Exomind: Can We Train the Brain Like We Do the Body?

By Dr. Desiree Eakin

Dear Maryam,

The next status symbol isn’t six-pack abs, it’s cognitive strength. We count protein grams and steps with near-religious devotion, yet rarely think about training the brain itself, even as the wellness industry finally begins to look north and ask a new question: can we care for the mind with the same intention we care for the body?

The Next Frontier of Wellness Is a Stronger Brain

For the last several years, the wellness conversation has focused on building a stronger body.  We track our steps. We lift weights. We monitor our protein, body composition, sleep scores, hormones, glucose, and longevity markers. We know that muscle matters. We know that metabolism matters.  And we know that physical strength is one of the most important predictors of how well we age.

But there is another question we are not asking loudly enough:  What about a stronger mind?

As a physician practicing integrative and aesthetic medicine, I see this disconnect every day. Patients come in wanting to feel vibrant, focused, youthful, and in control of their health. But beneath the surface, many are quietly worried about their brains. They are forgetting names. Losing focus. Feeling emotionally reactive. Struggling with sleep. Walking into rooms and forgetting why they came in. Feeling foggy, overstimulated, anxious, emotionally flat, or simply unlike themselves.

For some, there is an even deeper fear: “Is this just stress, or is this the beginning of something more?”  That fear is understandable. Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are no longer distant concerns reserved for someone else’s family. They are part of the modern health conversation. Many of us have watched a parent, grandparent, spouse, patient, or friend change because of cognitive decline. Once you have seen that happen, brain health stops feeling abstract. It becomes personal.

This is why I believe we are entering a new era of wellness—one that recognizes that brain health is not separate from body health. The brain is the body’s command center.  When the brain is under chronic stress, the rest of the body feels it. Stress can affect sleep, blood sugar, hormones, inflammation, appetite, mood, memory, immune function, and even how we recover. The brain is not simply where we think. It is also where we regulate. It helps coordinate how we respond to the world around us and the world within us. When the brain is overwhelmed, under-supported, or dysregulated, the body often follows.

This is where Exomind enters the conversation.  Exomind by BTL Industries is a noninvasive technology that uses transcranial magnetic stimulation, commonly known as TMS. In simple terms, it delivers magnetic pulses that stimulate targeted areas of the brain involved in mood, emotional regulation, self-control, and cognitive function. The goal is to encourage healthier communication between brain pathways and support greater efficiency. There is no surgery, anesthesia, or medication involved. A patient sits comfortably during treatment and can typically return to normal activity afterward.

I often explain it to patients this way: we understand the concept of exercising a muscle. If we want stronger legs, we stimulate the muscles through movement and resistance. If we want better cardiovascular endurance, we train the heart and lungs over time. Exomind applies a similar principle to the brain—not by treating the brain as a muscle, but by stimulating targeted neural pathways in a way that may support connectivity, regulation, and resilience.

Exomind is FDA-cleared for the treatment of depression and uses ExoTMS™, BTL’s patented form of transcranial magnetic stimulation. ExoTMS exists within a much larger and rapidly developing field of noninvasive brain stimulation. Researchers are studying how different forms of TMS may influence memory, cognitive decline, mild cognitive impairment, migraine, compulsive behaviors, anxiety, and emotional regulation. These emerging areas of research point toward an exciting possibility: that brain stimulation may one day play a broader role in how we protect and support brain health throughout our lives.

That possibility is especially meaningful at a time when so many people are searching for ways to preserve not only how long they live, but how well their minds function as they age.

In my practice, I use Exomind within a broader integrative medicine framework. Many people first ask about it because they are struggling with mood, brain fog, stress, sleep disruption, binge-eating tendencies, migraines, or the feeling that their brain is not performing the way it once did. Some are high-functioning but exhausted. Some are worried about changes in memory. Others are navigating perimenopause or menopause and are surprised by how much their mental clarity, emotional stability, and motivation have changed.

Although Exomind is FDA-cleared for depression, my clinical experience has encouraged me to think more broadly about the role that brain regulation may play in a person’s overall health and well-being. Patients often describe changes that extend beyond mood alone, including feeling calmer, sleeping better, thinking more clearly, or feeling more capable of following through on healthy decisions. These experiences do not replace clinical research, but they reinforce the importance of continuing to study the relationship between brain stimulation and whole-person health.

What many of these patients have in common is that they do not simply want to feel less bad. They want to feel more like themselves. That distinction matters. For too long, medicine has often waited until the brain is in crisis before intervening. Depression must become severe. Memory loss must become obvious. Burnout must become collapse. But brain health should not begin only when dysfunction is advanced. Just as we talk about preventive cardiology, metabolic health, and strength training for longevity, we need to talk about proactive brain health.

A strong brain is not simply a brain without disease. It is a brain that can adapt, regulate, recover, focus, sleep, remember, connect, and respond rather than constantly react.  This is especially important for women. Hormonal transitions, chronic stress, poor sleep, postpartum mood changes, caregiving, professional pressure, inflammation, and metabolic changes can all affect how the brain feels and functions. Many women are told their labs are normal while they are silently struggling with brain fog, irritability, anxiety, low motivation, disrupted sleep, or changes in memory.

We also know that stress does not remain confined to the mind. Chronic stress can disrupt the nervous system, alter hormonal signaling, disturb sleep, increase inflammation, and impair the body’s ability to function and recover at its best. Supporting brain health, therefore, is not only about improving how we think or feel. It is an essential part of supporting the entire body.

Exomind offers one tool that can be incorporated into a more comprehensive approach to brain resilience. It does not replace neurological evaluation, medical care, therapy, movement, restorative sleep, balanced nutrition, metabolic health, or meaningful human connection. Nor is it a cure for Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.  But it represents hope and a willingness to think differently about what proactive brain care may look like.

The future of wellness cannot only be about strong bodies. It must also be about how well our brains function. Can we focus? Can we regulate our emotions? Can we recover from stress? Can we sleep? Can we remember? Can we make decisions that support our future selves?  That is the conversation I believe Exomind is helping to open. We are not just treating mood. We are rethinking brain health. And in a world where cognitive decline is one of the greatest fears of aging, that conversation cannot come soon enough.