Daniel Gregory Amen (born July 19, 1954)[1] is an American celebrity doctor[1] who practices as a psychiatrist and brain disorder specialist.
[4][5] Discover Magazine recognized Amen's research on PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) as one of the top 100 science stories of 2015.
[10][11][12][13] Amen has studied brain injuries affecting professional athletes[2] and has consulted on post-concussion issues for the National Football League.
[22] John Seibyl of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging has stated that it is settled that SPECT is of no value for diagnosing psychological disorders.
[23] A 2012 review by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) found that neuroimaging studies "have yet to impact significantly the diagnosis or treatment of individual patients.
"[24] The review also states that neuroimaging studies "do not provide sufficient specificity and sensitivity to accurately classify individual cases with respect to the presence of a psychiatric illness.
"[24] The APA has concluded that "the available evidence does not support the use of brain imaging for clinical diagnosis or treatment of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents.
"[25] According to cognitive neuroscience researcher Martha Farah and psychologist S. J. Gillihan, "[t]he lack of empirical validation has led to widespread condemnation of diagnostic SPECT as premature and unproven.
"[13] Questions have been raised about the ethics of selling SPECT scans on the basis of unproven claims: neuroscience professor Martha Farah calls such use "profitable but unproven" and says, "Tens of thousands of individuals, many of them children, have been exposed to the radiation of two SPECT scans and paid thousands of dollars out of pocket (because insurers will not pay) against the advice of many experts".
[10] Professor of psychology Irving Kirsch has said of Amen's theory: "Before you start promulgating this and marketing it and profiting from it, you should ethically be bound to demonstrate it scientifically in a peer-reviewed, respected journal", as otherwise, "you're just going down the path of being a snake oil salesman".
[1] In a 2011 paper, neuroscientist Anjan Chatterjee discussed example cases that were found on the Amen Clinic's website, including a couple with marital difficulties and a child with impulsive aggression.
The paper noted that the examples "violate the standard of care" because a normal clinical diagnosis would have been sufficient and that there "was no reason to obtain functional neuroimaging for diagnostic purposes in these cases.
[27] As reported by The Washington Post in 2012, officials at major psychiatric and neuroscience associations and research centers see Amen's claims for the use of SPECT as "no more than myth and poppycock, buffaloing an unsuspecting public.
[11] These supplements have been promoted for a number of purported health benefits, including a claimed ability to prevent or stop Alzheimer's disease.
"However, the reader who has any degree of familiarity with mental illness and brain science is left unconvinced that his [Amen's] highly commercialized use of scanning is justified."
[43] In 2017, Amen and his wife, Tana, published The Brain Warrior's Way: Ignite Your Energy and Focus, Attack Illness and Aging, Transform Pain into Purpose, which Harriet Hall reviewed; she wrote: "Much of the advice in this book is mainstream medical advice, and there are helpful practical hints like putting your food on a smaller plate and not shopping for food when you are hungry.
The problem is that the good advice is inextricably mixed with false information and misleading statements, and with detailed recommendations that are not supported by science.