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Synapse Sessions 2026
A 15-credit virtual symposium advancing functional neurology across vestibular, cognitive, pain, and neurorehabilitation science
Fifteen hours of advanced functional neurology CE spanning vestibular science, concussion, cognitive rehab, pain neuroscience, and gut-brain research.
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Course Description
Functional neurology is advancing faster than most continuing education frameworks can follow. The cases clinicians encounter today, complex concussion presentations, non-responsive vestibular patients, fibromyalgia with measurable movement deficits, cognitive network dysfunction after brain injury, demand a caliber of clinical reasoning that isolated workshops rarely develop.
Synapse Sessions 2026 is designed for the clinician who is already practicing at a high level and wants to go further. Across fifteen credit hours, a faculty of specialized clinicians and researchers brings the current edge of neuroscience directly into clinical application. Topics span gravito-inertial acceleration mechanics, infrared oculomotor assessment, threat-appraisal physiology in stalled concussion recovery, neurological shoulder frameworks, lens prescribing neuroscience, hippocampal neurogenesis, ecological neurorehabilitation, chronic pain science, anterior cervical neuroanatomy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, fibromyalgia and sensorimotor dysfunction, exercise neuroscience for brain longevity, higher-order cognitive network rehabilitation, ghrelin and the gut-brain axis, and the neurophysiology of Type 1 Diabetes.
This is clinical neuroscience education built for the reality of complex patient care.
What you’ll learn:
- Apply GIA vector mechanics to assess and treat complex vestibular presentations
- Use infrared oculomotor findings to sharpen post-concussive clinical differentials
- Recognize threat-appraisal physiology as a driver of stalled concussion recovery
- Integrate ecological and cognitive rehab principles into functional neurology practice
- Connect neuroendocrine, pain, and exercise science to patient-centered brain care
More About This Course
The landscape of functional neurology clinical education is shifting. Clinicians working with vestibular disorders, post-concussion syndrome, chronic pain, cognitive network dysfunction, and complex neurorehabilitation cases are no longer well-served by training that addresses these systems in isolation. The science connecting vestibular mechanics, autonomic regulation, neuroendocrine signaling, oculomotor control, sensorimotor integration, and higher-order cognitive networks is converging, and clinical practice must converge with it. Synapse Sessions 2026 is the Carrick Institute's response to that convergence: a fifteen-credit virtual symposium that brings the current edge of functional neurology, vestibular rehabilitation, concussion neuroscience, pain science, and integrative neurorehabilitation into a single, cohesive clinical education experience.
Each session within Synapse Sessions 2026 is presented by a faculty member whose clinical and academic depth in their subject area is not incidental but defining.
Synapse Sessions 2026 is designed for licensed clinicians already operating within functional neurology, chiropractic neurology, neurorehabilitation, physical medicine, and integrative clinical care who want access to the scientific depth that complex cases now demand. Whether your focus is vestibular rehabilitation, concussion management, chronic pain, cognitive neurorehabilitation, or systemic neurophysiology, this symposium delivers fifteen hours of precisely calibrated, immediately applicable clinical education from faculty who are working at the leading edge of their disciplines.
The Carrick Institute has trained clinicians in functional neurology for decades, building a global community of practitioners committed to the highest standard of neurologically grounded clinical care. Synapse Sessions 2026 reflects that commitment at the level it has always deserved.
Components
Educational Syllabus
- Mastering the GIA Vector in Vestibular Assessment and Treatment
- Explore gravito-inertial acceleration mechanics and gain precision clinical tools for manipulating head tilt, translation, and body position to drive neuroplasticity across vestibular, cerebellar, and autonomic pathways in complex balance cases.
- What Infrared Darkness Reveals About Post-Concussive Oculomotor Function
- Learn to apply infrared goggles in complete darkness to identify spontaneous nystagmus, gaze instability, and position-dependent oculomotor dysfunction that standard concussion exams consistently miss. Build a sharper clinical differential.
- Threat-Appraisal State as the Missing Concussion Differential
- When rehab works in-session but gains dissolve between visits, the central autonomic network may be suppressing plasticity. Map the insula, ACC, amygdala, and PAG and learn intake identification and modified dosing for threat-state patients.
- The NeuroStability Model for the Painful Shoulder
- Reframe shoulder pain as a neurological adaptive response. Explore proprioception, motor control, and sensorimotor processing as primary clinical variables and gain a neurologically grounded assessment framework for complex shoulder presentations.
- How Lenses Shape the Brain: Neurology of the Ophthalmic Prescription
- Discover how plus, minus, cylindrical, and prismatic lenses alter accommodative demand, vergence load, fixation disparity, and spatial localization. Gain a neuroscience framework for interpreting prescriptions as neurological instruments.
- Hippocampal Neurogenesis and the Emerging Science of Lithium as a Trace Element
- Review hippocampal architecture and adult neurogenesis mechanisms. Critically appraise the 2025 Nature findings on physiological lithium, examine Dr. Nehls' framework, and integrate this science into existing functional neurology protocols safely.
- Ecological Neuroscience and Real-World Neurological Transfer
- Examine why clinical gains made in controlled environments fail to generalize. Explore how deliberate ecological enrichment of movement and sensory environment drives cortical integration and builds the adaptive capacity patients need beyond the clinic.
- Nociception Is Not Pain: Chronic Pain Neuroscience for Clinicians
- Build a precise neuroscience framework distinguishing nociception from pain perception. Explore peripheral and central sensitization, descending modulatory dysfunction, threat appraisal, and neuroplasticity with patient-ready communication strategies.
- The Anterior Neck as a Missing Variable in Brain Rehabilitation
- Examine cranial nerve relationships, autonomic pathways, vascular corridors, and lymphatic structures of the anterior cervical spine. Gain a neuroanatomically precise rationale for integrating anterior neck manual therapy into neurorehabilitation.
- HBOT, Functional Neurology, and Integrative Concussion Recovery
- Understand how hyperbaric oxygen drives neuroplasticity through cerebrovascular remodeling, inflammation reduction, and mitochondrial support. Learn to frame HBOT within a unified chiropractic and functional neurology concussion recovery model.
- Movement Dysfunction as Neurological Data in Fibromyalgia
- Explore research-documented gait, balance, and sensorimotor integration deficits in fibromyalgia patients. Reframe these findings as neurological signatures and gain structured assessment and individualized neurorehabilitation planning frameworks.
- Exercise Intensity Zones and VO2 Max as Brain Health Science
- Map exercise intensity zones 1 through 7 to distinct neuroplastic and physiological outcomes. Reframe VO2 max as a cognitive longevity biomarker and gain translatable frameworks for prescribing brain-protective exercise with clinical precision.
- Conservative Rehabilitation of Higher-Order Cognitive Networks
- Apply functional neuroanatomy to assess and rehabilitate higher-order cognitive networks. Integrate vision, vestibular, sensorimotor, and autonomic rehabilitation strategies into individualized treatment plans with objective outcome measurement.
- Ghrelin, the Gut-Brain Axis, and Emerging Concussion Science
- Reframe ghrelin as a neuroendocrine signal with roles in neuroinflammation, neuroprotection, and neuroplasticity. Trace gut-vagus-hypothalamus-CNS pathways and evaluate preclinical and early clinical evidence for ghrelin-based concussion research.
- Neurophysiology of Type 1 Diabetes Beyond Glucose Management
- Build a neurophysiological framework for T1D encompassing autonomic glucose regulation, glycemic effects on cognition, exercise-induced hormonal dynamics, HPA axis stress responses, sleep science, and modern diabetes technology integration.
Venue, Hotels & Schedule
Also includes
Synapse Sessions 2026
Fifteen hours of advanced functional neurology CE spanning vestibular science, concussion, cognitive rehab, pain neuroscience, and gut-brain research.
$
$
(
$
The Carrick Institute team is ready to assist with enrollment, CE approval, or program planning. Email visit our CE Portal or Contact Us directly.