
Processes spatial composition, color, motion, and object recognition. Predicts where the eyes are drawn.
Superior Temporal Sulcus
Responds to faces, voices, and social cues. Key for content featuring people, dialogue, and social narratives.
Fusiform Face Area
Specialized for face processing. Highly activated by close-ups, emotional expressions, and familiar faces.
Auditory Cortex
Processes music, voice, and sound design. Activation patterns predict the emotional impact of the soundtrack.
20 metrics, each grounded in brain science
A sample of the key metrics available in every kwale Score report.
Hook Score
0-100First-5-second neural engagement. Predicts whether a viewer will continue watching.
Sustained Attention
0-100Minute-by-minute attention maintenance. Detects attention fatigue and recovery.
Emotional Arousal
0-100Intensity of emotional response regardless of valence (positive or negative).
Emotional Valence
-50 to +50Direction of emotional response. Positive = joy, awe. Negative = fear, sadness.
Memory Encoding
0-100Likelihood of long-term memory formation. Predicts ad recall and brand memorability.
Cognitive Load
0-100Mental effort required. Moderate load is optimal; too high or too low hurts engagement.
Aesthetic Appeal
0-100Visual beauty and compositional quality as perceived by the brain.
Narrative Engagement
0-100Story comprehension and narrative transportation. How absorbed the brain is in the story.
Social Resonance
0-100Response to social cues, faces, and interpersonal dynamics in the content.
Audio Impact
0-100Neural response to music, voice, and sound design independent of visual content.
Key terms
fMRI
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood oxygenation (BOLD signal).
fsaverage5
FreeSurfer average brain surface template with 10,242 vertices per hemisphere (20,484 total). Standard for group analysis.
ROI
Region of Interest. A defined area of the brain used for targeted analysis of specific cognitive functions.
BOLD Signal
Blood-Oxygen-Level-Dependent contrast. The basis of fMRI -- active brain areas consume more oxygen.
Cortical Vertex
A single point on the brain surface mesh. kwale predicts activation at 20,484 vertices simultaneously.
Encoding Model
A computational model that predicts brain responses from stimulus features. ORCLE is a multi-stream encoding model.
Ventral Stream
The "what" pathway of visual processing. Processes object identity, faces, and scene recognition.
Dorsal Stream
The "where/how" pathway of visual processing. Processes motion, spatial relationships, and action.
Want to dive deeper? Read our research or join the waitlist.