personal insights and opinions on the value of websites such as LUMINOSITY: (the state of brightness)
Recently in the journal of neuroscience, there have been findings that online games and brain training exercise’s such as LUMINOSITY for example do not in fact increase your IQ, specifically if used on a casual basis (1).
Besides the fact that there is a subtle difference between brightness and IQ
I don’t think the game was ever designed for the intellectual superior,
Multiple sources and sites highly advocate for sites such as this one, with varied neuroscience study areas promoting the usage of these games. With the proviso and caution that they are there to assist with brain training exercise, and not a magic pill. This industry though to be worth 6 billion dollars is lacking in quality impartial long-term studies evaluating the effectiveness of these games on brain training.
I have had a few brain injuries in my 46 years, the latest being in the latter half of 2015. They discovered a mid-brain Cavernoma (tumour.)
Long story short after 6 weeks in rehab I was released in a wheelchair.
The team of neuro- science people recommended just rest and no stress…which brings up the topic of ” recommended emotional environment while recovering from stroke”. Which I’ll write another time..it’s going to upset a few people.
They did say that any sort of thing you can learn or figure out while staying calm, would be good. This is a natural way to exercise your cognitive abilities. As long as it’s done calmly. So with such advice I set out on a journey trying to figure things out. Now with brain injuries sometimes referred to as the invisible disability i got quite a mix of reactions. The cognitive games and their variations didn’t give me real world problems that only human error can produce and the varying solutions.
Which brings up another point a wise doctor told me, more than the likes of sudoku and their counterparts. Human conversations with real people in person preferably with their interpretations of things and quirky antidotes are the best medicine for recovery, and have the added benefit of warding off dementia.
I was very fortunate with my recovery but must give the credit to God. I didn’t have the Cavernoma cut out or had some portion or other that made things OK.
While in a Haze, I think you have to simplify things down a lot, and you start trusting people based on what you value and the sooner the survivor learns to trust his/her own instincts the better. So what if someone’s personality changes after something traumatic, maybe we should look at someone’s new set of values after something traumatic and value them, as this is how they see the world and can co-exist in it. let’s work with them instead of steering them back to Roman Rule.
Article creator: Angus Booth
1)Hampshire A, Sandrone S, Hellyer PJ. A Large-Scale, Cross-Sectional Investigation Into the Efficacy of Brain Training. Front Hum Neurosci. 2019.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6629869/
2) Pexels 2017, image 1
https://www.pexels.com/