Sam Tejada has a particular reason for asking whether the brain can change after trauma. Before founding Liquivida®, he spent 12 years working as a firefighter-paramedic. He knows that first responders can carry the effects of what they see long after a shift has ended.
So, when neuroscientist Dr. Lana Morrow joined him on “A Healthy Point of View” podcast, he put a direct question to her: Can someone retrain their brain after PTSD without having to revisit the traumatic experience?
Morrow believes they can. Her work with Think Interfaces, a brain-training system she helped develop, centers on that possibility. During the conversation, she described experiences with veterans, people living with pain, and others who, she said, experienced striking changes after sessions with the technology.
Those accounts are compelling, but they also raise questions about what brain training can reliably achieve and what still needs to be established. The distinction matters, particularly when the discussion involves PTSD, ADHD, and addiction.
The conversation moved between neuroscience, technology, personal experiences, and Morrow’s unconventional ideas about consciousness. A few themes stood out: how the brain responds to stress, why our relationship with screens deserves attention, and what it actually means to change a mental habit.
PTSD, ADHD & Dopamine: Can the Brain Really Be Retrained? Dr. Lana Morrow | Ep. 180
The Idea Behind Think Interfaces
Morrow says Think Interfaces grew out of work spanning several fields, including neuroscience, mathematics, physics, music, and sound. Rather than presenting the system as a conventional medical treatment, she describes it as a way to train the brain for better performance.
The process involves a headset that measures brain activity and a computer-based visual program. Morrow compared the experience to playing a video game, although the purpose is to engage the brain through a specific training setup.
She also discussed the engineering work behind the device. According to Morrow, individual components underwent testing before being assembled into the finished system. She emphasized the importance of research and validation, pointing to a paper she said was published in Nature in November 2022.
The interview does not provide enough information to independently assess the paper’s findings or determine how well the technology performs across different conditions. That would require examining the research itself, including its methods, results, and limitations.
Morrow was clear about one important boundary. She said Think Interfaces does not claim to treat ADHD or other medical conditions while awaiting the necessary regulatory approval. Instead, the company describes its work as brain training for peak performance.
That distinction is worth keeping in view throughout the discussion. A technology designed to train attention or working memory is not automatically a proven treatment for a neurological or psychiatric disorder.
Can the Brain Move Beyond Trauma?
PTSD was one of the most personal subjects in the interview for Sam. His question focused on whether people could make progress without repeatedly returning to painful memories.
Morrow said her system could help people change their responses to trauma. She described working with veterans and recounted cases in which people reportedly experienced substantial reductions in stress or pain after a session. She also spoke about individuals whose responses appeared to change much more quickly than she had expected.
Trauma can affect daily life in ways that are not always visible to other people. Sleep, concentration, relationships, and a person’s sense of safety can all become difficult to manage. Finding effective ways to help people recover remains an important goal.
Morrow’s approach places emphasis on changing the brain’s state rather than asking someone to repeatedly recount an experience. Whether Think Interfaces can reliably produce the outcomes she describes is a separate question, one that needs strong clinical evidence.
For anyone living with PTSD, the interview should not be taken as a reason to abandon established care or assume that a short course of brain training can replace it.
Dopamine, Stress, and the Pull of a Screen
The discussion became particularly relatable when Sam asked what might be affecting dopamine in everyday life.
Morrow pointed first to stress. She also raised concerns about phones, social media, and video games, arguing that the repeated stimulation offered by digital platforms can keep people reaching for the next hit of attention or reward.
It is an experience many people recognize. You open your phone to check one message, see a notification, watch a video, and then another. Before long, the reason you picked up the device has disappeared from your mind. The problem is not simply that a screen exists; it is how easily an ordinary check can turn into a habit that interrupts everything else.
Morrow shared the story of a 15-year-old who, she said, was heavily absorbed in apps and video games. After approximately five Think Interfaces sessions, the teenager reportedly deleted most of the apps, focused better, and began earning better grades.
It is an interesting account, although one person’s experience cannot establish that the system caused those changes or that other users would see the same results.
Dopamine is also more complicated than the idea of a chemical that makes us feel good. It plays a role in motivation, learning, movement, and how the brain responds to rewards. Stress can influence these systems, but attention difficulties and compulsive behavior do not have one simple explanation.
The useful question is not whether every notification is damaging the brain. It is whether our routines leave us enough room to concentrate, tolerate boredom, and choose what deserves our attention.
Neuroplasticity Is Not a Magic Reset Button
One reason brain training attracts so much interest is neuroplasticity: the brain’s ability to change its connections and activity in response to experience. Learning a skill, practicing a movement, and building a new routine all involve forms of adaptation.
Morrow discussed brain-derived neurotrophic factor, commonly known as BDNF, alongside dopamine. BDNF is involved in processes important to neuronal health and plasticity. She believes the relationship between these systems helps explain the changes she associates with Think Interfaces.
During the episode, she went further, saying the technology could stimulate the formation of new neurons. That is a much more specific claim than saying a person can improve a skill through practice, and it should be evaluated on its own evidence.
The existence of neuroplasticity does not mean every brain-training method works, or that the brain can be quickly reset to overcome any condition. Results depend on the intervention, the person, and what researchers measure. Improvements on a particular task, for example, do not necessarily translate into lasting changes across everyday life.
This is where careful research becomes important. It helps separate a plausible mechanism from a demonstrated outcome, and a promising early finding from a treatment that has been shown to work.
What Happens Outside the Training Session?
Not every part of the conversation involved specialized technology. Morrow also spoke about sunlight, meditation, movement, and the environment people spend their time in. She argued that people should pay attention to the quality of their food and water and make room for practices that help them feel grounded.
These suggestions sat alongside her more unconventional beliefs about consciousness and the universe. Earlier in the interview, she discussed extraterrestrial beings, altered states of awareness, and her interpretation of how ancient civilizations built structures such as the pyramids. Later, she described deep meditation as a feeling of connection with something larger than herself.
Those are Morrow’s personal views, not established conclusions of neuroscience. But her comments reveal how she sees brain function: not as something separate from a person’s habits, surroundings, or sense of meaning.
There is a practical point here, even without accepting every claim made in the episode. Sleep, regular physical activity, and manageable stress are relevant to overall health. They also influence how people feel and function from day to day. No headset removes the need to pay attention to those basics.
Where Brain Training Goes From Here
Morrow said Think Interfaces typically involves five sessions, with around 20 minutes spent in front of the computer during a session. She explained that the program is available both in person and remotely, and that people interested in learning more can contact the company through Think USA or Think Interfaces.
The format sounds straightforward. The harder question is what someone can reasonably expect from it.
A useful next step for any brain-training technology is independent evaluation: clearly defined outcomes, appropriate comparison groups, transparent methods, and follow-up that shows whether any gains last. Claims involving PTSD, ADHD, pain, or addiction need evidence specific to those conditions. Personal stories can point researchers toward questions worth investigating, but they cannot answer those questions by themselves.
That tension ran through Sam and Morrow’s conversation. The possibility of helping someone regain focus, feel less overwhelmed, or function better after trauma is worth exploring. So is the responsibility to avoid promising more than the evidence can support.
The brain can change throughout life. Understanding which interventions help, for whom, and under what circumstances is the work that turns that possibility into something people can rely on.