Training in the practice of noninvasive brain stimulation: Recommendations from an IFCN committee

Peter J Fried; Emiliano Santarnecchi; Andrea Antal; David Bartres-Faz; Sven Bestmann; Linda L Carpenter; Pablo Celnik; Dylan Edwards; Faranak Farzan; Shirley Fecteau; Mark S George; Bin He; Yun-Hee Kim; Letizia Leocani; Sarah H Lisanby; Colleen Loo; Bruce Luber; Michael A Nitsche; Walter Paulus; Simone Rossi; Paolo M Rossini; John Rothwell; Alexander T Sack; Gregor Thut; Yoshikazu Ugawa; Ulf Ziemann; Mark Hallett; Alvaro Pascual-Leone

doi:10.1016/j.clinph.2020.11.018

Training in the practice of noninvasive brain stimulation: Recommendations from an IFCN committee

Clin Neurophysiol. 2021 Mar;132(3):819-837. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2020.11.018. Epub 2020 Dec 3.

Authors

Peter J Fried¹, Emiliano Santarnecchi¹, Andrea Antal², David Bartres-Faz³, Sven Bestmann⁴, Linda L Carpenter⁵, Pablo Celnik⁶, Dylan Edwards⁷, Faranak Farzan⁸, Shirley Fecteau⁹, Mark S George¹⁰, Bin He¹¹, Yun-Hee Kim¹², Letizia Leocani¹³, Sarah H Lisanby¹⁴, Colleen Loo¹⁵, Bruce Luber¹⁶, Michael A Nitsche¹⁷, Walter Paulus², Simone Rossi¹⁸, Paolo M Rossini¹⁹, John Rothwell²⁰, Alexander T Sack²¹, Gregor Thut²², Yoshikazu Ugawa²³, Ulf Ziemann²⁴, Mark Hallett²⁵, Alvaro Pascual-Leone²⁶

Affiliations

¹ Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
² Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
³ Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences & Institut de Neurociències, University of Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain.
⁴ Department for Movement and Clinical Neuroscience, Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, UK.
⁵ Butler Hospital, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School at Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
⁶ Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Johns Hopkins, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁷ Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, Elkins Park, PA, USA; Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Australia.
⁸ Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Surrey, Mechatronic Systems Engineering, Canada.
⁹ Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, CERVO Brain Research Center, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
¹⁰ Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA; Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, Charlestown, SC, USA.
¹¹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
¹² Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Center for Prevention and Rehabilitation, Heart Vascular Stroke Institute, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
¹³ Institute of Experimental Neurology, Ospedale San Raffaele, and Department of Neurology, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milano, Italy.
¹⁴ Division of Translational Research, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MA, USA.
¹⁵ School of Psychiatry and Black Dog Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
¹⁶ Noninvasive Neuromodulation Unit, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
¹⁷ Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dept. Psychology and Neurosciences, Dortmund, Germany.
¹⁸ Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, Unit of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, Siena Brain Investigation and Neuromodulation Lab (Si-BIN Lab), University of Siena, Italy.
¹⁹ Department of Neuroscience and Neurorehabilitation, IRCCS San Raffaele-Pisana, Rome, Italy.
²⁰ UCL Institute of Neurology, University College, London, UK.
²¹ Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, the Netherlands.
²² Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, UK.
²³ Department of Human Neurophysiology, School of Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
²⁴ Department of Neurology & Stroke, and Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Hoppe-Seyler-Str. 3, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
²⁵ Human Motor Control Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
²⁶ Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research and Deanna and Sidney Wolk Center for Memory Health, Hebrew SeniorLife and Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Guttmann Brain Health Institute, Institut Guttmann, Universitat Autonoma, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: apleone@hsl.harvard.edu.

PMID: 33549501
DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2020.11.018

Abstract

As the field of noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) expands, there is a growing need for comprehensive guidelines on training practitioners in the safe and effective administration of NIBS techniques in their various research and clinical applications. This article provides recommendations on the structure and content of this training. Three different types of practitioners are considered (Technicians, Clinicians, and Scientists), to attempt to cover the range of education and responsibilities of practitioners in NIBS from the laboratory to the clinic. Basic or core competencies and more advanced knowledge and skills are discussed, and recommendations offered regarding didactic and practical curricular components. We encourage individual licensing and governing bodies to implement these guidelines.

Keywords: Guidelines; Noninvasive brain stimulation; Training; Transcranial electric stimulation; Transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Brain / physiology*
Clinical Competence* / standards
Humans
Practice Guidelines as Topic* / standards
Stereotaxic Techniques / education
Stereotaxic Techniques / standards
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation / methods*
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation / standards
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / methods*
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / standards

Grants and funding

P20 GM130452/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States