Augmentation of cognitive brain functions with transcranial lasers by F. Gonzalez-Lima and Douglas W. Barrett

Discovering that transcranial infrared laser stimulation produces beneficial effects on frontal cortex functions such as sustained attention, working memory, and affective state has been groundbreaking. Transcranial laser stimulation with low-power density (mW/cm²) and high-energy density (J/cm²) monochromatic light in the near-infrared wavelengths modulates brain functions and may produce neurotherapeutic effects in a nondestructive and non-thermal manner (Lampl, 2007; Hashmi et al., 2010). Barrett and Gonzalez-Lima (2013) provided the first controlled study showing that transcranial laser stimulation improves human cognitive and emotional brain functions. But for the field of low-level light/laser therapy (LLLT), development of a model of how luminous energy from red-to-near-infrared wavelengths modulates bioenergetics began with in vitro and in vivo discoveries in the last 40 years. Previous LLLT reviews have provided extensive background about historical developments, principles and applications (Rojas and Gonzalez-Lima, 2011, 2013; Chung et al., 2012). The purpose of this paper is to provide an update on LLLT’s neurochemical mechanisms supporting transcranial laser stimulation for cognitive-enhancing applications. 

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