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What can be done to help regain cognitive skills after brain injury?
Memory is usually one of the first problems people experience after a head injury, and it is one of the last of the cognitive functions to return. Although the degree and nature of memory impairments varies in each situation, there are common patterns. Early in the recovery many, if not most, survivors suffer from post-traumatic amnesia after a period of unconsciousness. As recovery advances, the survivor will notice continued improvements in recalling events occurring prior to the injury. Short-term memory will generally be delayed in the recovery, with few individuals having suffered moderate or severe brain injuries ever realizing 100% recovery.
Community living skills, domestic and household duties, communication (reading, writing, using the telephone), money management, time management, driving and public transport and social skills may require retraining. TBI can affect competency to make important financial decisions, to comply with medical management, to give informed consent, and to make other life decisions. An order to appoint a guardian or administrator may be required in specific situations. Neuropsychological assessments can help to define the extent and type of cognitive disability resulting from the injury. This information can be used to help develop individualized strategies for compensation.
There are a number of things that you can do to improve memory. Many of these practices are simple, nonetheless, they require lifestyle changes that initially may seem difficult. The place to begin is by making sure you get enough sleep and eat properly, avoiding stimulants and nicotine. Regular exercise also will improve your memory. Putting yourself in a position where you are using your memory every day also will help. For example, taking non-credit courses at a community college will improve memory. Other forms of mental activity also may help like doing crossword puzzles, playing computer games, or reading books. Learning new ways to remember also can help. For example, learning how to form mental pictures of things you want to remember or using other memory tricks such as "mnemonics" can be useful.
Memory rehabilitation programs have been developed around the country and are a part of many inpatient and outpatient cognitive rehabilitation programs. These programs focus on teaching compensatory skills, retraining attention ability, and retraining memory processing. The research has demonstrated that "memory notebooks or logbooks" are the most cost effective ways of enhancing recall. These books act as data banks for all important dates, personal information, and anything else you want to remember. For those with a few more dollars, Neuropager has been assisting many individuals with memory impairments. This is essentially an easy-to-use "programmable" pager system that alerts you of your schedule and other information that you have instructed it to recall for you. You also can attempt to use other memory "tricks" to enhance your recall (e.g., associate names with images). Also, the old standby of rehearsal or repetition still has its place. No one strategy works for everyone.