The Laser That Restarts Brains – Dr. Robert Hedaya on Photobiomodulation, QEEG, and Whole Psychiatry After StrokeThe Laser That Restarts Brains – Dr. Robert Hedaya on Photobiomodulation, QEEG, and Whole Psychiatry After Stroke
Recovery After Stroke
Stroke-focused host Bill Gasiamis talks with Dr Robert Hedaya about QEEG-guided laser therapy, functional medicine and mood support in post-stroke recovery. Their discussion questions the idea of a fixed "plateau" and outlines a whole-person approach to reactivating dormant brain function.
1:08:29•18 May 2026
Restarting Dormant Brains: Lasers, QEEG and Whole Psychiatry After Stroke
Episode Overview
- Targeted laser photobiomodulation, guided by QEEG and specialised MRI, may help reactivate neurons that survived stroke but stopped working.
- Most improvements with laser therapy are gradual, and not every case matches the dramatic one-session changes described in some stories.
- Combining functional medicine – nutrition, hormone balancing, infection and toxin assessment – with brain-focused tools can support better recovery.
- Post-stroke depression and issues like thyroid dysfunction can seriously hold rehab back and need to be identified and treated carefully.
- A determined mindset, openness to multiple approaches and addressing the whole person (including spiritual and social factors) can shift what feels possible after stroke.
“After the first laser treatment, the problem was gone. Gone. She told me, she said, oh my God, I can remember the face of the person I worked with this morning and his wife and the dimple on the face.”
How do people find hope in the darkest times? This conversation between stroke-focused host Bill Gasiamis and psychiatrist–functional medicine practitioner Dr Robert Hedaya aims to answer that by shining a literal laser on the brain. Aimed squarely at stroke survivors and their carers, the chat breaks down how Dr Hedaya uses quantitative EEG (QEEG) brain mapping and transcranial photobiomodulation – a highly targeted laser therapy – to "jumpstart" neurons that are damaged but not dead.
He shares the striking case of a woman with prosopagnosia (face blindness) who, after one carefully planned laser session, said, "Oh my God, I can remember the face of the person I worked with this morning and his wife and the dimple on the face... I have prosopagnosia... I can't remember faces... I have to write down everything that I do and take pictures of everything and every person." Her problem, at least in that area, was "gone.
Gone." Rather than promising miracles, Dr Hedaya stresses that most progress is gradual and that laser is one tool in a much bigger toolkit. You'll hear how he combines QEEG, specialised MRI analysis, nutrition, hormones, toxin assessment, and sometimes hyperbaric oxygen and neurofeedback to support brain recovery. He also explains why post-stroke depression and thyroid problems can quietly sabotage rehab, and why a so-called "plateau" may be more about untreated biology than a hard limit.
Bill brings his own journey with functional medicine, diet changes and thyroid surgery into the mix, asking sharp questions stroke survivors will recognise: How much is realistic? Who is a good candidate? What about cheap red-light gadgets? The tone stays practical, occasionally funny, and firmly grounded in "do what’s safe and supervised".
If you've been told your recovery has topped out, this conversation might nudge you to ask a different question: what if some of those neurons are just asleep, waiting for the right spark?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.
Related Episodes
Similar episodes from other shows in the catalogue.