Red and near-infrared light therapy is emerging as a powerful, drug‑free tool to support brain function in conditions like Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, and traumatic brain injury, especially when combined with neurofeedback and good functional medicine. The work of Dr. Marvin Berman and colleagues shows that carefully targeted light to the brain can measurably improve cognition, mood, and daily function in some people living with neurodegenerative disease.​

From Psychotherapy To Brain Energy

Dr. Marvin Berman began his career as a body‑oriented psychotherapist, working in the bioenergetic analysis tradition that integrates chronic muscle tension, emotional conflict, and psychological symptoms. This background led him to see the brain and body as an integrated electrochemical system rather than just “thoughts and feelings” in isolation.​

While working with clients, he noticed that some people who looked “neurotic” actually had classic signs of brain injury: reading difficulties, letters moving on the page, and trouble processing information. This realization pushed him into neurofeedback and quantitative EEG (qEEG) to look directly at brainwave patterns and function instead of only talking about symptoms.​

What Neurofeedback Revealed In Dementia

As he started looking at dementia, Dr. Berman found the same pattern documented across neurology: as people progress in Alzheimer’s and other dementias, slow brainwaves (like delta and theta) increase in amplitude while faster waves (like beta) decrease. That shift in electrical activity tracks very closely with the decline in memory, attention, and executive function seen clinically.​

Neurofeedback uses real‑time EEG to help people learn to reduce those excess slow waves and strengthen healthier mid‑range frequencies such as sensory motor rhythm around 12–15 Hz. In Dr. Berman’s early work, people who successfully learned this training were able to change the slope of their cognitive decline—slowing or partially reversing memory problems—even though it did not “cure” the underlying Alzheimer’s pathology.​

Discovering Red Light For The Brain

The turning point came when the husband of one of Dr. Berman’s dementia patients sent him a Daily Mail article that actually covered serious neuroscience research from the UK: near‑infrared light applied to the brain appeared to reverse dementia‑like changes in animal models. The work, involving wavelengths around 1060–1080 nm, showed that infrared stimulation could reduce amyloid pathology and improve memory performance in experimental models.​

Skeptical but open, Dr. Berman contacted one of the UK device developers, Dr. Gordon Dougal, and arranged to bring an early “helmet” device to Pennsylvania for a woman with primary progressive aphasia who had largely stopped speaking. After about two and a half weeks of twice‑daily six‑minute sessions, her language and engagement surged back to the point where she was arguing with her husband about travel plans—something neither the family nor the research team had seen in a long time.​

How Photobiomodulation Works

Photobiomodulation (PBM) uses specific red and near‑infrared wavelengths to influence cellular metabolism, inflammation, and blood flow. In the brain, these wavelengths penetrate scalp and skull to reach cortical tissue, where they are absorbed by mitochondrial chromophores like cytochrome c oxidase, boosting ATP production and improving cellular energy status.​

At the same time, PBM reduces oxidative stress, modulates inflammatory signaling, and can improve microvascular blood flow—factors that are all impaired in neurodegenerative disease and traumatic brain injury. Dr. Berman emphasizes that neurons are fundamentally electrochemical devices: change the energy and electrical patterns and the chemistry follows, which is why light‑driven mitochondrial support can pair so powerfully with neurofeedback’s direct work on brainwaves.​

The Three‑Legged Stool Approach

Over time, Dr. Berman has come to describe effective brain recovery as a three‑legged stool:​

• Neurofeedback and qEEG

  • Map individual brainwave patterns to identify excess slow activity, connectivity issues, and regional deficits.​

  • Train the nervous system to shift toward healthier electrical patterns, improving attention, mood, sleep, and cognitive performance.​

• Photobiomodulation (red/near‑infrared light)

  • Provide the missing energy to damaged or under‑functioning brain tissue by enhancing mitochondrial ATP production.​

  • Reduce neuroinflammation and support neuroplasticity so that neurofeedback and rehabilitation have more “fuel” to work with.​

• Functional and environmental medicine

  • Investigate and address root causes like chronic infections, Lyme disease, mold exposure, toxins, metabolic issues, and nutrient deficiencies.​

  • Integrate lifestyle therapies such as hyperbaric oxygen, exercise, sleep optimization, and anti‑inflammatory nutrition to support long‑term brain resilience.​

Evidence From Helmet Trials

Dr. Berman’s Quietmind Foundation has been a key partner in pilot and larger studies using near‑infrared “helmets” delivering 1060–1080 nm light over much of the cortical surface. In one early placebo‑controlled dementia trial, 28 consecutive six‑minute sessions (twice daily over 28 days) produced trends toward improvement in:​

• Executive function (clock drawing, task switching, praxis)

• Immediate verbal recall and attention

• qEEG amplitude and connectivity measures indicative of healthier network function​

A larger randomized, double‑blind, placebo‑controlled study conducted with Baylor Scott & White and Texas A&M enrolled about 100 people with early to mid‑stage dementia using a self‑administered helmet at home, twice daily for 60 days. Results showed improvements in cognitive, motor, and mood symptoms in active users compared with placebo, and caregivers often requested to continue treatment once the formal study ended because they noticed clear day‑to‑day changes.​

Beyond Pills: The Rise Of “Electroceuticals”

Traditional neurology has focused on modifying neurotransmitter chemistry with drugs, but this leaves the underlying electrical patterns—and often mitochondrial energy deficits—largely untouched. The emerging field of “electroceuticals” and bioelectronic medicine aims to treat disease by precisely targeting neural circuits with energy‑based interventions such as vagus nerve stimulation, deep brain stimulation, transcranial devices, and photobiomodulation.​

Major pharmaceutical companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, have invested heavily in electroceutical research, recognizing that influencing neural circuitry directly can offer high specificity with fewer systemic side‑effects than many drugs. Dr. Berman argues that PBM and neurofeedback are part of this same paradigm shift: change the brain’s energy and electrical patterns, and chemistry, connectivity, and behavior follow.​

Why Evidence And Scale Matter

Despite compelling case stories and promising trials, insurance systems and public health agencies require very large datasets—often tens of thousands of patients—before they will reimburse or adopt new therapies. Quietmind Foundation’s mission includes training clinicians to use neurofeedback and photobiomodulation in practice while systematically collecting and publishing outcome data to build that evidence base.​

Even a modest slowing of dementia progression has enormous societal value: modeling suggests that delaying onset or progression by just 1% per year could save many billions of dollars in care costs globally. Dr. Berman’s message is that integrating PBM, neurofeedback, and functional medicine now—while the big trials catch up—offers real, practical hope for people living with cognitive decline who have been told there is “nothing more” than a pill.  

Watch Lisa's interview with Dr Marvin Berman on her youtube channel here