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Dr. Patrick Porter
Our brain's being attacked on all four corners. The body. Every cell is absorbing this nutrient called light, which most of us don't get.
Dave Asprey
40 Hz light. This light is blinking 40 times a second. Seems to have some magic powers.
Dr. Patrick Porter
We're feeding the brain what it needs most. Light. Science shows that it upregulates DNA function. But we have 72 peer reviewed studies that prove that this works. In our studies with Google and Microsoft, we finally got 26% more work done.
Dave Asprey
What happens when people put on a braintap headset? What is it? You're listening to the Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey.
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Dave Asprey
Hey, everyone.
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Dr. Patrick Porter
Oh, no.
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Dr. Patrick Porter
We're married.
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Podcast Narrator
Liberty. Liberty.
Dr. Patrick Porter
Liberty.
Podcast Narrator
Liberty.
Dave Asprey
This is a beyond premiere episode of the Human Upgrade, which means It's a quick 15 minute hit for you to learn something special from one of the people who is speaking at and exhibiting at the upcoming Beyond Biohacking Conference, now on its 14th year. And our guest today is a friend of the show for many years, Dr. Patrick Porter. He's an author, an educator, an international speaker, and he's got really deep in the personal development space. I've been on stage with him multiple times. He's just blowing people away with what's actually going on and inside your mind and sometimes inside your body. Patrick, my friend, welcome back on the show.
Dr. Patrick Porter
It's great to be here, Dave. Thanks for having me.
Dave Asprey
So back in the, actually the early 90s, I heard about this thing in some magazine I found at the library or something that said light sound goggles. And I actually ordered some and tried them and they were interesting. Like, what is going on here? And since that time, it feels like there's been an explosion of what can happen just because we know more. So what happens when people put on a brain tab headset? What is it?
Dr. Patrick Porter
Well, physiologically for the biohackers, we're feeding the brain what it needs most, light. You know, when we think about the electron transport chain, a lot of people don't understand how the body works. The mitochondria produces it. Nitric oxides release blood flow, circulation. Your brain just gets more energy. And that's what we need more than anything today because it seems like our brain's being attacked on all four corners, you know.
Dave Asprey
Okay, so what's it doing? I mean, blinky lights.
Dr. Patrick Porter
What we're doing is we have lights, we have flickering lights. When they're looking at the video portion of this, there's lights in the visor, there's lights in the ears. And people always ask, why lights in the ears? Well, every cell of your body has a chroma form, which I learned when I interviewed you for one of my conferences. I said, wow, I gotta look into that. And so that was something I didn't even realize was happening. But the brain, actually, the body, every cell is absorbing this nutrient called light, which most of us don't get. We can get it through red light therapy, infrared. What we're doing is really low dose. We have 32 lights in the ears and we have eight lights in the eyes. But it's just to create what we call a flickering response because our ears are actually changing every minute to another noget frequency. So we're triggering the vagal nerve. And we have a lot of studies, I mean, we don't have time today to go through them all, but we have 72 peer reviewed studies that prove that this works at the cellular level. We did it with VO2, max 30% more fat metabolism at the cellular level after a brain tap session.
Dave Asprey
So, wow, that's crazy people are burning more fat because you have the right program running on the brain tab.
Dr. Patrick Porter
Yes. When your brain's in balance, imbalance doesn't mean across the spectrum, every 20%. 20%, 20%. Most people that we measure not at biohacking. I think I've said this before on one of your calls, we see the best brains at biohacking. Most of them, they're just looking for another edge for that peak performance. When we go to a regular conference, let's say that's a doctor's conference because doctors, you know, they're part of the sick care industry, they demonstrate that very well. When we do the brain scans, their brain is in high delta most of the time. And we know that's an inflamed brain. It's not functioning, it's going to drag. They're going to need a lot of stimulants to keep them going during the day. So you know, we can, we can train that brain thanks to like back in the 80s when I was part of light and sound research and we created those very first portable light and sound machines. We had somebody named Anne Weiss who went around the world and actually found people that had the best brains. So we, we trained that brain, but it's being done through frequency following response. So all you have to do is kick back, relax, you get a, you get a little nap, your brain gets a little exercise and you wake up with more energy.
Dave Asprey
It's incredible. Yeah. Anna Weiss wrote A Symphony in the Brain. It's, it's one of those really early books from the 90s talking about what's really going on in there. That led to a lot of the personal development oriented neuroscience. And you're definitely in the, at the front of that field. There's some other discoveries like 40 Hz light, this light is blinking 40 times a second. Seems to have some magic powers. Are you tapping into that with Braintap?
Dr. Patrick Porter
Oh yeah. We have over 300 sessions with, with gamma. We did that in a study in Dallas when we did a study with vets and we found out that when they did a psilocybin they had a high degree of gamma activity in gamma. Think about that old commercial where the woman raises her voice and breaks the glass. You know, so when the gamma frequency is going, it breaks up amyloid plaque. It and breaks up basically what's blocking the brain's blood flow and circulation. So think about, I tell people, think about gamma like the bass drum to a band. It, when you get older that that rhythm goes off and that's part of what happens with dementia and Alzheimer's as well.
Dave Asprey
I've seen incredible research about breaking up Alzheimer's plaque just from that specific wavelength that you're training. So I would imagine you're getting the same effects. You may not have a study on it, but the studies.
Dr. Patrick Porter
We have a. We have a dementia study where we're. We're at over a hundred people now, and 100% of them got off dementia in six weeks just by doing brain tap. When we added nutrition and weight in weight programs, getting their muscles, it happens as a little four weeks. So when you do the whole thing, obviously that's the best.
Dave Asprey
That's profound. Now there's a sound that you hear on Braintap and then there's the lights that are flickering. What's the connection between the two, what
Dr. Patrick Porter
you're doing with the ears? There's one. One of the tones is a binaural beat. So we're putting. This isn't the right frequency, but let's say we put 300 hertz in this ear, 310 in this ear. Your brain actually hears a phantom sound of 10 hertz. So then the mirror neurons that are in every cell of your body start to mimic that hurt frequency. Just like if we were to sit next to the ocean or go to the mountains for 7.8 Hz frequency, our body is going to resonate with it because it's doing it all the time anyway. And now we. Science shows that it upregulates DNA function. So when you think about that, especially if you're looking at life as a challenge rather than a threat, your, your mental attitude plays a big role in, in DNA production in, in what we're regulating, in other words, so, so if we think we can or we think we can't, you know, that's why thoughts and how you use your mind and your thinking is so important. But that then we have built on that. We have a nice chronic tone. We're in school systems all over the world now. They don't start school till they call what we call brain prep. And there's a brain wave called smr, sensory motor rhythm, which is kind of low beta, high alpha. And that bandwidth is the best for concentration and focus. So we play it through the whole school system. We did a study with 490,000 students in Brazil, and now the university is going to start promoting Braintap all throughout Brazil because we raised the GPA of the school just by doing that. And we found that out with our golf team down in Florida, they not only won the national championship four times in a row, but they had the highest GPA in the school. And they said, why do they have the highest gpa? Well, their brain's balanced, you know, they're, they're getting energy to the brain.
Dave Asprey
What amount of time per day do people need to use Braintap to see that kind of result?
Dr. Patrick Porter
Well, in our studies they only did it three times a week because this nervous system will reset every 72 hours. So you gotta break up that pattern. But best results we found is three times a day, morning smr, which is like, we call it digital coffee because it's gonna create neuroforin, dopamine and cortisol. Gets you going in the morning, it's only 10 minutes and then we have a session in the middle of the afternoon. We call it a reboot because in our studies with Google and Microsoft, we found they got 26% more work done on those days where they used brain tap because their brain was sharp. They had another cortisol trough, in other words, just like they would in the morning. And then it then about 10 o' clock when we want them to be in bed so they can make the most melatonin and clean their liver at 11. What we do is we have sleep sessions and that's the most popular for brain tap. Our most used time is 10 o' clock at night to 3 in the morning. So you know, people are reaching for the brain tap if they can't sleep and then they're, they're getting their sleep back on track.
Dave Asprey
So even though it has some, some small amount of flickering light, it's not affecting sleep negatively.
Dr. Patrick Porter
Oh no, we, our, our sleep study we did in Australia, we did it with coal miners. We put them back on the circadian clock in less than three weeks. They were sleeping. Their, their aura readings were over 70s and 80s within three weeks from zeros. I mean they only got one minute of deep sleep. No rim. We, we track them for two weeks before the study, so we don't have enough light to affect that part of the brain. Now if their eyes were open, that might be different. Remember, your eyes are closed when using brain taps, so you're not getting in. So it's not like you're looking directly at blue light like we are looking at these screens.
Dave Asprey
So now an ideal heavy user who's going for all the benefits, 10 minutes three times a day. And the students who did it three times a week and improve their grades and got top performing athletic things was, were these 20 minute sessions or how long were those?
Dr. Patrick Porter
They're 20 minute sessions.
Dave Asprey
Okay. Yeah. Three times a week. Most people can do that. And that's, that's pretty profound. I know. I recorded one of the meditations that's available on it, or maybe two. You have more than a thousand different meditations. How do people know which one to do?
Dr. Patrick Porter
Well now because of AI, we have Dr. Pai. My bit. That's my biggest question. I get in my emails or somebody calls me and says, what should I listen to? So I dumped all that into the learning engine and it, it gives you a plan. And if you tell it what's going on in your life, out of the 3,000 sessions we have now, it will pick the ones that are best for you. And if you don't like words, because some people don't want to hear I might sound like their ex, ex husband or something. So they, they might want to listen to words. And we have 67 people like yourself that have joined in. I mean we have them for dating, even, you know, romance and all these kind of things. We have it for sports. We. Tom Brady, we just have him coming on our braincap support site. He's our biggest user. I mean, you know, besides you, Dave, of course. The. When you think about the brain, everybody's life and stresses are different. So you can type in, this is my concern. And then I will, as an AI, generate a protocol for you that you can use over the next 21 days.
Dave Asprey
That's incredible. I didn't realize the AI stuff because I always just have the same, the same settings I'm in. So this, this I gotta, I gotta log in and pay more attention to the AI side of things. So sometimes I don't keep up. I just use the stuff that I know works.
Dr. Patrick Porter
Yeah.
Dave Asprey
So I'll play around with it. Are you planning on doing anything special at the biohacking conference this year?
Dr. Patrick Porter
Well, we, we're gonna be on three floors this year, so we're really spread out. So you're not gonna miss Braintap. If you're in the VIP room, you get to experience our, you know, are upgraded really because we have the transducers in the chairs, the human touch chairs. That's what I have here in my office. You know, if you're go, go big. You know, we're going to have that there that people can listen, but they have to be a VIP to get that. And then, but on the other floors, if you're a practitioner, we're going to, we have our neurocheck we're hoping to introduce the NeuroCheck Go, which is a portable version of our neurocheck where people can do. And this is award winning software that we developed with Russia and we can measure nine parameters of the nervous system in five minutes and they can start validating their own biohacking experience. You know, that's not quite in the bag yet, but we're waiting. The Russians come through. We got it.
Dave Asprey
It's coming soon. I've, I played with an early version of that with you a couple years ago. It's, it's really impressive. You're getting a lot of views of the, of the nervous system that most people don't even know exists, which is really cool.
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Dr. Patrick Porter
Well, the biggest thing is we found that we could get bagel tone by doing the flickering lights in the ears. Now it looks like they're solid when you're using them, but those are changing, remember? So we have a little, in our ear canal, there's a little place we can trigger the vagus nerve. And this is why we get that parasympic sympathetic reaction. You know, when people walk by our booth, they go, those people look like they're assassinated. No, no, they're, they're just relaxing, but they're aware. The difference is your, your. I tell people your body stays asleep, but your mind stays awake. So those ear lights became the, the biggest thing and we started doing that with autistic kids because they weren't understanding. So I said, let's see if we can do it with pulsing light. Because they were smart. And once, once, what we found out was when they got 23% alpha, which took about six weeks, 90% of them started speaking without its pathologists. So the, we have this in inherent ability within us. Just like when we sleep, well, we open up that glial lymphatic system. Most people don't realize it before 2015, that wasn't known, you know, so what other, what other superpowers do we have that we can activate through these biohacks? You know, we don't even know yet.
Dave Asprey
I fully agree. We, we don't know. It all. But we are going to be finding out and we're going to be finding out at the biohacking conference. It's beyond conference.com and so if you don't have a ticket now, there are a few left. But we're absolutely on track to sell out before the conference. Some people wait till the last minute. You may not get a ticket. And I'm not saying that to make you buy them. I'm saying that because we're at the largest hotel in Austin and we sell every single ticket and every spot we can. But we sold out last year and we will almost certainly do it this year before the conference. So don't wait till last minute because you'd be standing out front, you know, saying, here, we'll, we'll put butter in your coffee for food, stuff like that. It's, it's not what you want to do because even listening to the show, you might have heard this before. But braintap.com Dave is where you go to get your Brain Tap and Patrick is gifting you a hundred dollars off, which is a really massive savings. And if you have trouble sleeping or you're stressed or anxious or you just want more control of your brain, this is much faster than meditation. I even mentioned it in Heavily Meditated, my most recent book, which strangely was the bestselling philosophy book in addition to Altered States and Meditation Book. So this is legit tech. It's based on more than 30 years of humans doing this, and it's probably something you haven't heard of. So braintap.com Dave save a hundred bucks. See Dr. Patrick Porter on stage at the Beyond Biohacking Conference. Thanks, Patrick.
Dr. Patrick Porter
Thank you, Dave.
Dave Asprey
See you next time on the Human Upgrade Podcast.
Podcast Narrator
A Human Upgrade, formerly Bulletproof Radio, was created and is hosted by Dave Asprey. The information contained in this podcast is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended for the purposes of diagnosing, treating, curing, or preventing any disease. Before using any products referenced on the podcast, consult with your healthcare provider carefully read all labels, and heed all directions and cautions that accompany the products. Information found or received through the podcast should not be used in place of a consultation or advice from a healthcare provider. If you suspect you have a medical problem or should you have any healthcare questions, please promptly call or see your healthcare provider. This podcast, including Dave Asprey and the producers, disclaim responsibility for any possible adverse effects from the use of information contained herein. Opinions of guests are their own and this podcast does not endorse or accept responsibility for statements made by guests. This podcast does not make any representations or warranties about guest qualifications or credibility. This podcast may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products or services. Individuals on this podcast may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to herein. This podcast is owned by Bulletproof Media.
Podcast Summary: The Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey
Episode 1472: This Epic Device Gives You A SUPERBRAIN
Release Date: May 22, 2026
Guest: Dr. Patrick Porter
Theme: Cutting-edge neurotechnology for brain enhancement and cognitive performance—spotlight on the BrainTap headset, the science behind it, practical results, and the future of brain biohacking.
Dave Asprey welcomes Dr. Patrick Porter, a pioneering figure in light and sound neurotech, to discuss breakthroughs in brain health and performance. They dive deep into the BrainTap headset, exploring how specific light and sound frequencies can “feed the brain,” improve cognition, help with neurodegenerative concerns, and optimize human potential. This episode is packed with scientific findings, practical protocols, and sneak peeks at upcoming innovations for brain health.
Brain Under Attack: Dr. Porter starts by noting modern life constantly stresses our brains and bodies. Light acts as a vital “nutrient” we often lack.
“Every cell is absorbing this nutrient called light, which most of us don’t get.” — Dr. Porter [00:00]
The Power of 40 Hz Light:
“40 Hz light…seems to have some magic powers.” — Dave Asprey [00:07]
Peer-Reviewed Evidence:
“We did it with VO2 max—30% more fat metabolism at the cellular level after a BrainTap session.” — Dr. Porter [03:43]
“There’s lights in the visor, there’s lights in the ears…every cell of your body has a chroma form…absorbing this nutrient called light…” — Dr. Porter [03:46]
“One of the tones is a binaural beat…let’s say we put 300 Hz in this ear, 310 in this ear; your brain…hears a phantom sound of 10 Hz.” — Dr. Porter [07:33]
“100% of them got off dementia in six weeks…When you do the whole thing, obviously that’s the best.” — Dr. Porter [07:06]
“…raised the GPA of the school just by doing that…” — Dr. Porter [08:45]
“…three times a day…morning SMR…mid-afternoon reboot…sleep sessions. Our most used time is 10 o’clock at night to 3 in the morning.” — Dr. Porter [09:04]
“We put them back on the circadian clock in less than three weeks. They were sleeping…from zeros…we don’t have enough light to affect that part of the brain.” — Dr. Porter [10:01]
“If you tell it what’s going on…out of the 3,000 sessions…AI will pick the ones that are best for you.” — Dr. Porter [11:06]
“You’re not going to miss BrainTap…VIP room you get to experience our upgraded…human touch chairs…” — Dr. Porter [12:24]
“We can train that brain…all you have to do is kick back, relax, you get a little nap, your brain gets a little exercise and you wake up with more energy.” — Dr. Porter [05:01]
“When the gamma frequency is going, it breaks up amyloid plaque…think about gamma like the bass drum to a band. When you get older that rhythm goes off…part of what happens with dementia and Alzheimer’s…” — Dr. Porter [06:18]
“Isn’t that the definition of biohacking? Change the environment around you and inside you so you have control of your state.” — Dave Asprey [15:36]
For More:
Endnote: This episode offers a concise but powerful look at the next generation of brain biohacking. Both the science and practical results are clear—and Dr. Porter’s passion and experience come through in every exchange.