Acquired brain damage is an injury to brain cells that occurs after birth. It may be due to various causes and, depending on where the damage is located, one or the other processes may be affected.
Characteristics of acquired brain damage
It is characterized by its sudden appearance and by the varied set of consequences that it presents according to the area of the injured brain and the severity of the damage. These damages cause anomalies in perception, physical, cognitive and emotional alterations. It should also be noted that it will not affect a developing brain (children) in the same way as a fully developed brain (adults).
Causes of acquired brain damage
The main cause of brain damage is stroke, followed by head injuries and diseases such as anoxia, brain tumors, or infections.
Cognitive rehabilitation activities after acquired brain damage
NeuronUP’s cognitive stimulation program allows neuropsychologists, occupational therapists and speech therapists to adapt each activity to the particularities and needs of people who have suffered brain damage.
The examples of cognitive rehabilitation activities after acquired brain damage described here have been developed by NeuronUP and have been designed to train cognitive functions:
1. Get Dressed
How is it played?
This activity consists of dressing the silhouette in an appropriate way, taking into account both the place and order of placement of each garment and the type of situation.
Play by levels
In the simplest levels there are fewer commands and more instructions in the program to perform the activity correctly, while in the more difficult levels the indications decrease and the demand for clothing is more complex.
Personalization of the activity
In addition, you can customize the activity to suit the capabilities of each user.
General aspects
You can adjust the general aspects such as the number of exercises, the maximum time, whether or not you want a visible stopwatch for the activity, modify the execution instructions, etc.
Parameters
The parameters allow you to select the number of garments, the scenario, if you want to put in a distracting element, the number of mistakes that can be made, the presentation of the garment, and so on.
Adaptability
Finally, you can select whether you want the movement of garments to be dragged to the model or you want the patient to click on the garment and the placement. Depending on the functionality of the patient you can choose either option.
Funciones cognitivas
- Procedural memory
- Body schema
- Praxias ideatorias
- Semantic memory
- Planning
2. Emotion recognition
How is it played?
This activity consists of recognizing the emotions shown and be able to define it. It is available both in digital format and on paper.
Funciones cognitivas
- Social cognition
- Vocabulary
- Reasoning
3. Maze with Alternate Instructions
How is it played?
In this activity you have to go through a maze of figures following different instructions alternately.
Instructions to follow in the following example:
From the starting point to the target alternating these rules to advance:
- Same shape, but different color.
- Same color, but different shape.
*You cannot advance diagonally or repeat squares.
Cognitive Function
- Alternating attention
- Selective Attention
