Usually at the spa, you might expect a facial and a massage. But at Casa Privée in Miami, you might find yourself spinning around in a rocket ship type pod. Professor Dr. Bankole Johnson is the Chief Executive Officer and founder of the medical facility promoting Theta Chambers as a healing solution, used by NASA, to regain 3 days of sleep in 30 minutes. (1) It’s one of the services offered at the five-star concierge medical facility for mental and physical health optimization, where the neuroscientist uses biohacking, longevity promotion, beauty, neurology, and neuropsychiatry.
Celebrities have flocked to the medical facility for a variety of alternative treatments. In 2023, Alexis Nepola, of The Real Housewives of Miami, expressed optimism at treatments Johnson and his team were providing for her son Frankie who has severe brain damage, AOL reports. (2) NFL Cleveland Browns player David Njoku posed on Instagram in a robe a week ago as a part of their “superhuman protocol” session.
The Casa Privée website takes a deep dive into the potential for the treatment, listing a variety of potential conditions they use it for, from PTSD and Alzheimer’s to depression, addiction, and chronic pain. More controversially, they claim it can alleviate symptoms of ADHD and some types of autism, though they don’t provide research backing this up.
NASA shares how they use the technology, according to Johnson, in this research study, which explains that astronauts sometimes have brain changes in space, resulting in sleep and cognitive issues. “We discuss opportunities and challenges of noninvasive brain stimulation (NiBS) methods — including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) — to support space exploration in several ways,” they wrote. They don’t specifically identify Theta chambers in the study, but rather Johnson says that NiBs is similar to how the Theta chamber works.
“They are all trying to effect the same changes in the brain using different modalities,” Johnson says. “The other modalities use electromagnetism. Theta uses sound and visual stimulation.” Johnson points to other research that links auditory beat stimulation, which the Theta chamber uses, to reduction in anxiety.
The pod, which clicks shut like a tanning bed and spins in a circle, is supposed to “modulate theta brainwaves,” Johnson claims in a video on his website. Other select medical facilities and healing centers use Theta Chambers, which are revised versions of a 1989 invention by Loran Swensen called the Omega Brain 5000. A press release for another wellness center describes the experience as painless, with a series of flashing lights and sound patterns, along with micro-electrical currents thought to increase serotonin, dopamine and other neurotransmitters. (3)
Johnson told Sleepopolis, “The ThetaChamber™ is a unique breakthrough in personal development that helps the brain to reduce stress and regain chemical balance. Using subtle and non-invasive modalities such as vestibular motion, binaural beats, cranial-electrotherapy stimulation, and eye movement desensitization reprogramming (EMDR), the chamber delivers a highly therapeutic effect.” Sessions in the chamber cost $3,200 for ten sessions, or $425 each. Johnson adds that inducing a “theta” brainwave state opens the brain to “suggestion, learning and healing,” and signals to the hypothalamus to return to producing normal levels of serotonin, dopamine, and other neurotransmitters.
“Clients initially feel an enhanced sense of time and space as the chamber begins its spin. The lights, beats, and subtle currents serve as sensory stimulation, delivering customized frequencies. Then the person feels deep relaxation and a stimulation of specific brain activities,” Johnson adds.
If the device can “give back” three days of sleep, there’s still the controversial concept of sleep debt — some scientists don’t think you can pay off sleep debt, or “catch up” on sleep once it’s missed. Others disagree.
Other centers around the country also promote the Theta Chamber as an FDA-cleared neurological therapy, some explaining that you move to a subconscious state, such as how you feel when you are almost asleep.
Johnson’s team says the last time anyone was in a “theta state” was when they were 7 months old, giving new meaning to the concept of “sleeping like a baby.”
But, before turning to alternative healing treatments for major mental and physical health conditions, consult with your own doctor — there’s no definitive proof that the Theta chamber will heal any of the conditions above. But, if you aren’t claustrophobic, it might be a wild ride trying.
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