Cognitive outcomes and strategies after brain injury

What does ‘COGNITIVE’ mean?

Cognitive impairment is common following brain injury. A person may have minimal, or no physical effects, yet be significantly changed by cognitive damage. This makes it important to understand what 'cognitive' really means. For some reason the idea of spelling bees came to mind. Do you remember them? The teacher says “Spell Cognitive” and an earnest voice says "COGNITIVE, C-o-g-n-i-t-i-v-e spells COGNITIVE". Well spelling 'cognitive' might be a whole lot simpler than trying to understand its meaning. Still let's have a go, how hard can it be!!  Well I do know when I started out I found the meaning of "COGNITIVE" difficult to grasp: How did it differ from intellect? What did it do for us in everyday life? What kinds of functions would be damaged when someone had 'cognitive impairment'? At a conference on brain injury, during my early working life, I bought a cassette tape (that dates me a bit!) that described cognitive and executive functions. I listened to it…

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“I’m So Tired My Brain Hurts” Cognitive Fatigue

Have you heard this or similar comments? It’s real. It is termed Cognitive Fatigue. And the good news is there are strategies to help minimize it. Before I get to the strategies, here are a couple of real life descriptions to help explain what it is like: In an article in The Guardian newspaper Tim Lusher  described his experiences following an abscess on the cerebellum, (the part of the brain that controls movement, balance and coordination).He vividly describes cognitive fatigue: [quote]Ah, the tiredness. That's another thing everyone talks about. It's not a tough-week-at-the-office tiredness that you can rally through with a couple of drinks and the prospect of a weekend lie-in. It's a leaden blanket of exhaustion that sweeps over you – utterly undeniable, non-negotiable and unshakeable.[/quote] And this description in an article entitled "Learning to Pace Yourself" from Synapse [quote]Those who haven’t had their brain banged around won’t understand the feeling – they’ll picture how they feel after a bad night’s…

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