Neuronic offer a 1070nm transcranial photobiomodulation device - basically a helmet that shines light on your scalp. But what does that actually do, and is it worth it? This is a Biohacking Reviews episode, where we review; products, supplements, health tech, practices... whatever is new and whatever we've been trying.
Episode Summary
I spent time on Tony Wrighton's show talking through a device I have been using on myself for months: the Neuronic Neuradiant, a 1070nm transcranial photobiomodulation headset. You can watch the original conversation. What follows is my own clinical read on what red light brain therapy does, what the evidence supports, and how I would use it if you came into my clinic.
What is the Neuronic Neuradiant device?
The Neuradiant is a white plastic headset packed with LEDs that sit against your scalp. It delivers 1070nm light to the cortex. The headset divides the central strip into four quadrants, and you choose which quadrant lights up. You can run a steady glow of 1070nm light, or you can pulse the light at a specific brainwave frequency.
Neuronic is an international company, and you can buy the device on their site. The coupon code Dr Andrew Hill may save you some money. The device matters less than what you do with it, which is the part I want to spend real time on.
I was resistant to photobiomodulation for years. I put it in the same bucket as binaural beat devices, which I do not believe do much. Then I got my hands on a unit and it felt like something was happening. When I started looking at brain maps before and after sessions, I saw changes build up across a few months. That moved it from "marketing" to "worth studying" in my assessment.
How does transcranial photobiomodulation work?
Photobiomodulation, or PBM, feeds your mitochondria. Near-infrared light around 1070nm penetrates the scalp and skull and is absorbed by cytochrome c oxidase, an enzyme in the mitochondrial electron transport chain. That absorption increases ATP production, which is the cell's energy currency. More energy available to neurons supports the metabolic recovery your brain needs after an insult.
This is the well-established mechanism for the steady-glow mode. It works on the metabolic end of the pool. When you are trying to do something broad to the whole system, the steady 1070nm light is the lever you reach for.
What is pulsed light entrainment, and does it work?
The pulsed mode is where it gets more interesting and where I am more cautious. Instead of a constant glow, you pulse the light at a brainwave frequency. The theory is that pulsing at a frequency the brain is struggling with may enhance that frequency.
Light entrainment looks different from auditory entrainment in the data I am seeing. Red light pulsing seems to create a real response in the cortex. I want to be honest about evidence strength here. I see changes in brain maps that resemble what I get from neurofeedback fine-tuning, but I do not yet fully understand the mechanism. The data shows a response. The "why" is still extrapolation, and I will not pretend otherwise. If you want the deeper background on this approach, I have written more on photobiomodulation and red light for the brain.
Why map your brain before you start red light therapy?
Buy the QEEG read before you buy the protocol. A QEEG brain map shows where in your cortex you have unusual frequencies, activity that looks stuck, or signatures consistent with inflammation. That map lets you target the photobiomodulation to the regions that need it.
Targeting PBM this way is more forgiving than measuring electricity in real time. Neurofeedback is finicky and subtle, working moment to moment on live signal. PBM with a map gives you regional targeting without the same demand for precision. You pick the quadrant, you pick steady or pulsed, and you aim at the area the map flagged.
In our clinic now we run a resting baseline map, design a Neuradiant protocol, run it for a few months without any neurofeedback, then map again. Even with stimulation alone, no neurofeedback, you can see changes in the gross features. Speed of processing improves. The fog-related metabolic features shift. That is the kind of broad system change PBM is built for.
What conditions does photobiomodulation help with?
PBM earns its place when you want to take the whole system and move it in a healthier direction. The targets I reach for it with are metabolic and neuroinflammatory:
- Post-COVID brain fog
- Concussion recovery
- Accelerated brain aging
- Mold exposure
- Lyme exposure
- Heavy metal exposure
Here is something that surprises people about the QEEG. On a brain map, a concussion looks like post-COVID, which looks like Lyme, which looks like mold exposure. At a high level you cannot tell the cause of the brain fog apart from the map alone. The neuroinflammatory signatures converge. We see a lot of people now carrying these autonomic features layered on top of the psychological ones, and some of that traces to the environmental fallout of the COVID years.
Should you buy the Neuradiant?
The Neuradiant is my favorite PBM device right now. It is expensive, and I have been using it on myself a lot. I test most of what I recommend on my own brain first. Twenty-five years into this work, I do not run every neurofeedback protocol on myself, but the photobiomodulation I did, and it convinced me.
My one concern about the biohacking marketplace is the consumerist reflex. People are suffering, so they ask what the best device is for their problem, then chase the next thing, and the next, looking for the perfect purchase. Often you do not need the best device. You need the right knowledge about what to do.
Think about goals, not symptoms. Think about solutions, not diagnosis. Once you frame it that way, you can architect a plan. For one biohacking client we might combine neurofeedback and EEG work for creativity, anxiety, and peak performance, add red light therapy, and layer in coaching on macronutrients or fasting. The mix is different person to person.
Red light therapy is a strong tool for the metabolic and recovery work that EEG fine-tuning does not reach as well. If you are dealing with brain fog, a concussion, or accelerated aging, get your brain mapped first, find the regions that need the energy, and target the light there. That sequence is what turns an expensive headset into a useful intervention.
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