17 Cognitive Exercises for Post-Concussion Syndrome You Can Do at Home
Overview
The blog post from Cognitive FX discusses the role of cognitive exercises in aiding recovery from post-concussion syndrome. It advocates for active recovery through cognitive exercises instead of passive recovery methods like "cocooning."
Importance of Cognitive Exercises
- Neuroplasticity: Utilizes the brain's ability to recover and re-establish connections affected by the injury.
- Post-Exercise Cognitive Boost (PECB): Enhances the effectiveness of cognitive exercises through aerobic exercises.
- Active Recovery: Helps in reducing symptoms and improving the quality of life, contrary to passive recovery methods.
Cognitive Exercises
The blog suggests 17 cognitive exercises to aid in the recovery process. These exercises help improve various cognitive functions such as attention, memory, and language.
Here are some of them:
1. Card Sorting
- Difficulty: Low to medium
- Benefits: Improves attention and memory
Goal
- To improve your memory and quick-thinking skills by sorting the cards correctly and beating your previous time with each attempt.
Setup:
- Step 1: Get a deck of 50 playing cards.
- Step 2: Find and separate the aces of each suit.
- Step 3: Decide on a specific order for the aces (like hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades) and memorize it.
- Step 4: Turn the aces face down so you can't see which is which.
Main Activity:
- Step 5: Shuffle the remaining cards.
- Step 6: Pick one card at a time from the shuffled deck.
- Step 7: Guess the suit of the card and place it face down under the ace you think matches the suit.
- Step 8: Try to do this activity quickly, and time yourself to see how fast you can do it.
Advanced Level (Optional)
- Step 9: While sorting the cards, have a friend say a word, and you have to quickly say the opposite word. (For example, if they say "happy," you say "sad.")
- Step 10: Continue this while sorting the cards to add a challenging twist to the exercise.
Checking Your Work
- Step 11: After sorting all the cards, turn over the piles to check if the cards match the correct aces.
- Step 12: Count how many cards you sorted correctly and how many were misplaced.
2. Boggle
- Difficulty: Varies
- Benefits: Enhances language and processing speed
Goal
- Fun and Learning: The goal is to have fun while also testing and improving your vocabulary and quick-thinking skills.
How to Play
- Grid of Letters: The game is played with a grid that has either 4x4 or 5x5 squares, each containing a letter.
- Finding Words: Create words by connecting letters that are next to each other in any direction, including diagonally.
- Time Limit: You have a set time to find as many unique words as possible.
Playing Online
- Website: Try playing Boggle online on Wordtwist, a website that offers a digital version of the game.
- Competing with Others: You can compete with other players online and try to get a high score.
- Viewing Others' Answers: After the time is up, you can see the words other players found.
Submitting Words on Wordtwist
- Selecting Letters: To create a word, click the first letter of your chosen word, hover over each letter in the word in order, and then click the last letter to submit it.
- Don't Be Discouraged: Some players have very high scores, but don't be discouraged if you don't get on the leaderboard. Just have fun!
3. SET
- Difficulty: Varies
- Benefits: Aids vision and executive function
Where to Play
- Physical Game: You can play SET with a physical card set.
- Online Version: Play SET for free on the NY Times website.
How to Play
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Objective: Find sets of three cards where the features either all match or are all different.
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Features to Consider:
- Color
- Pattern
- Shape
- Number of shapes
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Creating a SET: A SET is made when you find three cards that either have all the same features or completely different features for each of the characteristics mentioned above.
Example of a SET
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SET 1:
- Shape: All ovals
- Color: Different colors on each card
- Pattern: All empty (no pattern inside the shapes)
- Number: Single shape on each card
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SET 2:
- Shape: Different shapes on each card
- Color: Different colors on each card
- Pattern: Different patterns on each card
- Number: Different number of shapes on each card
Tips
- Practice: It might be a bit confusing at first, but with practice, it becomes a great brain exercise.
- Rule to Remember: The main rule is that the features on the cards in a SET must either be all the same or all different.
4. Tangrams
- Difficulty: Varies
- Benefits: Helps with vision and executive function
What are Tangrams?
- Puzzle Game: Tangrams are puzzles where you use different shapes to create a specific image.
- Shapes Used: The shapes you'll use include squares, triangles, and a rhombus.
How to Play
- Starting Point: You begin with a set number of shapes and a picture of the final image you need to create.
- Goal: Your task is to figure out how to arrange the shapes to match the given image.
Getting Tangrams
- Buying: You can buy sets of tangram blocks.
- DIY: Make your own by printing shapes on paper.
- Online Resources: Find and print different patterns from the internet to use in your game.
Tip
- Website for Beginners: If you're new, you can start by printing paper tangrams from specific websites that offer a variety of patterns to try.
5. Hart Chart Decoding
- Difficulty: Varies
- Benefits: Improves language and oculomotor function
What is it?
- Eye Exercise: Hart Chart decoding is an exercise that helps in improving your eye function and involves some thinking too.
- Suitability: It's easy to do unless you have serious vision problems.
How to Do the Exercise
- Step 1: Stick the Hart Chart, which is a chart with letters, on a wall a bit away from where you're sitting.
- Step 2: Get a puzzle sentence from hartchartdecoding.com. You can create a new puzzle sentence or choose a pre-made one from the website.
- Step 3: Print the puzzle.
Solving the Puzzle
- Step 4: The puzzle has coordinates that guide you to find missing letters on the Hart Chart.
- Step 5: Find and note down each missing letter according to the coordinates to uncover a hidden message.
- Step 6: Repeat the process for all the missing letters in the puzzle until you reveal the full message.
Tip
- Help: If possible, have someone assist you in setting up the puzzle to make the process smoother.
Find more exercises here
Bonus Course
The blog mentions a bonus course focused on managing headache symptoms, a common issue post-concussion.
Cognitive FX Services
- Functional Neurocognitive Imaging (fNCI): Used to tailor treatments to individual needs.
- Consultation: Encourages individuals to consult with professionals to find the right treatment program.
- Testimonials: Shares success stories of patients who have benefited from their treatment program.
Conclusion
The post concludes by highlighting the high success rate of the Cognitive FX treatment program and encourages readers to explore treatment options through consultation.