How Brain Imaging Can Change Your Life

how-brain-imaging-can-change-your-life

Innovation is a brain function that is dependent upon the physical health of your brain. In Dr. Daniel Amen’s TEDx talk he discusses how your brain is involved in everything you do. How you think, how you feel, and how you get along with others. When your brain is troubled, you are more likely to have trouble in your life. However, when your brain works right, you work right. At Amen Clinics we use SPECT brain imaging to look at your brain activity and blood flow patterns. Essentially, these scans are telling us how your brain works.

SPECT imaging shows Amen Clinics 3 things:

  1. Areas of the brain that work well.
  2. Areas of the brain that are low in activity.
  3. Areas of the brain that are high in activity.

Your Brain is a Reflection of Your Lifestyle

In addition, SPECT imaging can show us behavior patterns. For example, your brain can be a reflection of how you may be struggling. When we see healthy brains, people tend to be happier, healthier, wealthier, wise, more creative, and more innovative. When we see unhealthy brains people are sadder, sicker, poorer, rigid, and inflexible (this is ultimately the opposite of innovative).

Optimize Your Brain Function for an Innovative Mind

Watch this TEDx talk by Daniel G. Amen, MD, as he discusses the importance of how changing your brain can change your life and in turn, innovate your brain.

For more information on how SPECT imaging can help provide a customized treatment plan to help heal your brain, call us today at 888-288-9834 or visit us online to schedule a visit.

26 Comments »

  1. Can someone address the benefits of SPECT scan if your injecting radioactive material into your body? I just don’t understand how this can help your health situation. It is so toxic to your cells.

    Comment by Carrie Gordon — February 28, 2017 @ 6:02 AM

  2. Hi Carrie,

    We appreciate your concern. However, The average radiation exposure for one SPECT scan is 0.7 rem, similar to a nuclear bone scan or brain CAT scan, and is considered a safe procedure, according to the guidelines established by the American Academy of Neurology. These other procedures are routinely ordered for many common medical conditions (i.e. bone fractures or head trauma), further suggesting that the levels of radiation exposure are generally acceptable in medical practice. Ineffective treatment of psychiatric illness poses more risk than the low levels of radiation associated with a SPECT scan. We hope this addresses your concern. Feel free to call us if you have any questions.

    Comment by Amen Clinics — March 1, 2017 @ 9:40 AM

  3. Great question. It’s easy to miss. If you were to take a third grade science text book in the first sentence you will find cells are the building block of human life. Stands to reason they are important and the heath of them are critical for you to function as a human being. Nerve cells in the brain are just like any other cell except that they fire and communicate with other cells. This is metabolically expensive. Approximately 20% of blood flowing from the heart is pumped to the brain. The brain needs constant bloodflow in order to keep up with heavy metabolic demands of the neurons. So the imaging tells you what areas are overactive or underactive. It used for showing how healthy the brain is functioning.
    Think of it as a mirror for a weight lifter. You’ve ever notice the veins are bigger in muscles you use the most. That is because of the activity level, more blood is flowing to feed the muscle cells. The brain appears to be working the same way but you can’t see it with your eyes which is why you use imaging. If you don’t have blood flowing to you frontal Cortez that’s a medical emergency, but the sad part is no one ever knows because no one looks at the brain yet when the person acts strange everybody thinks it’s a character flaw or they are just crazy but no one thinks maybe they are physically hurt. It’s like the football players that were shooting themselves in the chest so some one would get a clue and look at there brain. When they looked they found out oops the brain is disconnecting from repetitive hits to the brain as a result of tau proteins building up in the brain. That may result in finding less blood flow on a imagining scan.
    Imagine going to your home entertainment center and arbitrarily cutting wires. Would you be surprised your home entertainment center did not function properly. Well the brain is the same way but this what is making us human, its controlling how happy or sad we are.

    In medicine there can be risk like being exposed to radiation during a chest x ray, or even chemo to treat cancer. That’s about as toxic as you get for cells. I know what your thinking cancer can kill you that’s why you use chemotherapy. Well so can depression. I am a special education teacher and I have to many stories to tell. I had a family come home to find a note saying don’t let mom go in the backyard. So the father goes out and finds his son hanging from a tree. We don’t know what was causing his depression there could have been a tumor or a cyst, a infection, bleeding in the brain. But we don’t know because health checks are not done on the brain. We check for prostate cancer or cervical cancer but not the brain even though it is controlling all the other organs in the body. The doctors know we have a serious problem with the health of the brain but unfortunately not enough have the courage to speakout except for this guy. He was yelling about head injuries for the last 20 years. If more people would have listened it could have saved some of those football players that killed themsleves not to mention millions of others who suffer from TBI. I hope this helps.

    Comment by Roberto — March 2, 2017 @ 6:10 PM

  4. I’ve had these SPECT brain scans in 2015 with Dr Paul Harch in NOLA that showed healing in my brain after a block of 40 HBOT dives which correlated to the reduction of brain injury symptoms that I had as well as significant improvements in my neuropsych testing from before to after HBOT. From what I understand the radioactive material is expelled from the body within 24 hours. And in my case it helped to prove my brain injuries and the extent of them. I’ve had 146 HBOT dives thus far and plan to have more SPECT brain scans to check on my healing progress. I did have another TBI in 2016 due to a slip and fall so that has interrupted my healing but I’ve also had 87 HBOT dives since then and further symptom reduction. I’m not yet done in my healing journey but I’ve certainly come a long way. And SPECT brain imaging has been a vital part in helping direct the HBOT protocol that I needed. As every person is unique, every brain injury is different and thus every healing is different. We need this individualized functional medicine approach for better outcomes. We must not as patients be lumped into a set of symptom clusters and have meds thrown at us as if we’re all just the same. In reality we are not. We are in fact unique and need individualized approaches.

    Comment by Mary Beth Underwood — March 4, 2017 @ 9:46 AM

  5. Great question. It’s easy to miss. It’s actually difficult to explain. To really get it you need to have a basic understanding of cellular and molecular biology but I will give it a shot. If you were to take a third grade science text book in the first sentence you will find cells are the building block of human life. Stands to reason they are important and the heath of them are critical for you to function as a human being. Nerve cells in the brain are just like any other cell except that they fire and communicate with other cells. This is metabolically expensive. Approximately 20% of blood flowing from the heart is pumped to the brain. The brain needs constant bloodflow in order to keep up with heavy metabolic demands of the neurons. So the imaging tells you what areas are overactive or underactive. It used for showing how healthy the brain is functioning.
    Think of it as a mirror for a weight lifter. You’ve ever notice the veins are bigger in muscles you use the most. That is because of the activity level, more blood is flowing to feed the muscle cells. The brain appears to be working the same way but you can’t see it with your eyes which is why you use imaging. If you don’t have blood flowing to you frontal Cortez that’s a medical emergency, but the sad part is no one ever knows because no one looks at the brain yet when the person acts strange everybody thinks it’s a character flaw or they are just crazy but no one thinks maybe they are physically hurt. It’s like the football players that were shooting themselves in the chest so some one would get a clue and look at there brain. When they looked they found out oops the brain is disconnecting from repetitive hits to the brain as a result of tau proteins building up in the brain. That may result in finding less blood flow on a imagining scan.
    Imagine going to your home entertainment center and arbitrarily cutting wires. Would you be surprised your home entertainment center did not function properly. Well the brain is the same way but this what is making us human, its controlling how happy or sad we are.
    In medicine there can be risk like being exposed to radiation during a chest x ray, or even chemo to treat cancer. That’s about as toxic as you get for cells. I know what your thinking cancer can kill you that’s why you use chemotherapy. Well so can depression. I am a special education teacher and I have to many stories to tell.

    I did have one student that was having blank out symtoms for 15 years. His mother would have to touch him to bring him back. His father thought he was just lazy. In short he received a head injury playing basketball. He had severe symtoms, after finally having imaging done they found a cyst in his brain stem. The doctors said it was the type of cycst formed in fetal development. That’s why he was having those symptoms and the head injury just exasperated the injury. That head injury could have killed him. The brain stem is what is essentially keeping you alive. It’s involved in breathing, heartbeat, blood pressure, swallowing, consciousness and awareness. The docter said if he receives one more hit it will kill him. This is why it was so important this was diagnosed as soon as posible, imagine if he joined the football team he might not be alive, But we don’t know because health checks are not done on the brain. We check for prostate cancer or cervical cancer but not the brain even though it is controlling all the other organs in the body. The doctors know we have a serious problem with the health of the brain but unfortunately not enough have the courage to speakout except for this guy. He was yelling about head injuries for the last 20 years. If more people would have listened it could have saved some of those football players that killed themsleves not to mention millions of others who suffer from TBI. I hope this helps.

    Comment by Roberto — March 8, 2017 @ 12:44 AM

  6. Great question. It’s easy to miss. It’s actually difficult to explain. To really get it you need to have a basic understanding of cellular and molecular biology but I will give it a shot. If you were to take a third grade science text book in the first sentence you will find cells are the building block of human life. Stands to reason they are important and the heath of them are critical for you to function as a human being. Nerve cells in the brain are just like any other cell except that they fire and communicate with other cells. This is metabolically expensive. Approximately 20% of blood flowing from the heart is pumped to the brain. The brain needs constant bloodflow in order to keep up with heavy metabolic demands of the neurons. So the imaging tells you what areas are overactive or underactive. It used for showing how healthy the brain is functioning.
    Think of it as a mirror for a weight lifter. You’ve ever notice the veins are bigger in muscles you use the most. That is because of the activity level, more blood is flowing to feed the muscle cells. The brain appears to be working the same way but you can’t see it with your eyes which is why you use imaging. If you don’t have blood flowing to you frontal Cortez that’s a medical emergency, but the sad part is no one ever knows because no one looks at the brain yet when the person acts strange everybody thinks it’s a character flaw or they are just crazy but no one thinks maybe they are physically hurt. It’s like the football players that were shooting themselves in the chest so some one would get a clue and look at there brain. When they looked they found out oops the brain is disconnecting from repetitive hits to the brain as a result of tau proteins building up in the brain. That may result in finding less blood flow on a imagining scan.
    Imagine going to your home entertainment center and arbitrarily cutting wires. Would you be surprised your home entertainment center did not function properly. Well the brain is the same way but this what is making us human, its controlling how happy or sad we are.
    In medicine there can be risk like being exposed to radiation during a chest x ray, or even chemo to treat cancer. That’s about as toxic as you get for cells. I know what your thinking cancer can kill you that’s why you use chemotherapy. Well so can depression. I am a special education teacher and I have to many stories to tell.
    I did have one student that was having blank out symtoms for 15 years. His mother would have to touch him to bring him back. His father thought he was just lazy. In short he received a head injury playing basketball. He had severe symtoms, after finally having imaging done they found a cyst in his brain stem. The doctors said it was the type of cycst formed in fetal development. That’s why he was having those symptoms and the head injury just exasperated the injury. That head injury could have killed him. The brain stem is what is essentially keeping you alive. It’s involved in breathing, heartbeat, blood pressure, swallowing, consciousness and awareness. The docter said if he receives one more hit it will kill him. This is why it was so important this was diagnosed as soon as posible, imagine if he joined the football team he might not be alive, But we don’t know because health checks are not done on the brain. We check for prostate cancer or cervical cancer but not the brain even though it is controlling all the other organs in the body. The doctors know we have a serious problem with the health of the brain but unfortunately not enough have the courage to speakout except for this guy. He was yelling about head injuries for the last 20 years. If more people would have listened it could have saved some of those football players that killed themsleves not to mention millions of others who suffer from TBI. I hope this helps.

    Comment by Roberto — March 8, 2017 @ 12:42 PM

  7. My grandson has been blacking out for 3 years. The blackouts now are seizure like and happen about 40 times a day. They finally did a mri and found white matter with gray and thickness and two systs. They say it is not related. How do we get help.

    Comment by Patricia Glasscock — April 7, 2018 @ 10:52 AM

  8. My grandson had a tbi on 2013. He has come a long way. He has short term memory issues. He can not remember what a task involves. Long term memory is good. He can’t keep a job because he forgets And continually asks what to do. He’s disabled but wants a job. Can his short term memory be improved? He was in a terrible car wreck and almost died. We were told to put him in a nursing home. He’s mobile, can drive around town it’s just his short term memory. He wanted to finish college but could not retain info. How do you heal this problem…. Or can you?

    Comment by Linda Williams — April 21, 2018 @ 5:01 PM

  9. Hello Linda, we will have a Care Coordinator reach out to you to discuss this further.

    Comment by Amen Clinics — April 23, 2018 @ 8:24 AM

  10. MY SON WAS BORN EMERGENCY C-SECTION, THE CORD WAS RAPPED AROUND HIS NECK 3 TIMES. HE WAS BORN BLUE BUT THEY REVIVED HIM. HE HAD HIS FIRST SEIZURE AT 9MTHS. HE WAS IN THE HOSPITAL A WEEK. SECOND TIME AT 1 YEARS OLD. HE WAS PUT ON SEIZURE MEDS TILL 3, HAD SEIZURES AGAIN 7 YEARS, BACK ON MEDS. HE STILL HAD SEIZURES ON AND OFF TILL HE WAS 16. HE WAS OPERATED ON , THEY REMOVED DEAD TISSUE ON LEFT SIDE OF HIS BRAIN. HE HAD 2 MORE SEIZURES THAN NO MORE TILL LAST WEEK . IT WAS SO SHOCKING AND HORRIBLE!!! 14 YEARS NO SEIZURES!!! NOW WE ARE WAITING ON BLOODWORK AND TESTS. WE ARE SO BROKENHEARTED!!!

    Comment by LORI hERNANDEZ — July 2, 2018 @ 1:57 AM

  11. my wife has short term memory loss. how can the SPECT scan help her??
    what does the scan cost and will insurance cover it?

    Comment by richard sayad — July 2, 2018 @ 4:47 AM

  12. How do I get more information on this. I would like to have my special needs son scanned. Where and what Doctors in MN can help me? I’ve been desperate to help him for the last 6 years and have brought him to many doctors. All they say is same thing and put him on multiple medication.

    Comment by Lisa Flannigan — July 2, 2018 @ 6:25 AM

  13. Thanks for taking the time to explain, this is very helpful to know.

    Comment by Carrie — July 2, 2018 @ 6:42 AM

  14. Would SPECT imaging be helpful in treating CAP GRAS? Our daughter has had this condition for
    months and no one seems to be able to treat her…appreciate any info regarding this rare syndrome. Thank you. M.B

    Comment by Marlene — July 2, 2018 @ 10:00 AM

  15. How does someone get a SPECT Scan and is it covered by insurance? Can the results help someone with Alzheimer’s?

    Comment by Holly Brim — July 2, 2018 @ 10:49 AM

  16. Hi, I reside in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Can you direct me as to how I could use your services from here?
    Thank you, Julian.

    Comment by Julian — July 5, 2018 @ 11:23 PM

  17. Hello Julian, thank you for reaching out to us. Yes, we will have a Care Coordinator reach out to you via email to present options. If you’d like to reach us, please call 949-266-3715. Thank you.

    Comment by Amen Clinics — July 6, 2018 @ 9:22 AM

  18. We have watched many of your shows onPBS and bought many of your products. My husband has suffered 2 strokes. The first one mostly resolved after 6 yr’s, but then a med interaction caused heart arrhythmia which apparently caused a second stroke which was diagnosed in the Parkinson’s area of the brain. The neurologist offers no help. In addition last year he lost his ability to walk. One hospitalist told us because he had taken fluoriquonines for UTI’s for about three years that this was the consequence. Is there anything in your practice that can be done ti improved his situation?

    Comment by Sherleen Zehner — July 8, 2018 @ 9:02 AM

  19. Can a damaged brain be repaired through brain scans and using prescribed drugs/medications?

    Comment by Graham — July 11, 2018 @ 5:03 AM

  20. Hi, as I’m overseas, please organise a Care Coordinator to contact me via Email as soon as possible please. Thank you, Julian.

    Comment by Julian — July 17, 2018 @ 5:13 PM

  21. My father is diagnosed with dementia . Now he is under treatment by a neurologist Dr Prabhu from wiin hospital Kolhapur Maharashtra India…
    Want to know what can I do so that my father can live a normal life..

    Comment by Dharmendra — August 2, 2018 @ 5:06 AM

  22. Can you help me.. dizzy off balance all the time. Fell 2years ago drs think I damaged my cerebellum. Dr says I cant. get brain scans because I have a pacemaker. I am about at my wits end. Can you help me. Thank you. Donna McMillin, I have had contrast cat scan but they said no mri.

    Comment by Donna mcmillin — August 19, 2018 @ 8:25 PM

  23. Hello Donna, thank you for reaching out. We received your email as well and we’ve passed your information along to a Care Coordinator to reach out to you to discuss further. If you need to reach us directly, please call 888-288-9834. Thank you.

    Comment by Amen Clinics — August 20, 2018 @ 9:13 AM

  24. Hi Julian. I am also in Australia and very interested to know more about this. Can we make contact please?

    Comment by Annette — November 17, 2018 @ 11:58 PM

  25. My dad has epilepsy and my aunt is schizophrenic. Would this be able to possibly help either of them?

    Comment by Erica — May 20, 2019 @ 3:43 PM

  26. My Daughter has bad pressure in head and says sometimes it feels like someone is squeezing her brain.She goes to a nurilogist but all test he has found nothing .And says it may be serizuie ativicty caused by stress??? She is really having a hard time going thru this and it not stopping. She will not take meds she does not want to.What could this be? She is going to acupuntrist it helps a little but back again after.

    Comment by Deborah — September 27, 2019 @ 5:38 PM

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