Hundreds of tiny lasers scan your face each time you unlock your smartphone using facial recognition. Lasers scan the barcodes on your purchases when you go shopping. Lasers may even have been used to create your favourite pair of jeans.
In short, lasers are everywhere in the modern world. We use them in entertainment (CDs, light shows), science, medicine, textiles and technology. Yet, we didn’t even imagine their existence until a little over a century ago.
In 1917, Albert Einstein paved the way for the development of lasers. His work placed light at the centre of our understanding of space, time and gravity. He imagined electrons being forced into unstable orbits in an atom and worked out how the atom could release energy.
In the decades that followed Einstein, other scientists built on his work, figuring out how to make the electrons in a group of atoms all emit the same kind of energy in the same direction in a narrow beam. They referred to this as ‘light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation – or laser.
Medical uses of laser therapy
Lasers have numerous medical applications, including eye surgery, dentistry and skin cancer treatment.
We can also use them to train your brain, seeking to ‘stimulate, heal, regenerate, and protect tissue that has either been injured, is degenerating, or else is at risk of dying.’ This is known as photobiomodulation.
Photobiomodulation therapy (PBM)
PBM is a form of brain training that uses low-level laser or LED light to produce energy in brain cells.
We attach red or near-infrared LEDs to several areas on your head, choosing sites above the brain areas we’re targeting for therapy. The light from the lasers sinks deep into your cells’ mitochondria, the energy-generating powerhouse. There, it creates a cascade of changes that result in increased blood flow and oxygenation, enabling the cells to function better.
Benefits of laser brain therapy
Why do this? Why sit there with LEDs attached to your head? Because it can heal, stimulate and protect damaged tissues.
PBM offers a promising treatment for different health needs, including:
- Depression
- Stress
- Traumatic brain injury
- Neurodegenerative diseases (like Alzheimer’s, dementia or Parkinson’s)
- Executive function and memory
- Autism
- ADHD
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Bipolar disorder
- Sleep disturbances.
Improving working memory with laser therapy
When you think of problems with working memory, you may imagine an older person with early dementia forgetting appointments or misplacing their car keys.
But working memory isn’t just about recalling facts or faces. We rely on it for many daily mental functions, including problem-solving and learning. Over 80% of children with ADHD have difficulties with working memory, which is linked to inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity.
A new study found that laser light therapy can improve short-term working memory in young adults. Though more research is needed, it has important implications for treating health conditions that impact working memory, such as ADHD.
Laser therapy at Neurofit Brain Centre
At Neurofit Brain Centre, we use many evidence-based therapies designed to stimulate the chosen area of the brain. Often, we’ll use several of these at once (co-activation) giving your brain the maximum opportunity to form new neural pathways and strengthen itself.
One of those tools is laser therapy. It’s a non-invasive form of therapy that can help to retrain your brain. If you’d like to learn more, please contact us.
Disclaimer
All information is general and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Neurofit Brain Centre can consult with you to confirm if a particular treatment approach is right for you.
