Brain injuries: How brain exercises can make an active difference

September 17, 2024

In this article

The brain is one of your vital organs. It controls your thoughts, feelings, movements, decisions, actions and temperament.

Your brain is well protected, befitting its importance. It’s encased by the bones of your skull and cushioned and nourished by cerebrospinal fluid.

Yet despite this protection, the brain can be injured. When that happens, though, the brain can sometimes demonstrate a remarkable capacity to adapt thanks to a process called neuroplasticity.

How do brain injuries happen?

Traumatic brain injuries occur due to head trauma. That could be due to:

Car accidents
Sports collisions
Workplace accidents
Falls
Assaults.

The brain may also be injured by serious health conditions such as:

Tumour
StrokeBrain haemorrhage (bleeding)
Encephalitis (inflammation).

Given their varied causes, brain injuries may happen at any stage of life. Depending on which area of the brain is affected (and how severely), a brain injury may affect your:

Personality
Relationships
Job performance and employment prospects
Ability to manage daily tasks like personal hygiene or meal preparation
Memory
Energy levels
Physical skills like strength, movement, balance, coordination

Healing brain trauma

Recovery from brain trauma may look different for each person, depending on the nature and severity of your injury.

If you’ve sustained a brain injury, you’re likely to receive support from a team of healthcare professionals, each supporting you in different ways.

Brain exercises may support your healing after a brain injury. Through neuroplasticity, your brain is able to learn different ways of doing things to minimise the impact of your injury. It compensates for a damaged area by recruiting a new area to do the same task, much as you might drive down a side street to escape a traffic jam on the main road.

Depending on your needs, brain-based therapies may include:

Constraining your ‘good’ arm for a short period so your brain keeps trying to use the ‘bad’ side
Using virtual reality games to practice movements in an entertaining environment where levels can be personalised to your needs
Auditory tools like interactive metronome
Memory games and exercises
Problem-solving games
Sensory-motor drills.

Introducing Neurosage

Neurosage is a computer software application that uses carefully created video games to improve brain and body connectivity. It stimulates the brain through sight, sound and movement, helping the left and right sides of the brain to work together as a whole system.

Neurosage may be used in brain injury recovery to improve:

Balance
Cognition
Coordination and control of movement
Mood
Focus and attention
Reaction time.

To use Neurosage, you stand on a vibrating plate wearing a VR headset and headphones and holding an X-box controller. Then you play. Your ‘game’ will have been carefully selected and calibrated for you to meet your therapy needs.

How Neurofit Brain Centre can help

If you or your loved one has experienced a brain injury, then please come to see us. We will assess your injury and its impact on your life. Then we’ll develop a targeted, enjoyable therapy program to aid your recovery.

That may include use of Neurosage or a number of other therapies designed to stimulate your brain to aid your recovery from injury.

Please book an assessment today.

Disclaimer

All information is general and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Neurofit Brain Centre can consult with you to confirm if a particular treatment approach is right for you.