Mohan Nair, MD

10/01/2025

Sharing this compelling video from Dr. Uzma Samadani on the risks and benefits of youth and high school football with a focus on brain injury. As a neurosurgeon and brain injury expert, her perspective is essential for parents, coaches, and clinicians alike.

▶️ Watch here:

Dr. Uzma Samadani, a neurosurgeon and brain injury researcher at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minnesota, reviews the evidence assessing the risks and be...

09/30/2025

The New York Times recently reported that Shane Tamura, the gunman in the tragic New York City shooting at NFL Headquarters, was found to have suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) — a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated head injuries.

This raises a critical question: Does playing football, soccer, or other contact sports increase the risk of developing CTE? The answer is complex. Some athletes, like Tom Brady, have played for decades without any apparent signs of CTE. Others, like Aaron Hernandez, developed the disease after only a few years in the NFL.

👉 This contrast highlights a key truth: there is great individual variability in susceptibility. Not everyone with repeated concussions develops CTE, and not everyone exposed to the same risks shows the same outcomes.

What we do know is that CTE is real, devastating, and requires ongoing research to better understand risk factors, prevention, and treatment.

Read more here:

Shane Tamura, a former high school football player, shot himself and left a note that said his motive was anger at the N.F.L.

09/04/2025

NFL owner secretly relapsed, got ketamine from private doctor before death. As a recovery doctor provided ketamine and opioids, Colts owner Jim Irsay spent his final years suffering through a relapse that he and executives hid from the public.

Read in The Washington Post:

As a recovery doctor provided ketamine and opioids, Colts owner Jim Irsay spent his final years suffering through a relapse that he and executives hid from the public.

08/22/2025

Between 1985 and 1992, I conducted several hundred SPECT scans on psychiatric patients, both adults and adolescents. What I found was striking: every single scan was abnormal.

This raises important questions.

Could it be that every child and adult I saw truly had an abnormal brain?

Or might there have been something else at play?

The debate continues: are SPECT scans a legitimate tool in understanding ADHD and mental illness, or are they closer to “snake oil”?

I’ll let you be the judge.

🔗 https://apple.news/ALevRRiBKRs2KBMoYAuo9XQ

07/31/2025

An interesting read.. “Although healthcare expenditure per capita is higher for the United States than any other country, over 37 million Americans are entirely without health insurance and 41 million more have inadequate access to care.”

“The salary for the head of this single-payer system would be capped at the $210,700 salary of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. This cap would eliminate the excessive compensation of health insurance company executives, some of whom earn over $20 million annual”

🔗 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8572548/

Galvani AP, Parpia AS, Foster EM, Singer BH, Fitzpatrick MC. Improving the prognosis of health care in the USA. Lancet. 2020 Feb 15;395(10223):524-533. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)33019-3. PMID: 32061298; PMCID: PMC8572548.

Although healthcare expenditure per capita is higher for the United States than any other country, over 37 million Americans are entirely without health insurance and 41 million more have inadequate access to care. Whereas ongoing efforts to repeal ...

06/09/2025

Stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) remain two of the most devastating and disabling conditions in medicine - leaving nearly half of those hospitalized with severe TBI facing lasting impairments, even after rehabilitation. Despite years of research, there are still no widely effective pharmacologic treatments for brain injury. But this may be starting to change.

A growing body of clinical trials is now exploring the use of psychedelic therapies in neurorehabilitation. This mini review offers a concise look at where the science currently stands and why psychedelic-assisted treatment may hold promise for those recovering from brain injury.

Read more: Psychedelics for Brain Injury: A Mini Review
🔗 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8357986/



Khan M, Carter GT, Aggarwal SK, Holland J. Psychedelics for Brain Injury: A Mini-Review. Front Neurol. 2021 Jul 29;12:685085. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2021.685085. Erratum in: Front Neurol. 2021 Sep 30;12:772692. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2021.772692. PMID: 34393973; PMCID: PMC8357986.

Objective: Stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are among the leading causes of disability. Even after engaging in rehabilitation, nearly half of patients with severe TBI requiring hospitalization are left with major disability. Despite decades ...

06/08/2025

Exploring Psychedelics in Chronic Pain Management: A recent study titled “Psychedelics and Chronic Pain: Self-Reported Outcomes on Changed Substance Use Patterns and Health Following Naturalistic Psychedelic Use”, published in the British Journal of Pain, delves into the potential role of psychedelics in chronic pain treatment.

Key insights from the study include:

Substance Use Reduction: Among 466 individuals using psychedelics to self-treat chronic pain, 86.3% reported ceasing or decreasing use of substances like alcohol and prescription opioids.

Sustained Effects: Approximately 21.2% noted that these reductions persisted for over six months post-psychedelic use.

Psilocybin's Prominence: Psilocybin emerged as the most effective psychedelic for alleviating both physical and mental health symptoms.

🔗 Read the full study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11811946/

Rootman, J. M., Kryskow, P., Harvey, K., Smith, G., Borj Abari, A., Walsh, Z., & Sprout, A. (2024). Psychedelics and chronic pain: Self-reported outcomes on changed substance use patterns and health following naturalistic psychedelic use. British Journal of Pain, 18(1), 40–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/20494637231214701

05/29/2025

🧠 A "Manhattan Project" for the Mind: In this thought-provoking conversation, neuroscientist Dr. Husseini Manji joins Dr. Ipsit Vahia of McLean Hospital to discuss the future of mental health treatment.

Husseini Manji has led pioneering research into the biology, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illness at both the National Institutes of Health and Johnson & Johnson. While progress has been made, many conditions remain difficult to treat. In response, Manji has championed a “Manhattan Project” for mental health—a bold, interdisciplinary effort uniting neurobiology, technology, drug development, and societal strategies to fundamentally transform how we address mental disorders and dementia.

📺 Watch now: A “Manhattan Project” for the Mind: Neuroscientist Husseini Manji on the Future of Mental Health

👉 https://youtu.be/ykronGw68aA?si=2GqgnDXbeus8nuIB

05/22/2025

Diphenhydramine, also known as Benadryl, is an active ingredient of many over-the-counter sleep aids. What has been known for years is that it can increase the progression of dementia. This represents a risk for everyone—but especially for the elderly and those who have sustained traumatic brain injuries.

I've shared an article below that explores this in greater detail. I believe it’s crucial that we raise awareness about medications that may seem harmless but carry long-term risks, particularly for vulnerable populations.

🔗

A report published in JAMA Internal Medicine several years ago highlighted a link between long-term use of anticholinergic medications like Benadryl and dementia. While this study and other observational studies have also found this association, it doesn't prove that these drugs cause dementia. Bu...

04/28/2025

Exploring the Complexities of Robert Hanssen's Mind: Studies have suggested that some individuals in the autistic spectrum disorder may have psychopathic tendencies. Was Robert Hanssen, the notorious spy and traitor who worked for the FBI and recently passed away, one of those individuals?

“The Factor Structure and Validity of the Psychopathy Checklist-Short Version When Used With Autistic Psychiatric Inpatients”. Click here to read the article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39963077/

“A Systematic Review of Autistic People and the Criminal Justice System: An Update of King and Murphy (2014)”.
Click here to read the article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35637365/

I welcome your thoughts and perspectives on this complex intersection of psychology, behavior, and ethics.

04/12/2025

The risk of developing dementia over nine years was 27% higher among socially isolated older adults compared with older adults who were not socially isolated.

It is estimated that 40% of dementia cases could be prevented by modification of lifestyle factors that associate with disease risk. One of these potentially modifiable lifestyle factors is social isolation. In this review, we discuss what is known about associations between social isolation and Alz...

04/11/2025

A groundbreaking systematic review recently published in Molecular Psychiatry called The serotonin theory of depression: A systematic umbrella review of the evidence challenges the long-held serotonin theory of depression.

The comprehensive analysis examined multiple domains of serotonin research, including serotonin levels, receptors, and the effect of antidepressants, revealing little to no consistent evidence supporting the idea that depression is caused by serotonin deficiency.

This pivotal study urges the mental health community to rethink the biochemical model of depression and highlights the need for more nuanced approaches to understanding and treating this complex condition. Dive into the full article to explore the detailed findings and their implications for future research and treatment strategies.

Read more:

A groundbreaking systematic review recently published in Molecular Psychiatry called The serotonin theory of depression: A systematic umbrella review of the