Jon Stojan
Image credit: Neurosurgery & Spine Group (NSG)
In the heart of Santa Monica, a quiet revolution in neurosurgery is underway. At the Neurosurgery & Spine Group (NSG), Dr. Jared Ament and Dr. Amir Vokshoor are dismantling long-held assumptions in spine care with a shared mission: to preserve motion, optimize brain-body integration, and place patients at the center of their healing journey.
Together, they’ve built a model that’s equal parts cutting-edge science and holistic artistry.
Dr. Ament has earned a nickname he didn’t choose but wears proudly: the “anti-fusion doctor.”
“I’m not sure which patient coined that term first, but I didn’t start that one,” Ament says with a laugh. “I did start the online phrase ‘Stop the Madness’ as it relates to spine fusions. Maybe I should make a shirt?”
His philosophy is grounded in a biomechanical truth: the spine is meant to move. “If you thought about fusing a hip or knee together today, it would be considered heresy,” he says. “We have arthroplasty technology for a reason.”
Instead of defaulting to spinal fusion, once considered the gold standard, Ament and Vokshoor focus on motion-preserving procedures like artificial discs and facet joint replacements. “Fusion has its place,” he admits. “But it should be limited and not the standard of care in my humble opinion.”
His passion has led NSG to become the first known practice globally to pioneer the 360-degree full motion preservation trial, a groundbreaking combination of artificial lumbar disc and facet joint replacement. “We’re trying to prevent these cases from being fused while hoping to preserve motion,” he explains. “It’s a more holistic and global spine health solution.”
Ament’s work is also gaining national attention. He was recently a guest on the high-profile podcast The Genius Life, hosted by science journalist and New York Times best-selling author Max Lugavere. The podcast, which boasts millions of listeners, featured Ament not only as a guest expert, but as Lugavere’s own spine surgeon. The episode offered a powerful testimonial to Ament’s integrative approach and patient care.
Where Ament’s work leans heavily into surgical innovation, Dr. Vokshoor offers a complementary perspective rooted in neuro-philosophy and patient-centered healing.
“My method is to identify the patient’s pain points and map them anatomically, physiologically, and psychologically to craft the best integrative solution,” he says.
Image credit: Neurosurgery & Spine Group (NSG)
He’s the founder of the Institute of Neuro Innovation (iNI), a nonprofit that unites clinicians and scientists to explore the vast interplay of the brain, spine, gut, skin, and heart. “iNI clarifies the latest understanding of our grander nervous system,” he explains. “It’s about optimizing energy, brain health, and recovery.”
His clinical offshoot, Neurovella, brings this philosophy to the bedside. “From simple breathwork to precise brain mapping, Neurovella aims to inform clients of their brain-body energy connection and how to optimize it.”
While their paths were vastly different, Ament trained in global health systems from Israel to Bolivia and studied health economics at Harvard; Vokshoor focused early on precision and mindfulness. Their partnership at NSG is seamless.
“I think our partnership exemplifies what is still possible in medicine,” says Vokshoor. “The camaraderie in the OR and safety of my experience mixed with Ament’s technical proficiency is quite magical.”
Ament echoes the sentiment. “I must give enormous credit to my partner who helped balance me in every way, but also for believing in me to push and question and be at the frontiers.”
This fusion of technical mastery and emotional intelligence is what makes NSG different. Every treatment begins with what they call “human connection.”
“We aim for exceptional care delivered through first a human connection,” says Vokshoor. “We hear it from our patients all the time: ‘you guys are different.'”
That difference extends beyond the operating room. Patients undergoing complex spine surgeries often face exhaustion, confusion, and chronic fatigue, factors many practices ignore.
“I have a multi-point lifestyle program,” Vokshoor shares, “starting with mental awareness and nutritional supplements, all the way to sleep hygiene.”
Ament agrees that healing must be multidimensional. That’s why he co-created Axon MD and its signature product Mastermind+, a neuro-nutritional and nootropic supplement designed to enhance cognitive resilience and healing.
“We wanted to offer our patients more than just surgery,” Ament says. “Mastermind is the basic multivitamin for your brain, improving neuronal membrane stability, mitochondrial metabolism, and even cognition.”
Image credit: Neurosurgery & Spine Group (NSG)
NSG’s most ambitious work lies in motion-preserving spine surgery. From artificial disc to facet replacements, they’re rewriting the rules.
“There is excellent data that demonstrates fusions create increased load and stress on the levels above and below,” Ament explains. “Solving a problem by accelerating degeneration elsewhere just doesn’t make sense. It’s an awful ‘duct-tape’ solution.”
The solution, both doctors believe, is to preserve what nature designed.
“Restoring motion to any part of the spine that is supposed to move naturally is better than eliminating its motion,” Vokshoor states simply.
And yet, the field remains cautious. “Most shy away from this work because of the medico-legal environment,” Ament says. “But we believe in what we’re doing. We’re proceeding ethically, with sound clinical and research principles.”
Both physicians bring global perspective to their local practice. Ament travels yearly to Bolivia to lead neurosurgical bootcamps, training the next generation. “It’s not surgical tourism,” he says. “It’s sustainable impact, education and local innovation.”
Vokshoor shares a similar ethos, emphasizing lifelong learning and scientific humility. “The art of healing and the science of medicine must always be balanced,” he says. “Humans are not robots, yet anyway.”
At its core, NSG operates on a simple but radical principle: do unto others.
“I want the best options to be standard,” Ament says. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
For both surgeons, that means pushing boundaries while staying rooted in empathy, science, and the sacred responsibility of healing.
In a world often defined by surgical routine and reactive care, the Neurosurgery & Spine Group is doing something truly revolutionary: giving patients back their motion—and their lives.