This Man’s Brain Recovery Has Baffled Scientists And Provided Hope For Others (The Telegraph):
“…The odds of surviving a coma are notoriously hard to predict, brain injury being the most complex of problems afflicting the most complex organ in the body…In Lewis’s case, it took a village to rebuild his mind – in his talks he attributes his progress to issues as disparate as circulation and jaw alignment. But he owes much of it to Dr Lois Provda, an educational therapist in West Hollywood – not a ground-breaking scientist, or prize-winning researcher, just a conscientious practitioner who helps those who have slipped down the learning curve…
Until relatively recently neuroscientists believed each part of the brain had a well-defined, unchanging role; if it was damaged there was little you could do about it, you just had to learn to live with it. But it is now widely acknowledged that the brain is more versatile than that and that, with the right sort of cognitive training, it is possible to persuade other areas of the brain to take on, at least to some extent, the tasks formerly carried out by those areas that have been damaged…
In the past decade especially, companies such as Lumosity, Posit, Nintendo and Cogmed have harnessed the language of physical fitness – “it’s a gym for the mind!” – to sell a multiplicity of apps, games and digital exercises that promise to, in the words of the Lumosity publicity, “build your cognitive reserve”. According to SharpBrains, a neuroscience market research consultancy, the global revenues of the brain training industry increased from $200?million in 2005 to $1.3?billion in 2013…
“It’s people’s attitudes and support system that really distinguish who recover well and who don’t,” says Jeffrey Kreutzer…“Recovery isn’t just neuronal – it’s a process that involves family support, as well as a positive attitude.”
Learn more:
- Infographic on the Digital Brain Health Market 2012–2020
- 2014 SharpBrains Virtual Summit (October 28–30th, 2014)
