Whilst everyone who suffers a brain injury has different symptoms there are many cognitive issues that are more common. Whilst I am still trying to develop my skills I thought I would share with you things that have helped me come this far. There have been a few game training programs, that I would recommend you try, and here’s why….
Cogmed Online Training
Annette, from the brain injury charity Headway, set me up on Cogmed brain game training which I could do at home.
To begin with it’s appearance made me assume. But its not if you have a brain injury. However, just like a muscle, if you keep training and practising the brain, it will get better.
It allows you to measure what you’re good at and your progress. That is so important because you need to be able to see you are improving as otherwise it can be difficult to process how far you have come.
It is designed to develop your working memory which many patients report as being an issue. It’s simple to use and although it can feel laborious and frustrating sometimes, you can take a break whenever you are struggling. It’s best to do in the morning before you have worn yourself out as you will get better results. Most patients struggle with fatigue so you do need to take that into account.
Unfortunately you can’t just go to the Cogmed website and start using it. You need to be referred to it by your Occupational Therapist.
Peak brain game training
Available on Apple and Android devices it allows users to develop their skills in language, problem solving, memory, focus, mental agility, emotion and coordination.
It has helped me and I really enjoy it. You can download it for free or upgrade for extra freedom on which games you play. Each day it gives you 5 games to train on that day. It tries to expose you to areas you need to improve in the most first. In addition, you can see how well you perform against the average in your age group. By giving you different tasks you are training different areas of your brain, and so it helps anyone. If you choose to upgrade, as well as being able to to the workout it has planned for you that day, you can play any others too. I love everything about this app, so I did decide to upgrade, but for most people the free version is enough.
Being able to appreciate how far you have progressed since your brain injury is vital. Read 5 shrewd steps to unlock your recovery from brain injury, to see how you can do this in other areas of your life.
8 replies on “Game training that helped me after brain injury”
Are there other games that people like better?
I’ve used BrainHQ and loved it!!
(DAI from MVA, circa 1/15/18
Thanks Lauren, I’m going to go check it out 🙂
Lumosity is great! It was designed by scientists and designers:
‘Our scientists work side-by-side with our designers. They make sure each game maintains the core mechanics of the original task designed to challenge a specific cognitive skill.’
Definitely give it a go, it has helped me so much. I use it everyday and can see how I’m improving and what I need to work on. As well as been great for brain training it’s also a well designed app, nice to use and a lot of detail has gone into it.
lumosity.com
(Phone app and you can also use it on a computer)
That sounds brilliant, I’m definitely going to try that. It’s always good to try different things as it is a new challenge. Thank you so much!
I’m really getting into it. My lowest scores are in speed and concentration which is what the neurophysiologist said so it must be pretty accurate.
Lumosity helped me, I introduced it into my normal daily routine and played it at the same time every day usually just after I walked the dog. I keep a close watch on my scores and love to make little improvements. I’ve recently started working full time and find myself too tired most days to play, but try to play on a weekend.
Another game I found useful is Word Brain, my speech therapist was impressed with it and may try using it with her clients
Lumosity was my particular favourite, in fact I played it every morning after breakfast and was obsessed with tracking my scores. Another good one is Wordbrain, I showed this one to my speech therapist and she was so lmpressed with it that she was going to start using it in her sessions. Like most good games it starts relatively easy and as you progress it gets harder