In past articles, we discussed what brain training is considered to be in depth. We stated that brain training consists of specific exercises targeted at improving cognitive skills. The programs can be in-person or online and are usually intensive requiring the student to make their training a priority in their life.
Brain training is considered to be only one part of keeping your brain healthy. Your brain also requires good nutrition, exercise, stress management and mental stimulation (Fernandez & Goldberg, 2009).
Within the mental stimulation, your brain prospers from being mentally challenged in a diverse manner. It is also known that our brains can be trained beyond just mental stimulation to help strengthen our ability to learn.
Brain training of this sort is only one way of training your brain. Did you know that? If not, let me explain. There are five types of brain training recognized by neuropsychologists today. They are cognitive therapy, meditation, biofeedback, computer-based brain training software and in-person one-on-one brain training.
Cognitive therapy is a special type of talk therapy that combines strategies and skill to help the client train their brain to think in a better supportive manner. Science will tell you if you think or behave in a certain manner over and over again, you are training your brain to respond in a preset manner.
If a client comes to therapy for help with weight loss, for example, cognitive therapists can help the client change the way they think about their weight loss program. Instead of always thinking they will not be successful or that they are hungry and must eat, they will be trained to restate that they can and will be successful in time and that they can choose not to eat (Fernandez & Goldberg, 2009). This type of therapy can work for almost any type of behavior or emotional issue.
Meditation can help to train the brain through focusing on certain thoughts or mantras. As a result, cognitive skills for attention are being strengthened. Meditation can also help with emotions and behavior is the mantra being stated over and over is a positive statement. Add in a visual to support the positive, self-empowering statement and you will see changes in time.
Biofeedback can measure in graphs and visual feedback heart-rate and more to help a client self-adjust in the areas that need to be strengthened. Neurofeedback is considered to be within biofeedback. It uses Electroencephalography (EEG) which measure brain waves in real-time and usually visually to a clinician.
The clinician will interpret and monitor the client to help self-adjust. Some biofeedback centers are geared to children where they use computer monitors disguised as video games. The child is connected via lobes/pads to their head to measure brain waves. As the child attends while relaxing, they game piece progresses and plays. The clinician is next to the child interpreting the data to drive the level of intensity for interaction and brain wave adjustment.
Computer-based software is everything from Nintendo's brain age to the programs that are available to clinicians through certification and licensing. Software programs have research and case studies to back up their claims and are primarily used to target a specific cognitive skill or for overall brain integration and improvement.
The key for software programs is to ensure that the skill trained transfers over to everyday living and not just for areas requiring that skill. If a client is trained on using numbers to strengthen memory than you better be sure the client can remember well everywhere and not just when being asked about numbers.
In-person brain training uses a specific set of exercises implemented in a structured approach to help the student meet success. The in-person training is very intensive and like the software based programs can be individualized and supplemented to help every client with their unique needs. Students prefer in-person training because they are with a trainer or coach and can interact with live feedback and explanation when necessary.
The good news is that neuroscience has proved without a doubt that our brains can and do continue to change, even in structure, and create new neuropathways. So, where a diagnosis label may never disappear, your child can build new neuropathways to process around the existing processing difficulties within their brain. The best way to understand your child's learning difficulties is to asses using the Gibson Online Cognitive Assessment.
Source for data: SharpBrains Guide to Fitness, 2009
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