Brain Exercising

Biggles · May 30

i would really like some opinions. We are involved with a disability sailing group. One particular friend, in her 50’s, double degree, has been a mother, a teacher, piano and trumpet player, sailor and scuba diver, a very accomplished all rounder. She has had 3 traumatic head injuries, lost her memory completely and the ability to do anything but now after intenseive medical help its all slowly coming back. She is an advocate for brain exercising. Whatever she has been through, her recovery is quite remarkable. She won't believe that my DH with VD and Aphasia can't be helped. Its made me feel quite pathetic and that I am not doing all I can for him. Has anyone got anything positive or enlightening to say about brain exercise?

sandwichone123 · May 30

Hi Biggles,

There's a big difference between injury and atrophy. Learning and brain training may be helpful for preventing dementias, but there is no research I'm aware of that shows brain training, learning, or games slow or stop the progression.

I think it's pretty common that people believe whatever worked for them will work for everyone, but sometimes different illnesses have different responses to treatment. Beating yourself up for not doing something that has no evidence to back it up will not improve your life or your DH's.

SDianeL · May 30

From AI: TBI and dementia recovery differ significantly. TBI recovery can involve transient cognitive, emotional, and physical symptoms that improve over days to weeks, with most individuals recovering to baseline within 1-3 months. Dementia is a progressive and irreversible condition characterized by a decline in cognitive function, with symptoms worsening over time. While TBI can increase dementia risk, it's not a guarantee, and recovery from TBI is possible.

harshedbuzz · May 30

The brain is not a muscle.

Injury and disease are not equivalent. Damaged tissue has the potential to heal; lost brain tissue cannot regenerate any more than an amputee can grow a new limb.

I have a friend who was injured in a fall who also temporarily lost her short term and working memory and struggled mightily with word finding for several months. Like your friend, this is a very bright and accomplished woman, a nuclear engineer by trade. During her recovery, her neurologists specifically cautioned her against challenging herself mentally or cognitively. The doctors encouraged her to putter in her garden and limit TV to simple shows along the lines of Hallmark Christmas movies.

HB

Chris20cm · May 30

I am a believer brain exercises, to help prevent or minimize memory loss and cognitive deterioration. But I think that believing that it works is necessary for it to work. DW refuses to do brain exercises, but she does 500 piece and 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles and solitaire on her iPhone, which I think helps slow the progression. I could be wrong, but no one knows how much worse it might be if she didn't do those things, or how much better it could be if she would do the same brain exercises that I do every day on BrainHQ, Lumosity and Elevate.

Carl46 · May 30

Brain exercising works to a degree after trauma such as strokes, partly by learning new pathways to do things like move the left arm. The new neural pathways replace the old pathways damaged by the trauma. I'm not a neurologist, I just have a family history of stroke and watched my grandfather recover from his first stroke.

My wife read, until she couldn't. She solved puzzles, until she couldn't. She did embroidery, until she couldn't. What she could not do was learn new things, because that meant forming new memories. And brain exercising means learning new things.

Biggles, the bottom line is that you are not neglecting your husband by failing to engage him in brain exercises.

trottingalong · May 31

I have a friend I was with just today. A biologist by profession. She was diagnosed 6 months ago. Her short term memory is compromised. She truly believed she could continue to challenge her brain and use memory games. She told me today that she feels she’s slipping fast. She said she starts reading a book and will go do something else, come back and she can’t remember if she was reading, what she was reading or what it was about. She said the brain exercises have become too complicated for her.

Biggles · May 31

Thank you so much for your very kind and informed replies. The difference between brain injury and atrophy, that dementia is progressive and that there is a place for brain exercises but probably not with full blown dementia. Also the fact that when someone has had success with brain exercises after a brain injury, that will be their mindset; again a lack of understanding of dementia.

Brain Exercising

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