About the Academy of Brain Stimulation

The Academy of Brain Stimulation bridges the gap between scientific research and clinical practice in the field of noninvasive brain stimulation. The Academy is comprised of international renowned experts and key opinion leaders in Transcranial Brain Stimulation.

We welcome researchers and academics, public and private health care providers, clinicians and practitioners, technicians and representatives from the industry to join the Academy as full members, allowing all stakeholders to be part of an international network of Brain Stimulation Professionals.

The Academy also offers the accredited International Clinical TMS Certification Course. This 3-day academic course is taught live by internationally renowned experts in the field of non-invasive brain stimulation from various prestigious academic and clinical institutes. Academy staff members include world renowned experts in the field of brain stimulation who are at the forefront of scientific and clinical innovation in the field of TMS. Our courses are offered live at various attractive locations throughout the world and at different times a year. Visit our live on-site TMS Certification Courses page for more information.

Don’t want to wait for one of our live courses? No problem. The Academy of Brain Stimulation now also offers a fully digital and on demand comprehensive TMS training and certification program. Simply sign up and start your TMS training immediately. Study at your own pace from the comfort of your own home or clinic or lab or from anywhere you want – whenever you want.

You can sign up to the Academy’s fully digital and on-demand comprehensive TMS training and certification program or become a full member of the Academy of Brain stimulation.

What is TMS and rTMS?

TMS stands for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. TMS hardware includes a generally non-portable stimulation device positioned on a table or trolley, with a port to which different TMS coils can be connected. The TMS coil is placed on the patient’s head and enables transcranial (through the intact skull) painless brain stimulation with few to no side effects.

Repetitive TMS, or rTMS, involves the rhythmic delivery of magnetic pulses, often at either 10 Hertz or 1 Hertz, to respectively enhance or suppress the activity of the targeted region with longer lasting effects. These rTMS-triggered neuroplastic changes have shown to translate into clinically beneficial treatment outcomes for patients in psychiatry, neurology, and neurorehabilitation. It has been suggested that rTMS protocols may achieve these clinical treatment effects by engaging specific synaptic plasticity mechanisms, such as long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD), as well as modulations in functional brain network connectivity.

By now, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation has proven to be clinically effective in treating various neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression, OCD, and neuropathic pain. TMS treatments are FDA-approved, have received level-A recommendation (definitely effective) and are reimbursed by health insurances in a growing number of countries throughout the world.

We have seen patients with severe depression and a long journey of unsuccessful treatment trials reaching full remission after TMS treatment.

TMS has very few to no side effects. In fact, most of our patients don’t experience any side effects at all, while benefitting from sustained clinical improvements.

Importantly, using TMS in the most effective and responsible way requires appropriate training and qualification. This is exactly where our team of internationally renowned TMS experts comes in, offering fully certified and accredited On Demand International Clinical TMS Certification Courses.

Interview with Prof. Dr. Anthony Barker

In this Interview series, Prof. Dr. Alexander Sack speaks with the inventor of TMS, Prof. Dr. Anthony Barker from the University of Sheffield.

Part 1 – The invention of TMS – how it all started

In this first part, Prof. Sack and Prof. Barker talk about the invention of TMS and how it all started.

Part 2 – TMS as a research tool

In this second part, Prof. Sack and Prof. Barker talk about TMS as a research tool and how TMS was adopted by scientists to study the human brain.

Part 3 – TMS as a non-pharmacological treatment alternative

In this third part, Prof. Sack and Prof. Barker talk about TMS as a non-pharmacological treatment alternative in neuropsychiatry.