The Washington Post Magazine has published an in-depth article on Daniel Amen, the psychiatrist whose pledge programs have raised some $40 million for PBS stations. It focuses on Amen’s use of SPECT, or single photon emission computed tomography, a nuclear imaging test measuring blood flow in organs, and the controversy that his claims of success have sparked in the field of psychiatry.
In the story, Amen says his latest PBS pledge program, “Use Your Brain to Change Your Age,” has aired 2,300 times on member stations so far this year. Maryland Public Television says 252 presentations have netted about $400,000 in donations; WETA in suburban D.C. ran it six times in June, raising $68,000.