October 12, 2025 • 42 mins
What if “treatment-resistant” isn’t about you—it’s about the tools? We sit down with Dr. Theodore Henderson, a neurobiologist and psychiatrist, to rethink brain care for autism, TBI, depression, anxiety, and long COVID through neuroplasticity, functional imaging, and smarter energy-based therapies. Instead of labels and guesswork, we dig into how infrared light can reach mitochondria, raise BDNF, and trigger repair; why power and dosing make or break results; and how SPECT scans help clinicians ask better questions before prescribing. Dr. Henderson shares a striking case where a bipolar diagnosis crumbled under imaging—and Lyme disease treatment resolved years of symptoms. We also unpack the politics around SPECT access and the fresh shift in nuclear medicine guidelines that put TBI, dementia, and infectious disease back on the map. From there, we head into the future: ExoMind’s next-gen TMS with shorter, quieter, higher-impact sessions; the safety essentials that keep interventions comfortable; and the real-world outcomes families care about most—less anxiety, fewer spirals, clearer thinking, more daily ease. The theme is synergy: infrared plus ketamine, infrared plus TMS, layered with sleep, sunlight, and sensory-friendly routines to create lasting change. Along the way, we honor neurodiversity and practical wins for autistic individuals: reducing rigidity, softening anxiety, and supporting unique strengths without forcing sameness. If your current plan isn’t working, this conversation offers a hopeful pivot—more data, fewer assumptions, and a toolkit that actually matches the brain’s biology. Subscribe, share with someone who needs a new path, and tell us: what question do you want your brain to answer next?
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
S2 Child Show is back for its 13th season.
They're back for the SJ ChildShow team as they explore the
world of autism and sharestories of hope and inspiration.
This season, we're excited tobring you more autism summit
featuring experts and advocatesfrom around the world.
Go to SCchilds.org to donate andto get more information.
(00:25):
Congratulations on 2024's 20,000downloads in 300 episodes.
SPEAKER_03 (00:33):
Well, hello.
We are back with anotherfantastic episode.
I'm really looking forward tothis conversation today.
And I'm happy to bring to youDr.
Theodore Henderson.
And where are you coming fromtoday, uh, Dr.
Dr.
Theo?
Dr.
Dr.
Henderson, which one?
SPEAKER_00 (00:51):
Uh Denver, Colorado.
SPEAKER_03 (00:53):
Oh, wonderful.
I'm your neighbor in Salt LakeCity.
SPEAKER_00 (00:56):
There you go.
SPEAKER_03 (00:57):
Yeah, that's great.
We're having a really nicesummer.
I mean, it's a little hot asalways, but having a pretty nice
summer as far as it goes.
Um, it's I'm excited to talk toyou today.
Uh, tell us a little bit aboutyourself, give us an
introduction and let theaudience know a little bit about
yourself and what brought youhere.
SPEAKER_00 (01:15):
All right.
Um, well, briefly, uh, I'm a uhPhD in neurobiology first, uh,
and then I, well, not first, butum it guides my life.
Uh so I'm a brain doc from theoutset uh and I'm an MD.
Uh I studied radiology and thenI settled into psychiatry, and I
(01:38):
also did a residency fellowshipin uh child psychiatry.
So in my child psychiatryfellowship, uh I uh became
fascinated by the world ofautism and began working with
the uh JFK Center at theUniversity of Colorado.
(01:59):
I actually did a researchfellowship for several months
there.
Uh and the autism has uh been apart of my practice uh since
then.
I'm on the advisory board ofU.S.
Autism Association, uh, and I'veworked with you know greats like
Dr.
Larry Kaplan and um severalothers, and uh brought to them
(02:21):
uh neuroimaging and also sort ofmore holistic psychiatry, which
has sort of been my bent.
Now, over the past uh 15 years,I've moved away from medicine
because I'm frustrated bymedications and uh side effects,
and move towards moreneuroplasticity-based
(02:42):
treatments, more naturaltreatments.
Um, and you know, for example,uh the work I'm will be talking
about today is uh involvesinfrared light, and there's
nothing more natural than light.
Uh so uh yeah, I think uh we'regonna get into some very
interesting things here.
SPEAKER_03 (03:02):
I love this conversation, and it really um
is interesting, and uh a lot ofpeople actually won't know this.
Yay, new information for mylisteners, which is exciting
after 300 episodes, right?
Um, but I um this really tiesinto my life because I'm
actually a former massagetherapist, and there's just
(03:22):
certain things that you learnwhen you're working with bodies
and um it all types of things,whether it is actually physical
or neurological, and the effectsthat come from working, you
know, with people.
And I think that it leading intomy experience as well, uh
(03:46):
learning more and you know, thisexpansive journey I'm on with uh
my entire autistic family, andto really uh uh identify and
give a new perception of what umeach brain I I would love that
if we could look at it that wayrather than this idea that
(04:07):
there's these types that have tobe labeled and looked at.
I I would love to be in the kindof the community where everyone
is honored that they're adifferent type of human and
unique person and their brain isdifferent than everybody else's
in the room.
So um I think that that is kindof like where I'm I get excited
(04:30):
personally and passionate aboutwhat we're gonna talk about
today.
And um, but back to that massagetherapist is that um he was also
uh did kinesiology and infrared.
And so just I've had experienceand I've seen the effects that
uh these type of more holisticuh practices can help with one's
(04:56):
healing processes.
So yeah, explain to our audienceuh a little bit more about that
kind of exact practice ormodality and how it uh ties in,
if you will.
SPEAKER_00 (05:13):
Well, um, I'm gonna geek out here.
So all right, so certainwavelengths of infrared light,
if they can reach themitochondria, the organelles
within the cells that makeenergy, are able to activate
those mitochondria.
Um, we're gonna leave it atthat.
There's lots of detail in there,but just it activates the
(05:35):
mitochondria, and that does twothings.
One, it makes more energy, andnumber two, it the mitochondria
sends signals down to thechromosomes and turn on really
important genes.
For example, uh, one of thegenes that's activated is
brain-derived neurotrophicfactor or BDNF for short.
(05:56):
Now, BDNF is the growth factorthat drives neuroplasticity in
the adult brain.
Now, it just so happens that mypostdoctoral research while I
was a medical student andresident was on BDNF.
So I understand BDNF very, verywell.
(06:17):
And when I first came into thisfield of infrared light, um, you
know, I was thinking, okay, thisis sort of nonsense.
How is how's light going to getthrough the scalp and the skull
and into the brain?
I mean, really, guys, what'sgoing on here?
But when I read a study out ofHarvard that said, look, we show
that we're turning on BDNF inthe brains of mice with infrared
(06:40):
light, and it's leading to brainrepair.
I was all in.
And I said, okay, we got tofigure out how to make this work
in humans.
So we went into the research laband literally figured out how
to, you know, size it up fromwhat worked in a mouse in a
research lab at Harvard tosomething that worked on people.
(07:01):
And that was back in 2013.
We started treating patients in2013-2014 who had traumatic
brain injuries.
And a lot of these patients, wehad brain scan data on them.
So they had a spec scan, afunctional brain scan at
baseline.
We treated them, we repeatedthis the spec scan, and lo and
(07:23):
behold, their brains lookedbetter.
unknown (07:27):
Wow.
SPEAKER_00 (07:27):
Not only did their brains look better, but they
clinically were better.
Their depression was gone, theiranxiety was gone, their uh
cognitive problems were gone,their headaches were gone, their
irritability was gone.
It's like, wow, pretty coolstuff.
So we published all that in2015.
Now, let's get back to thosemitochondria for a second.
(07:50):
The mitochondria also sendssignals that activate
anti-inflammatory proteins.
And it also sends signals thatturn on that bring stem cells
out of hibernation and makesthem turn into neurons and get
into the game, so to speak.
So this is a very, very powerfultechnique.
(08:12):
Um, and I'll add more in alittle bit.
When we started working with uhfolks treating folks directly
with infrared light, we're usingenough power to get through the
scalp and skull.
So we are directly treating theneurons in the brain.
There's lots of these uh devicesout there that use low power
(08:34):
light, they're half watt LEDs.
You could buy them for a couplethousand dollars off Amazon or
from ViLite or spend sixthousand dollars for a helmet.
The problem is half a wattdoesn't even get through human
skin.
So you're treating the skin nowthat does something, but it's
not treating the brain.
(08:56):
Wow, okay.
So that's kind of a basic primerin infrared light and how it
activates brain healing.
SPEAKER_03 (09:06):
How can we find it in nature?
Is that a possibility?
SPEAKER_00 (09:12):
Well, uh, yeah, I understand that you know, we're
delivering, you know, 13, 14watts of infrared light to the
scalp.
Um, that would give you a heckof a sunburn uh if you were
getting that on a regular basis,right?
Yeah, there is infrared light inthe sun, so getting out in
(09:34):
nature and getting infraredlight on your skin, it does
something.
Yeah, the skin does something,and I can get into that at some
point if you're interested.
But I love that yeah, so youknow, getting kids out uh away
from the screens for crying outloud and into the sunshine is
really, really good for them.
SPEAKER_03 (09:55):
Absolutely.
I can attest for that for justfor myself this year.
I've been out gardening andplanting more than ever, and I
think this year uh just turning49 and I've ran through the
sprinklers more than I have in adecade.
SPEAKER_04 (10:08):
So I love it, right?
SPEAKER_03 (10:11):
Whatever we find to keep ourselves young.
But no, I agree.
I um there's a lot of even smallthings that I've noticed that
have increased um as far as likeenergy and mobility, and just as
far as um, I think I'm gettingout so much that it's changed
(10:31):
the being in for so many yearsand you know, in my office in my
computer doing those things.
Um, but yeah, I think that it'sso important that we get our
kids out there too.
Um, and let's talk about becauseI think that there's a little
bit of like um maybe uh not evena stigma, but a disbelief even
(10:56):
in um in brain scanning.
And I think I that's how I meanI had mine done.
I had a Q EEG and I had minedone through that process.
So I think that it worked forme.
I mean, it told it it gave methe information that resonated,
that felt right, that madesense, that answered years of
(11:21):
questions or problems orresistance that I may have had
to myself that I could embraceand say, oh my gosh, yes, this
is exactly um what that meansand and why.
So for me, it was just that wasit was so powerful.
SPEAKER_00 (11:40):
Yeah, so you want me to talk about uh functional
brains?
I want you to talk about brainscans.
Um so I got involved in uhfunctional brain scans about 20
years ago, um almost 25 yearsago now.
And my initial reason forgetting involved is you know, I
(12:03):
went and listened to DanielLehman, you know, yeah, kind of
the big the name you think ofwhen you think of spec scans.
And I went up to him after thetalk and I said, you know, you
might be right, but you can'tprove any of what you just said,
you've not done the research.
And so the opportunity came uhfor me to get involved with a
(12:25):
company that was doing specscans in Denver.
And, you know, again, I'm aneurobiologist.
I trained in neurobiology.
I used to used to teach brainanatomy to medical students year
after year after year.
I I know what does what, and mymy thesis, my PhD work was on
structure-functionrelationships.
(12:46):
So, in other words, every partof a brain has a particular
assignment, and it'sstructurally refined to do that
assignment very, very well.
So you can't take motor cortexand or motor cortex and expect
it to work in the visual cortex,they're they're different.
Anyways, so I started working inthat field, and I started uh
(13:09):
really getting an understandingof the science of uh spec scans
and science of nuclear medicine.
And we started uh then doing,you know, taking large cohort
studies, so hundreds of patientswith ADHD or hundreds of
patients with traumatic braininjury.
And what do you see?
(13:30):
So, in fact, I publishedprobably on the order of 20
papers now on SPEC scans.
Uh, and the last uh pair ofpapers uh that we did, um, well,
actually, let's back up a sec.
So the APA, the AmericanPsychiatric Association, came
out about six years, seven yearsago with a with a statement.
There's no use in psychiatry forneuroimaging.
(13:54):
There's no reason to doneuroimaging in psychiatry.
Now, when you read that paper,it was really about functional
MRI.
It was not about spec scans.
But everyone assumed it wasabout spec scans.
Um, but really, when you readthe paper, it's not.
So we in fact wrote threeseparate papers rebutting that
(14:14):
premise, uh, specifically onSPEC scans.
And for example, I'll give youjust one example.
So here's a young man, um, andhe presents to a psychologist
here in uh Colorado, and uh theydetermined after spending some
time with him that he hadbipolar disorder, and that was
(14:36):
the cause of his problems thathe was bipolar disorder, and
maybe he had a personalitydisorder.
Um, and uh then you know theysent him to me to do uh a spec
scan.
So he got a spec scan back, andthe the scan of bipolar disorder
is very specific.
(14:56):
In fact, I published a paperwith my Canadian colleagues of a
family where everybody hadbipolar and everybody had gotten
a spec scan, and they all lookexactly alike.
So there is a there's aphenotype, there's a marker for
bipolar disorder and spec scans.
This kid did not have that.
In fact, this kid looks like hisbrain was under attack.
(15:17):
And I said, This is an infectedbrain, and so I did some further
digging, and it turns out thiskid had Lyme disease.
Wow, and when we treated hisLyme disease, all of his
problems went away like that.
SPEAKER_02 (15:35):
Amazing.
SPEAKER_00 (15:36):
I mean, he had been diagnosed with uh a disorder
that has a lifetime consequence,bipolar disorder on lithium or
depicode or antipsychotic forthe rest of your life.
My goodness, and now he'smedication free, you know.
Never needed it in the firstplace, absolutely, and and you
know, and because of that paper,I had three or four more people
(15:57):
called me up and say, I kind ofwonder if my son might have
bipolar or might have Lymedisease.
And sure enough, um, you know,we found a lot of these
misdiagnosed psychiatric cases.
My own daughter uh contractedLyme disease, and she was
diagnosed with bipolar disorderby the docs in in Chicago.
They didn't do anything aboutshe had relapsing fevers every
(16:20):
six weeks, but oh, let's not uhlook at that.
That's uh oh, I don't know whatthat is.
We're not gonna pay attention tothat.
SPEAKER_03 (16:27):
Uh you know, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (16:30):
So, yeah, so functional brain scans, and and
this is Daniel Eyman's line.
And and you know, uh uh DanielEyman and I have published
papers together, we've workedtogether on big projects.
And one of the things he saysthat I think is spot on, he
says, spec scans help you askbetter questions.
(16:51):
They don't give you the answers,they help you ask better
questions.
Yeah, so I don't do a spec scanon everybody who walks in the
room.
Um, I do them on the ones that Ican't figure out, or the ones
that are not responding the waythey're supposed to.
That's when you need a spec scanto help clarify the diagnosis
and the situation.
(17:12):
Now, um one of the things that'sinteresting, I smirked when you
mentioned spec scan or scansbecause in the state of Colorado
currently, uh, and this, youknow, if there's uh a listener
out there who happens to be ajournalist or happens to uh be
uh uh a philanthropist or alitigator, um in the state of
(17:36):
Colorado, you cannot, cannot,cannot get a spec scan done.
Period.
Well the reason is that oneradiology group controls the
authorized user position for allof the hospitals outside of the
University of Colorado.
And that one radiology group hasdecided we're not going to allow
(18:00):
spec scans.
And so, you know, the thehospital I had been working with
for years suddenly says, Oh, wecan't do spec scans because the
radiologist refuses to do them.
I requested a meeting with thisradiologist, he refused.
I sent him our definitive paperson SPEC scans and traumatic
(18:21):
brain injury, which have beenrecognized by Discover magazine
as some of the top work in thatparticular year, 2019.
He refused to read them.
SPEAKER_03 (18:31):
Why wouldn't you want more information?
That's baffling to me.
SPEAKER_00 (18:36):
Politics.
So now here's the good news.
Just today, just today, theSociety of Nuclear Medicine and
Molecular Imaging, which is theUS society that governs things
like spec scans, put out the newprocedure guidelines.
No, they're not out yet.
(18:56):
This is where they send them outand everybody gets to comment on
them.
And they put in, they put backin traumatic brain injury,
dementia, which had been takenout for inexplicable reasons,
and infectious disease.
In other words, diagnosing Lymedisease.
In fact, the only reference theyoffer is diagnosing Lyme
(19:17):
disease.
Uh, ignoring, of course, ourpapers.
But uh you know, uh, two of ourpapers were cited.
Two are the papers that I haddone with uh Cyrus Raji and
Daniel Eamond and uh uh PhilCohen and other great uh
researchers and and cliniciansin the field.
So that is a crack in the in thein the wall uh that has been put
(19:43):
up around spec scans.
And you know, my frustration isI I was the guy saying to Eamon,
you don't know that you'reright, you can't prove it
because you haven't done theresearch.
We went in, we did the research.
And you know, Daniel Eamon and Idid several papers together, and
he's got this huge database, sothere's tons more papers that
(20:03):
could be done.
And we've done the research, sowe have established the facts,
yeah, and medical medicalcommunity refuses to look at
them.
Neurology, it's like, oh no,nothing to see here.
Psychiatry, you know, why lookat the organ that we're
treating?
That would like imply that wedidn't like uh just uh know what
(20:25):
we are doing because we got aguidebook that says, Oh, uh uh
depression, uh let's go with uhProzac, uh anxiety.
Oh, yeah, that's uh LexaPro.
Yeah, by the way, SSRIs don't doanything for depression or
anxiety.
I mean, they're just they're awaste of time.
SPEAKER_03 (20:43):
Oh, I couldn't tell you how many, and uh I mean, my
mom will never listen to this,bless her heart, but she's a
nurse, and my whole life growingup was what medication could
change, what else, whatsomething about me that she
could change with some mediummedication.
I was like literally a lab rat,I feel like.
And you know, now that I'm likegoverned my own body and all of
(21:05):
the access and everything, um,wow, I see and and can
understand the effects that allof those um misdiagnosed things
and the same thing, bipolars,um, you know, and and
depressions or anxiety and umthe number of and not for even
(21:26):
the right reasons, birth controlthat I was on for managing um
more moods than anything.
It was like this constant listof what we could do, you know,
and now I'm just like, wow, um,I ground myself and drink tea
(21:46):
and meditate.
And oh wow, I found all of theseamazing things that I can just
do on my own.
I put my hands in the dirt andyou know, like get connected.
And it's just so much differentnow.
Um, but it's and it gives meluckily the perception and the
experience to not put my ownchildren through that same
(22:08):
process and to be a little bitmore naturalistic in the way I
approach things and more um, butyeah, it I kind of understand
that like let's just throweverything at it but not look at
it.
You know, we'll just putblindfold on and throw things.
(22:30):
Interesting.
SPEAKER_00 (22:31):
There's this really interesting, sort of holistic uh
approach that uh it's actuallygaining ground.
So I was just at a conference,um, the Neuron Well conference
in uh the Czech Republic.
And so there are people from allover Europe, as well as a few of
us from uh uh the US inattendance.
And what the Neuron Well uhprogram is working on doing is
(22:55):
developing a center outside ofPrague.
Um and you know, he took us tothe facility.
It's this huge facility withextensive grounds, uh swimming
pool, horse arenas, and and he'slooking at bringing in you know
uh multiwatt infrared lighttherapy that I introduced
(23:15):
briefly, um, transcranialmagnetic stimulation, so working
with things like the exo mind,um uh uh horse therapy, uh
aquatherapy, you know, all ofthe all of the um interpersonal
therapies, as well as uheventually creating living uh uh
(23:37):
arrangements so that there'sgroup housing and and people can
live, you know, have a storethat they go to and shop and
learn skills.
And his idea is that this wouldbe sort of this intensive
two-month experience where theywould try to move the needle.
And one of the fascinatingthings is what they're doing
with stem cells in Europe.
(23:58):
I mean, it's way different fromwhat we're able to do in here
here in the US.
Uh, and so that was reallyexciting.
There was a group there from uhKiev, uh, and I was talking with
them because one of the things Iwant to do is get into Ukraine
once the fighting stops andstart treating all these folks
who have traumatic braininjuries and concussion and you
(24:20):
know, PTSD and and you know,horrible grief from you know,
everyone's lost a loved onethere.
So uh it was it was an excitingconference, but the you know, I
was talking about this sort ofthis holistic thinking, but
everyone else was thinkingholistically as well.
So I I really felt like I was,you know, wow, I'm I found my
niche.
SPEAKER_03 (24:39):
Yes, then that's how nice when you can have that
conversation and it's not lookedat as uh you know something they
want to hide behind any excuseto get out of the conversation.
Right, right.
Yeah, I I I'm really glad toknow that there are um groups
(24:59):
that of people like you that aregetting together and making
these, you know, decisions.
Tell us a little bit aboutExoMind and what that means and
what that does.
SPEAKER_00 (25:08):
Yeah, yeah.
So you know, I've stood by andwatched TMS, transcranial
magnetic stimulation for years.
So uh just to explain TMS toyour listeners in case they're
uh not familiar.
So, what it involves is puttinga magnet fairly close to your
head and running a uh you know asignal through the magnet.
(25:29):
So turning on the magnet.
Now, when you turn on a magnet,you actually create a uh an
electrical field that'sperpendicular to the magnetic
field.
So the electrical field's goingyou know in and out of the head.
So you're creating an electricalcurrent in the brain.
You know, this is like you know,shock therapy, but without the
(25:49):
shock.
And so TMS was initiallydeveloped as a way to map the
brain, and now it's used totreat uh depression and things
like this.
However, you know, when I lookat all the data, you know, the
chance that you'd get betterfrom depression was uh 50-50.
I wasn't thrilled with 50-50, Iwas waiting for the next
(26:11):
generation, and the nextgeneration is Exomite.
Rather than having a 1.2 Teslamagnet, this is a 3.6 Tesla
magnet.
So it's literally kind of themagnetic field of an MRI.
So it's very powerful, and theyrevolutionized sort of the inner
workings.
(26:31):
I won't go into it.
So the treatments are muchshorter, and you need much fewer
treatments to get the benefit.
So this is a hugely powerfultechnique.
There are very few of thesemachines in the US.
It's a it's a company out of theCzech Republic.
I literally went to theheadquarters where they build
these things, and it's likegoing through a Ferrari manual,
(26:53):
uh uh the Ferrari ummanufacturing plant, where like
a team builds the car from theframe up.
One team, one car.
And so they're responsible foreverything about that car, and
and the care and attention thatthey put into these.
I was just blown away.
SPEAKER_03 (27:13):
Wow.
And I mean, maybe a question Ihave in my listeners might have
can any of these things damageyou rather than help you?
SPEAKER_00 (27:22):
Great question.
Yeah, that's a really importantquestion.
I mean, it's always the firstthing to look at is you know,
safety.
So, you know, in the case ofTMS, uh, even with you know, a
more powerful magnet, there isvery little evidence of um uh
like long-term, you know, braindamage or anything like that.
(27:43):
Now, with the old machines, theyare very noisy.
So people would get tinnitus,they'd get earaches, they'd get
headaches.
This machine sounds like this.
That's it.
SPEAKER_04 (27:57):
Um MRI.
SPEAKER_00 (27:59):
Right.
So, well, no, I mean MRI is justlike being in a Maj Pit.
SPEAKER_03 (28:03):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (28:05):
But uh, so you know, my technologists, you know, have
to have to train and they had towork, they had to treat me
before they treat any of mypatients.
I I am their guinea pig.
They had to do that five timeswith me before I let them touch
a patient.
So, you know, I I've had youknow a whole bunch of Xamine
treatments.
(28:25):
And um, you know, it's it's umwhat's what's the word I want to
use?
It's sort of like you, it's sortof like uh, you know, getting,
you know, when you wake up inthe morning, you're kind of
groggy, and you have that firstcup of coffee or that first cup
of tea, and then you then youkind of wake up and it's like
it's that sort of feeling.
It's like, wow, okay, things arekind of a little brighter, I
(28:46):
can, and I can think moreclearly.
So it's it's remarkable in thatway.
Um, so with the XMI, you know,there's not the headaches,
there's not the earaches, it'snot the you know, loud noises,
so it's much more comfortable.
It takes 24 minutes, so it'seasier to do, and you know, the
number of treatments you need isnot 40, it's six.
(29:08):
So it's remarkably different.
Now, in the case of infraredlight, now you know, there are
these low-power devices that youcan buy and you can take home,
and they're low power becauseyou can take them home.
Um, our device is strong enoughthat I mean, if I held it, you
know, on a piece of fabric for awhile, I could burn a hole
(29:28):
through the fabric.
Let's be honest.
Um, we don't do that, right?
SPEAKER_04 (29:33):
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (29:34):
So, you know, uh again, my technologists are
trained, and you know, uh weknow how to keep it moving such
that we don't raise thetemperature.
And we literally used to followthe the emitter around with a
digital thermometer checkingourselves until we made sure we
had that that uh rhythm down.
SPEAKER_01 (29:53):
Wow.
SPEAKER_00 (29:54):
So we know how to do this in a way that doesn't cause
any discomfort or harm.
Um You know, it is a powerfulantidepressant.
So if you are a bipolar patientand we give you a powerful
antidepressant, you can get alittle hypomatic.
And so, you know, one of thethings I always do then is I
(30:14):
have a special protocol forfolks who are on the bipolar
spectrum.
Um, but what we're seeing withautism with this more powerful
infrared light is reduction inanxiety.
That isn't I have yet to meetsomeone on the spectrum who did
not have anxiety.
SPEAKER_04 (30:30):
Yeah, right?
SPEAKER_00 (30:32):
So a reduction in the anxiety and a reduction in
that sort of cognitive rigidity.
So I'll give you one greatexample.
This young man, he's in hismid-20s now, and he's he's
hooked on social media, and hegets very upset when somebody,
you know, blocks him on whateverthey're on.
(30:52):
And he takes it very personally,and he gets he would escalate
himself to the point that he'ssaying, Call the police, have
them come shoot me.
I mean, just horrifying level ofagitation.
And now, you know, he says, Man,that I'm really upset about
that, and that's it.
He doesn't spiral up, he doesn'tperseverate, it doesn't get
(31:15):
stuck like he used to.
So that's the kinds of thingsthat we're seeing for folks who
are on the autism spectrum.
Um, but this modality, you know,we're treating Parkinson's
patients, we're treatingpatients with dementia, we're
treating long COVID patients,and they get better and they're
100% better.
Go home.
Uh depression, PTSG, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (31:36):
I mean, and we really we can heal um from so
many things.
And I think that the more weoffer resources and
opportunities like this forpeople to learn about things and
share with their families andand you know, hopefully others,
then um it will start having aneffect on our communities.
(32:00):
And that's the most importantpart of all.
And I, you know, when we'rehealthier in our brains and our
minds, and we have children,then we're being an example of
of better um living and betterhumaning than for our children.
And you know, it's I think thatit's it's going to be just this
(32:22):
wonderful, you know, hopefully,uh come together of everything
and raise the vibrations.
And everybody started gettingtheir brain done.
No, just joking.
Uh it's it's a great, um, it's agreat resource to have.
Where can people go to find outmore about this and maybe your
(32:45):
papers or do you have your ownwebsite where people can find
out more?
SPEAKER_00 (32:49):
Website?
What's what's a website?
SPEAKER_04 (32:52):
Right?
SPEAKER_00 (32:53):
No, uh www.healmybrain.info.
So www.healmybrain.info.
That will take you to theneuraluminance uh website.
Neuraluminance is the cliniccompany.
There you go, healmybrain.info.
(33:13):
And it's a lot easier to spellthan neuraluminance.
Now there are you know caseexamples on there, and there's
the some of the science onthere, and the some of the
science about the exo mind is onthere.
And one of the fascinatingthings here is I have about I
have five patents and twopatents pending.
(33:34):
One of the patents is on thecombination of infrared light
and ketamine.
Now we've not talked aboutketamine, but just very quickly,
ketamine turns onneuroplasticity by a different
mechanism.
So putting infrared lightneuroplasticity and ketamine
neuroplasticity together, youget one plus one equals three,
(33:55):
which is really cool.
So synergy.
Now, one of the things that weknow is that the exomite turns
on neuroplasticity by avoltage-gated calcium channel
pathway, a third mechanism.
So potentially infrared lightplus TMS can have that same kind
of synergy.
(34:15):
And so that's one of the areasthat I'm really studying and
paying attention to and thinkingabout uh here as we're moving
forward over the next year orso.
Uh, and I think that, you know,uh we're going to see that, you
know, synergy is somethingthat's going to be a become a
part of how we think about uhtreating any disorder.
(34:37):
And you know, I do that alreadyin pharmacology.
You know, in autism, I'm notusing SSRIs and Respiridone.
You know, I'm using I'm usingmedicines people haven't even
heard of doxysosin, uh, youknow, and maybe some they have,
guanfacine.
Uh, and you know, I uh I'mthings like oxcarbazepine,
trileptol.
And uh, you know, so I I'm I'madding in things that work on
(35:01):
mechanisms within the brainrather than just you know
putting a pharmacological straitjacket on the brain.
SPEAKER_03 (35:08):
Yes, right?
SPEAKER_00 (35:10):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (35:11):
I think that's fascinating.
And I was gonna have something,but I'm a good listener, so I I
lost it while I was listening.
That's a good thing.
But um, yeah, oh, that's what itis.
That's what it was.
Is that um I just thought it wasso fascinating when you were
talking about ketamine because Ireally don't know much about it.
And the only experience I'veever had is my poor child and
(35:36):
she broke her leg on atrampoline once.
Uh it was actually four or fiveyears ago, just a couple days
ago, like the anniversary of it.
And when she was when they hadadministered it to her, the
amount of information thatstarted coming out of her mouth
(35:56):
was like what?
What are and we know our our sonhas a photographic memory, he's
we've measured we've had thatmeasured, you know, and he has
like uses like 99% of hisworking memory.
We'll have to talk about himanother time.
You'd be fascinated with hisbrain.
I'd love to get him in yourhands.
But um she uh always, you know,liked dinosaurs and all of these
(36:22):
things when she was little, butwhen she uh they administered
it, she it literally play byplay told us every scene from
Camp Cretaceous and everydinosaur that was in it, every
actor's name, every you know,she literally like told us the
entire series and um thedoctors, and they were just
everyone who was just like, Ohmy gosh, you know, because she
(36:44):
was maybe eight.
And uh, but yeah, so that'sthat's really fascinating that
it I can I can see, and I cansee with um uh many, many years
ago I had given my son like umwhat is it?
The D DHA is that what it is invitamins?
(37:04):
Yeah, a vitamin, uh I had givenhim a vitamin with that in it,
anyways, and he was so violent,like it was triggered this crazy
violent, and I'd never seen it.
You know, he was like thisgentle person, and of course I
took it, you know, it was like aone-time thing and it never
happened again.
(37:24):
It's just fascinating how muchwe don't know and how much we um
I guess I am very curious and Iwant to be more curious and
learn and and then know more.
I hope everybody else does too.
So I feel sad for those whodon't.
SPEAKER_00 (37:43):
Well, if you want to learn more about ketamine, let's
say I gotta remember I'mbackwards here, is Brighter Days
Ahead is is my book.
And I use ketamine as a modelfor neuroplasticity-based uh
treatments.
Uh and so I get way down intothe weeds about how
neuroplasticity, excuse me, howketamine works and what ketamine
(38:04):
is and what S- ketamine is,bravado and and the dirty little
secrets about all that.
Uh, but it's filled with uhanecdotes of patients and their
experiences, uh, as well as youknow, my own experience.
Uh uh, because you know, I had acolleague who said, How can you
give this stuff to patients ifyou don't know what it feels
(38:25):
like?
I said, Okay, well, that's fairenough.
After her badgering me for ayear about it, I said, Okay,
let's go ahead and try it.
And so I described sort of myexperience, which was absolutely
beautiful, uh, and uh probablyone of my cherished memories
because I got to relive thisvery uh special moment in my
life, the first day I held myadopted child.
(38:48):
Um and uh my youngest adoptedchild.
I have two.
SPEAKER_04 (38:51):
I love that.
SPEAKER_00 (38:52):
And uh, you know, so it was just this beautiful
experience that I got to relive.
SPEAKER_03 (38:57):
Wow.
Yeah, well, I want to learn moreabout it, and I'm really is it
on audible by any chance?
SPEAKER_00 (39:03):
It's not audio.
Uh okay.
Again, I mean, I it'sself-published on Amazon, so
it's like uh okay.
Do I really want to read thisentire video?
SPEAKER_03 (39:13):
Oh, yeah, no, I get it.
I get it.
Oh my gosh.
It's been such a pleasure totalk to you today.
Um, it's wonderful conversation,and I'd love to invite you back
again to you know dive deeperand and talk about more things
and uh anything you might beworking on that comes up and you
want to let me know about, andwe can uh, you know, kind of
(39:35):
promote or or display that, andwe'd love to do that too.
So thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00 (39:40):
Absolutely.
It was my pleasure.
Thank you so much for having me.
SPEAKER_03 (39:43):
Yeah, it was a really great conversation, and I
look forward to staying intouch.
SPEAKER_00 (39:47):
Great.
SPEAKER_01 (40:07):
Oh, yeah.
S2 Child Show is back for its 13th season.
They're back for the SJ ChildShow team as they explore the
world of autism and sharestories of hope and inspiration.
This season, we're excited tobring you more autism summit
featuring experts and advocatesfrom around the world.
Go to SCchilds.org to donate andto get more information.
(00:25):
Congratulations on 2024's 20,000downloads in 300 episodes.
SPEAKER_03 (00:33):
Well, hello.
We are back with anotherfantastic episode.
I'm really looking forward tothis conversation today.
And I'm happy to bring to youDr.
Theodore Henderson.
And where are you coming fromtoday, uh, Dr.
Dr.
Theo?
Dr.
Dr.
Henderson, which one?
SPEAKER_00 (00:51):
Uh Denver, Colorado.
SPEAKER_03 (00:53):
Oh, wonderful.
I'm your neighbor in Salt LakeCity.
SPEAKER_00 (00:56):
There you go.
SPEAKER_03 (00:57):
Yeah, that's great.
We're having a really nicesummer.
I mean, it's a little hot asalways, but having a pretty nice
summer as far as it goes.
Um, it's I'm excited to talk toyou today.
Uh, tell us a little bit aboutyourself, give us an
introduction and let theaudience know a little bit about
yourself and what brought youhere.
SPEAKER_00 (01:15):
All right.
Um, well, briefly, uh, I'm a uhPhD in neurobiology first, uh,
and then I, well, not first, butum it guides my life.
Uh so I'm a brain doc from theoutset uh and I'm an MD.
Uh I studied radiology and thenI settled into psychiatry, and I
(01:38):
also did a residency fellowshipin uh child psychiatry.
So in my child psychiatryfellowship, uh I uh became
fascinated by the world ofautism and began working with
the uh JFK Center at theUniversity of Colorado.
(01:59):
I actually did a researchfellowship for several months
there.
Uh and the autism has uh been apart of my practice uh since
then.
I'm on the advisory board ofU.S.
Autism Association, uh, and I'veworked with you know greats like
Dr.
Larry Kaplan and um severalothers, and uh brought to them
(02:21):
uh neuroimaging and also sort ofmore holistic psychiatry, which
has sort of been my bent.
Now, over the past uh 15 years,I've moved away from medicine
because I'm frustrated bymedications and uh side effects,
and move towards moreneuroplasticity-based
(02:42):
treatments, more naturaltreatments.
Um, and you know, for example,uh the work I'm will be talking
about today is uh involvesinfrared light, and there's
nothing more natural than light.
Uh so uh yeah, I think uh we'regonna get into some very
interesting things here.
SPEAKER_03 (03:02):
I love this conversation, and it really um
is interesting, and uh a lot ofpeople actually won't know this.
Yay, new information for mylisteners, which is exciting
after 300 episodes, right?
Um, but I um this really tiesinto my life because I'm
actually a former massagetherapist, and there's just
(03:22):
certain things that you learnwhen you're working with bodies
and um it all types of things,whether it is actually physical
or neurological, and the effectsthat come from working, you
know, with people.
And I think that it leading intomy experience as well, uh
(03:46):
learning more and you know, thisexpansive journey I'm on with uh
my entire autistic family, andto really uh uh identify and
give a new perception of what umeach brain I I would love that
if we could look at it that wayrather than this idea that
(04:07):
there's these types that have tobe labeled and looked at.
I I would love to be in the kindof the community where everyone
is honored that they're adifferent type of human and
unique person and their brain isdifferent than everybody else's
in the room.
So um I think that that is kindof like where I'm I get excited
(04:30):
personally and passionate aboutwhat we're gonna talk about
today.
And um, but back to that massagetherapist is that um he was also
uh did kinesiology and infrared.
And so just I've had experienceand I've seen the effects that
uh these type of more holisticuh practices can help with one's
(04:56):
healing processes.
So yeah, explain to our audienceuh a little bit more about that
kind of exact practice ormodality and how it uh ties in,
if you will.
SPEAKER_00 (05:13):
Well, um, I'm gonna geek out here.
So all right, so certainwavelengths of infrared light,
if they can reach themitochondria, the organelles
within the cells that makeenergy, are able to activate
those mitochondria.
Um, we're gonna leave it atthat.
There's lots of detail in there,but just it activates the
(05:35):
mitochondria, and that does twothings.
One, it makes more energy, andnumber two, it the mitochondria
sends signals down to thechromosomes and turn on really
important genes.
For example, uh, one of thegenes that's activated is
brain-derived neurotrophicfactor or BDNF for short.
(05:56):
Now, BDNF is the growth factorthat drives neuroplasticity in
the adult brain.
Now, it just so happens that mypostdoctoral research while I
was a medical student andresident was on BDNF.
So I understand BDNF very, verywell.
(06:17):
And when I first came into thisfield of infrared light, um, you
know, I was thinking, okay, thisis sort of nonsense.
How is how's light going to getthrough the scalp and the skull
and into the brain?
I mean, really, guys, what'sgoing on here?
But when I read a study out ofHarvard that said, look, we show
that we're turning on BDNF inthe brains of mice with infrared
(06:40):
light, and it's leading to brainrepair.
I was all in.
And I said, okay, we got tofigure out how to make this work
in humans.
So we went into the research laband literally figured out how
to, you know, size it up fromwhat worked in a mouse in a
research lab at Harvard tosomething that worked on people.
(07:01):
And that was back in 2013.
We started treating patients in2013-2014 who had traumatic
brain injuries.
And a lot of these patients, wehad brain scan data on them.
So they had a spec scan, afunctional brain scan at
baseline.
We treated them, we repeatedthis the spec scan, and lo and
(07:23):
behold, their brains lookedbetter.
unknown (07:27):
Wow.
SPEAKER_00 (07:27):
Not only did their brains look better, but they
clinically were better.
Their depression was gone, theiranxiety was gone, their uh
cognitive problems were gone,their headaches were gone, their
irritability was gone.
It's like, wow, pretty coolstuff.
So we published all that in2015.
Now, let's get back to thosemitochondria for a second.
(07:50):
The mitochondria also sendssignals that activate
anti-inflammatory proteins.
And it also sends signals thatturn on that bring stem cells
out of hibernation and makesthem turn into neurons and get
into the game, so to speak.
So this is a very, very powerfultechnique.
(08:12):
Um, and I'll add more in alittle bit.
When we started working with uhfolks treating folks directly
with infrared light, we're usingenough power to get through the
scalp and skull.
So we are directly treating theneurons in the brain.
There's lots of these uh devicesout there that use low power
(08:34):
light, they're half watt LEDs.
You could buy them for a couplethousand dollars off Amazon or
from ViLite or spend sixthousand dollars for a helmet.
The problem is half a wattdoesn't even get through human
skin.
So you're treating the skin nowthat does something, but it's
not treating the brain.
(08:56):
Wow, okay.
So that's kind of a basic primerin infrared light and how it
activates brain healing.
SPEAKER_03 (09:06):
How can we find it in nature?
Is that a possibility?
SPEAKER_00 (09:12):
Well, uh, yeah, I understand that you know, we're
delivering, you know, 13, 14watts of infrared light to the
scalp.
Um, that would give you a heckof a sunburn uh if you were
getting that on a regular basis,right?
Yeah, there is infrared light inthe sun, so getting out in
(09:34):
nature and getting infraredlight on your skin, it does
something.
Yeah, the skin does something,and I can get into that at some
point if you're interested.
But I love that yeah, so youknow, getting kids out uh away
from the screens for crying outloud and into the sunshine is
really, really good for them.
SPEAKER_03 (09:55):
Absolutely.
I can attest for that for justfor myself this year.
I've been out gardening andplanting more than ever, and I
think this year uh just turning49 and I've ran through the
sprinklers more than I have in adecade.
SPEAKER_04 (10:08):
So I love it, right?
SPEAKER_03 (10:11):
Whatever we find to keep ourselves young.
But no, I agree.
I um there's a lot of even smallthings that I've noticed that
have increased um as far as likeenergy and mobility, and just as
far as um, I think I'm gettingout so much that it's changed
(10:31):
the being in for so many yearsand you know, in my office in my
computer doing those things.
Um, but yeah, I think that it'sso important that we get our
kids out there too.
Um, and let's talk about becauseI think that there's a little
bit of like um maybe uh not evena stigma, but a disbelief even
(10:56):
in um in brain scanning.
And I think I that's how I meanI had mine done.
I had a Q EEG and I had minedone through that process.
So I think that it worked forme.
I mean, it told it it gave methe information that resonated,
that felt right, that madesense, that answered years of
(11:21):
questions or problems orresistance that I may have had
to myself that I could embraceand say, oh my gosh, yes, this
is exactly um what that meansand and why.
So for me, it was just that wasit was so powerful.
SPEAKER_00 (11:40):
Yeah, so you want me to talk about uh functional
brains?
I want you to talk about brainscans.
Um so I got involved in uhfunctional brain scans about 20
years ago, um almost 25 yearsago now.
And my initial reason forgetting involved is you know, I
(12:03):
went and listened to DanielLehman, you know, yeah, kind of
the big the name you think ofwhen you think of spec scans.
And I went up to him after thetalk and I said, you know, you
might be right, but you can'tprove any of what you just said,
you've not done the research.
And so the opportunity came uhfor me to get involved with a
(12:25):
company that was doing specscans in Denver.
And, you know, again, I'm aneurobiologist.
I trained in neurobiology.
I used to used to teach brainanatomy to medical students year
after year after year.
I I know what does what, and mymy thesis, my PhD work was on
structure-functionrelationships.
(12:46):
So, in other words, every partof a brain has a particular
assignment, and it'sstructurally refined to do that
assignment very, very well.
So you can't take motor cortexand or motor cortex and expect
it to work in the visual cortex,they're they're different.
Anyways, so I started working inthat field, and I started uh
(13:09):
really getting an understandingof the science of uh spec scans
and science of nuclear medicine.
And we started uh then doing,you know, taking large cohort
studies, so hundreds of patientswith ADHD or hundreds of
patients with traumatic braininjury.
And what do you see?
(13:30):
So, in fact, I publishedprobably on the order of 20
papers now on SPEC scans.
Uh, and the last uh pair ofpapers uh that we did, um, well,
actually, let's back up a sec.
So the APA, the AmericanPsychiatric Association, came
out about six years, seven yearsago with a with a statement.
There's no use in psychiatry forneuroimaging.
(13:54):
There's no reason to doneuroimaging in psychiatry.
Now, when you read that paper,it was really about functional
MRI.
It was not about spec scans.
But everyone assumed it wasabout spec scans.
Um, but really, when you readthe paper, it's not.
So we in fact wrote threeseparate papers rebutting that
(14:14):
premise, uh, specifically onSPEC scans.
And for example, I'll give youjust one example.
So here's a young man, um, andhe presents to a psychologist
here in uh Colorado, and uh theydetermined after spending some
time with him that he hadbipolar disorder, and that was
(14:36):
the cause of his problems thathe was bipolar disorder, and
maybe he had a personalitydisorder.
Um, and uh then you know theysent him to me to do uh a spec
scan.
So he got a spec scan back, andthe the scan of bipolar disorder
is very specific.
(14:56):
In fact, I published a paperwith my Canadian colleagues of a
family where everybody hadbipolar and everybody had gotten
a spec scan, and they all lookexactly alike.
So there is a there's aphenotype, there's a marker for
bipolar disorder and spec scans.
This kid did not have that.
In fact, this kid looks like hisbrain was under attack.
(15:17):
And I said, This is an infectedbrain, and so I did some further
digging, and it turns out thiskid had Lyme disease.
Wow, and when we treated hisLyme disease, all of his
problems went away like that.
SPEAKER_02 (15:35):
Amazing.
SPEAKER_00 (15:36):
I mean, he had been diagnosed with uh a disorder
that has a lifetime consequence,bipolar disorder on lithium or
depicode or antipsychotic forthe rest of your life.
My goodness, and now he'smedication free, you know.
Never needed it in the firstplace, absolutely, and and you
know, and because of that paper,I had three or four more people
(15:57):
called me up and say, I kind ofwonder if my son might have
bipolar or might have Lymedisease.
And sure enough, um, you know,we found a lot of these
misdiagnosed psychiatric cases.
My own daughter uh contractedLyme disease, and she was
diagnosed with bipolar disorderby the docs in in Chicago.
They didn't do anything aboutshe had relapsing fevers every
(16:20):
six weeks, but oh, let's not uhlook at that.
That's uh oh, I don't know whatthat is.
We're not gonna pay attention tothat.
SPEAKER_03 (16:27):
Uh you know, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (16:30):
So, yeah, so functional brain scans, and and
this is Daniel Eyman's line.
And and you know, uh uh DanielEyman and I have published
papers together, we've workedtogether on big projects.
And one of the things he saysthat I think is spot on, he
says, spec scans help you askbetter questions.
(16:51):
They don't give you the answers,they help you ask better
questions.
Yeah, so I don't do a spec scanon everybody who walks in the
room.
Um, I do them on the ones that Ican't figure out, or the ones
that are not responding the waythey're supposed to.
That's when you need a spec scanto help clarify the diagnosis
and the situation.
(17:12):
Now, um one of the things that'sinteresting, I smirked when you
mentioned spec scan or scansbecause in the state of Colorado
currently, uh, and this, youknow, if there's uh a listener
out there who happens to be ajournalist or happens to uh be
uh uh a philanthropist or alitigator, um in the state of
(17:36):
Colorado, you cannot, cannot,cannot get a spec scan done.
Period.
Well the reason is that oneradiology group controls the
authorized user position for allof the hospitals outside of the
University of Colorado.
And that one radiology group hasdecided we're not going to allow
(18:00):
spec scans.
And so, you know, the thehospital I had been working with
for years suddenly says, Oh, wecan't do spec scans because the
radiologist refuses to do them.
I requested a meeting with thisradiologist, he refused.
I sent him our definitive paperson SPEC scans and traumatic
(18:21):
brain injury, which have beenrecognized by Discover magazine
as some of the top work in thatparticular year, 2019.
He refused to read them.
SPEAKER_03 (18:31):
Why wouldn't you want more information?
That's baffling to me.
SPEAKER_00 (18:36):
Politics.
So now here's the good news.
Just today, just today, theSociety of Nuclear Medicine and
Molecular Imaging, which is theUS society that governs things
like spec scans, put out the newprocedure guidelines.
No, they're not out yet.
(18:56):
This is where they send them outand everybody gets to comment on
them.
And they put in, they put backin traumatic brain injury,
dementia, which had been takenout for inexplicable reasons,
and infectious disease.
In other words, diagnosing Lymedisease.
In fact, the only reference theyoffer is diagnosing Lyme
(19:17):
disease.
Uh, ignoring, of course, ourpapers.
But uh you know, uh, two of ourpapers were cited.
Two are the papers that I haddone with uh Cyrus Raji and
Daniel Eamond and uh uh PhilCohen and other great uh
researchers and and cliniciansin the field.
So that is a crack in the in thein the wall uh that has been put
(19:43):
up around spec scans.
And you know, my frustration isI I was the guy saying to Eamon,
you don't know that you'reright, you can't prove it
because you haven't done theresearch.
We went in, we did the research.
And you know, Daniel Eamon and Idid several papers together, and
he's got this huge database, sothere's tons more papers that
(20:03):
could be done.
And we've done the research, sowe have established the facts,
yeah, and medical medicalcommunity refuses to look at
them.
Neurology, it's like, oh no,nothing to see here.
Psychiatry, you know, why lookat the organ that we're
treating?
That would like imply that wedidn't like uh just uh know what
(20:25):
we are doing because we got aguidebook that says, Oh, uh uh
depression, uh let's go with uhProzac, uh anxiety.
Oh, yeah, that's uh LexaPro.
Yeah, by the way, SSRIs don't doanything for depression or
anxiety.
I mean, they're just they're awaste of time.
SPEAKER_03 (20:43):
Oh, I couldn't tell you how many, and uh I mean, my
mom will never listen to this,bless her heart, but she's a
nurse, and my whole life growingup was what medication could
change, what else, whatsomething about me that she
could change with some mediummedication.
I was like literally a lab rat,I feel like.
And you know, now that I'm likegoverned my own body and all of
(21:05):
the access and everything, um,wow, I see and and can
understand the effects that allof those um misdiagnosed things
and the same thing, bipolars,um, you know, and and
depressions or anxiety and umthe number of and not for even
(21:26):
the right reasons, birth controlthat I was on for managing um
more moods than anything.
It was like this constant listof what we could do, you know,
and now I'm just like, wow, um,I ground myself and drink tea
(21:46):
and meditate.
And oh wow, I found all of theseamazing things that I can just
do on my own.
I put my hands in the dirt andyou know, like get connected.
And it's just so much differentnow.
Um, but it's and it gives meluckily the perception and the
experience to not put my ownchildren through that same
(22:08):
process and to be a little bitmore naturalistic in the way I
approach things and more um, butyeah, it I kind of understand
that like let's just throweverything at it but not look at
it.
You know, we'll just putblindfold on and throw things.
(22:30):
Interesting.
SPEAKER_00 (22:31):
There's this really interesting, sort of holistic uh
approach that uh it's actuallygaining ground.
So I was just at a conference,um, the Neuron Well conference
in uh the Czech Republic.
And so there are people from allover Europe, as well as a few of
us from uh uh the US inattendance.
And what the Neuron Well uhprogram is working on doing is
(22:55):
developing a center outside ofPrague.
Um and you know, he took us tothe facility.
It's this huge facility withextensive grounds, uh swimming
pool, horse arenas, and and he'slooking at bringing in you know
uh multiwatt infrared lighttherapy that I introduced
(23:15):
briefly, um, transcranialmagnetic stimulation, so working
with things like the exo mind,um uh uh horse therapy, uh
aquatherapy, you know, all ofthe all of the um interpersonal
therapies, as well as uheventually creating living uh uh
(23:37):
arrangements so that there'sgroup housing and and people can
live, you know, have a storethat they go to and shop and
learn skills.
And his idea is that this wouldbe sort of this intensive
two-month experience where theywould try to move the needle.
And one of the fascinatingthings is what they're doing
with stem cells in Europe.
(23:58):
I mean, it's way different fromwhat we're able to do in here
here in the US.
Uh, and so that was reallyexciting.
There was a group there from uhKiev, uh, and I was talking with
them because one of the things Iwant to do is get into Ukraine
once the fighting stops andstart treating all these folks
who have traumatic braininjuries and concussion and you
(24:20):
know, PTSD and and you know,horrible grief from you know,
everyone's lost a loved onethere.
So uh it was it was an excitingconference, but the you know, I
was talking about this sort ofthis holistic thinking, but
everyone else was thinkingholistically as well.
So I I really felt like I was,you know, wow, I'm I found my
niche.
SPEAKER_03 (24:39):
Yes, then that's how nice when you can have that
conversation and it's not lookedat as uh you know something they
want to hide behind any excuseto get out of the conversation.
Right, right.
Yeah, I I I'm really glad toknow that there are um groups
(24:59):
that of people like you that aregetting together and making
these, you know, decisions.
Tell us a little bit aboutExoMind and what that means and
what that does.
SPEAKER_00 (25:08):
Yeah, yeah.
So you know, I've stood by andwatched TMS, transcranial
magnetic stimulation for years.
So uh just to explain TMS toyour listeners in case they're
uh not familiar.
So, what it involves is puttinga magnet fairly close to your
head and running a uh you know asignal through the magnet.
(25:29):
So turning on the magnet.
Now, when you turn on a magnet,you actually create a uh an
electrical field that'sperpendicular to the magnetic
field.
So the electrical field's goingyou know in and out of the head.
So you're creating an electricalcurrent in the brain.
You know, this is like you know,shock therapy, but without the
(25:49):
shock.
And so TMS was initiallydeveloped as a way to map the
brain, and now it's used totreat uh depression and things
like this.
However, you know, when I lookat all the data, you know, the
chance that you'd get betterfrom depression was uh 50-50.
I wasn't thrilled with 50-50, Iwas waiting for the next
(26:11):
generation, and the nextgeneration is Exomite.
Rather than having a 1.2 Teslamagnet, this is a 3.6 Tesla
magnet.
So it's literally kind of themagnetic field of an MRI.
So it's very powerful, and theyrevolutionized sort of the inner
workings.
(26:31):
I won't go into it.
So the treatments are muchshorter, and you need much fewer
treatments to get the benefit.
So this is a hugely powerfultechnique.
There are very few of thesemachines in the US.
It's a it's a company out of theCzech Republic.
I literally went to theheadquarters where they build
these things, and it's likegoing through a Ferrari manual,
(26:53):
uh uh the Ferrari ummanufacturing plant, where like
a team builds the car from theframe up.
One team, one car.
And so they're responsible foreverything about that car, and
and the care and attention thatthey put into these.
I was just blown away.
SPEAKER_03 (27:13):
Wow.
And I mean, maybe a question Ihave in my listeners might have
can any of these things damageyou rather than help you?
SPEAKER_00 (27:22):
Great question.
Yeah, that's a really importantquestion.
I mean, it's always the firstthing to look at is you know,
safety.
So, you know, in the case ofTMS, uh, even with you know, a
more powerful magnet, there isvery little evidence of um uh
like long-term, you know, braindamage or anything like that.
(27:43):
Now, with the old machines, theyare very noisy.
So people would get tinnitus,they'd get earaches, they'd get
headaches.
This machine sounds like this.
That's it.
SPEAKER_04 (27:57):
Um MRI.
SPEAKER_00 (27:59):
Right.
So, well, no, I mean MRI is justlike being in a Maj Pit.
SPEAKER_03 (28:03):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (28:05):
But uh, so you know, my technologists, you know, have
to have to train and they had towork, they had to treat me
before they treat any of mypatients.
I I am their guinea pig.
They had to do that five timeswith me before I let them touch
a patient.
So, you know, I I've had youknow a whole bunch of Xamine
treatments.
(28:25):
And um, you know, it's it's umwhat's what's the word I want to
use?
It's sort of like you, it's sortof like uh, you know, getting,
you know, when you wake up inthe morning, you're kind of
groggy, and you have that firstcup of coffee or that first cup
of tea, and then you then youkind of wake up and it's like
it's that sort of feeling.
It's like, wow, okay, things arekind of a little brighter, I
(28:46):
can, and I can think moreclearly.
So it's it's remarkable in thatway.
Um, so with the XMI, you know,there's not the headaches,
there's not the earaches, it'snot the you know, loud noises,
so it's much more comfortable.
It takes 24 minutes, so it'seasier to do, and you know, the
number of treatments you need isnot 40, it's six.
(29:08):
So it's remarkably different.
Now, in the case of infraredlight, now you know, there are
these low-power devices that youcan buy and you can take home,
and they're low power becauseyou can take them home.
Um, our device is strong enoughthat I mean, if I held it, you
know, on a piece of fabric for awhile, I could burn a hole
(29:28):
through the fabric.
Let's be honest.
Um, we don't do that, right?
SPEAKER_04 (29:33):
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (29:34):
So, you know, uh again, my technologists are
trained, and you know, uh weknow how to keep it moving such
that we don't raise thetemperature.
And we literally used to followthe the emitter around with a
digital thermometer checkingourselves until we made sure we
had that that uh rhythm down.
SPEAKER_01 (29:53):
Wow.
SPEAKER_00 (29:54):
So we know how to do this in a way that doesn't cause
any discomfort or harm.
Um You know, it is a powerfulantidepressant.
So if you are a bipolar patientand we give you a powerful
antidepressant, you can get alittle hypomatic.
And so, you know, one of thethings I always do then is I
(30:14):
have a special protocol forfolks who are on the bipolar
spectrum.
Um, but what we're seeing withautism with this more powerful
infrared light is reduction inanxiety.
That isn't I have yet to meetsomeone on the spectrum who did
not have anxiety.
SPEAKER_04 (30:30):
Yeah, right?
SPEAKER_00 (30:32):
So a reduction in the anxiety and a reduction in
that sort of cognitive rigidity.
So I'll give you one greatexample.
This young man, he's in hismid-20s now, and he's he's
hooked on social media, and hegets very upset when somebody,
you know, blocks him on whateverthey're on.
(30:52):
And he takes it very personally,and he gets he would escalate
himself to the point that he'ssaying, Call the police, have
them come shoot me.
I mean, just horrifying level ofagitation.
And now, you know, he says, Man,that I'm really upset about
that, and that's it.
He doesn't spiral up, he doesn'tperseverate, it doesn't get
(31:15):
stuck like he used to.
So that's the kinds of thingsthat we're seeing for folks who
are on the autism spectrum.
Um, but this modality, you know,we're treating Parkinson's
patients, we're treatingpatients with dementia, we're
treating long COVID patients,and they get better and they're
100% better.
Go home.
Uh depression, PTSG, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (31:36):
I mean, and we really we can heal um from so
many things.
And I think that the more weoffer resources and
opportunities like this forpeople to learn about things and
share with their families andand you know, hopefully others,
then um it will start having aneffect on our communities.
(32:00):
And that's the most importantpart of all.
And I, you know, when we'rehealthier in our brains and our
minds, and we have children,then we're being an example of
of better um living and betterhumaning than for our children.
And you know, it's I think thatit's it's going to be just this
(32:22):
wonderful, you know, hopefully,uh come together of everything
and raise the vibrations.
And everybody started gettingtheir brain done.
No, just joking.
Uh it's it's a great, um, it's agreat resource to have.
Where can people go to find outmore about this and maybe your
(32:45):
papers or do you have your ownwebsite where people can find
out more?
SPEAKER_00 (32:49):
Website?
What's what's a website?
SPEAKER_04 (32:52):
Right?
SPEAKER_00 (32:53):
No, uh www.healmybrain.info.
So www.healmybrain.info.
That will take you to theneuraluminance uh website.
Neuraluminance is the cliniccompany.
There you go, healmybrain.info.
(33:13):
And it's a lot easier to spellthan neuraluminance.
Now there are you know caseexamples on there, and there's
the some of the science onthere, and the some of the
science about the exo mind is onthere.
And one of the fascinatingthings here is I have about I
have five patents and twopatents pending.
(33:34):
One of the patents is on thecombination of infrared light
and ketamine.
Now we've not talked aboutketamine, but just very quickly,
ketamine turns onneuroplasticity by a different
mechanism.
So putting infrared lightneuroplasticity and ketamine
neuroplasticity together, youget one plus one equals three,
(33:55):
which is really cool.
So synergy.
Now, one of the things that weknow is that the exomite turns
on neuroplasticity by avoltage-gated calcium channel
pathway, a third mechanism.
So potentially infrared lightplus TMS can have that same kind
of synergy.
(34:15):
And so that's one of the areasthat I'm really studying and
paying attention to and thinkingabout uh here as we're moving
forward over the next year orso.
Uh, and I think that, you know,uh we're going to see that, you
know, synergy is somethingthat's going to be a become a
part of how we think about uhtreating any disorder.
(34:37):
And you know, I do that alreadyin pharmacology.
You know, in autism, I'm notusing SSRIs and Respiridone.
You know, I'm using I'm usingmedicines people haven't even
heard of doxysosin, uh, youknow, and maybe some they have,
guanfacine.
Uh, and you know, I uh I'mthings like oxcarbazepine,
trileptol.
And uh, you know, so I I'm I'madding in things that work on
(35:01):
mechanisms within the brainrather than just you know
putting a pharmacological straitjacket on the brain.
SPEAKER_03 (35:08):
Yes, right?
SPEAKER_00 (35:10):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (35:11):
I think that's fascinating.
And I was gonna have something,but I'm a good listener, so I I
lost it while I was listening.
That's a good thing.
But um, yeah, oh, that's what itis.
That's what it was.
Is that um I just thought it wasso fascinating when you were
talking about ketamine because Ireally don't know much about it.
And the only experience I'veever had is my poor child and
(35:36):
she broke her leg on atrampoline once.
Uh it was actually four or fiveyears ago, just a couple days
ago, like the anniversary of it.
And when she was when they hadadministered it to her, the
amount of information thatstarted coming out of her mouth
(35:56):
was like what?
What are and we know our our sonhas a photographic memory, he's
we've measured we've had thatmeasured, you know, and he has
like uses like 99% of hisworking memory.
We'll have to talk about himanother time.
You'd be fascinated with hisbrain.
I'd love to get him in yourhands.
But um she uh always, you know,liked dinosaurs and all of these
(36:22):
things when she was little, butwhen she uh they administered
it, she it literally play byplay told us every scene from
Camp Cretaceous and everydinosaur that was in it, every
actor's name, every you know,she literally like told us the
entire series and um thedoctors, and they were just
everyone who was just like, Ohmy gosh, you know, because she
(36:44):
was maybe eight.
And uh, but yeah, so that'sthat's really fascinating that
it I can I can see, and I cansee with um uh many, many years
ago I had given my son like umwhat is it?
The D DHA is that what it is invitamins?
(37:04):
Yeah, a vitamin, uh I had givenhim a vitamin with that in it,
anyways, and he was so violent,like it was triggered this crazy
violent, and I'd never seen it.
You know, he was like thisgentle person, and of course I
took it, you know, it was like aone-time thing and it never
happened again.
(37:24):
It's just fascinating how muchwe don't know and how much we um
I guess I am very curious and Iwant to be more curious and
learn and and then know more.
I hope everybody else does too.
So I feel sad for those whodon't.
SPEAKER_00 (37:43):
Well, if you want to learn more about ketamine, let's
say I gotta remember I'mbackwards here, is Brighter Days
Ahead is is my book.
And I use ketamine as a modelfor neuroplasticity-based uh
treatments.
Uh and so I get way down intothe weeds about how
neuroplasticity, excuse me, howketamine works and what ketamine
(38:04):
is and what S- ketamine is,bravado and and the dirty little
secrets about all that.
Uh, but it's filled with uhanecdotes of patients and their
experiences, uh, as well as youknow, my own experience.
Uh uh, because you know, I had acolleague who said, How can you
give this stuff to patients ifyou don't know what it feels
(38:25):
like?
I said, Okay, well, that's fairenough.
After her badgering me for ayear about it, I said, Okay,
let's go ahead and try it.
And so I described sort of myexperience, which was absolutely
beautiful, uh, and uh probablyone of my cherished memories
because I got to relive thisvery uh special moment in my
life, the first day I held myadopted child.
(38:48):
Um and uh my youngest adoptedchild.
I have two.
SPEAKER_04 (38:51):
I love that.
SPEAKER_00 (38:52):
And uh, you know, so it was just this beautiful
experience that I got to relive.
SPEAKER_03 (38:57):
Wow.
Yeah, well, I want to learn moreabout it, and I'm really is it
on audible by any chance?
SPEAKER_00 (39:03):
It's not audio.
Uh okay.
Again, I mean, I it'sself-published on Amazon, so
it's like uh okay.
Do I really want to read thisentire video?
SPEAKER_03 (39:13):
Oh, yeah, no, I get it.
I get it.
Oh my gosh.
It's been such a pleasure totalk to you today.
Um, it's wonderful conversation,and I'd love to invite you back
again to you know dive deeperand and talk about more things
and uh anything you might beworking on that comes up and you
want to let me know about, andwe can uh, you know, kind of
(39:35):
promote or or display that, andwe'd love to do that too.
So thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00 (39:40):
Absolutely.
It was my pleasure.
Thank you so much for having me.
SPEAKER_03 (39:43):
Yeah, it was a really great conversation, and I
look forward to staying intouch.
SPEAKER_00 (39:47):
Great.
SPEAKER_01 (40:07):
Oh, yeah.
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