Rehabilitation (neuropsychology)


Rehabilitation of sensory and cognitive function typically involves methods for retraining neural pathways or training new neural pathways to regain or improve neurocognitive functioning that have been diminished by disease or trauma.
Three common neuropsychological problems treatable with rehabilitation are attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, concussion, and spinal cord injury. Rehabilitation research and practices are a fertile area for clinical neuropsychologists, rehabilitation psychologists, and others.

Methods

, occupational therapy, and other methods that "exercise" specific brain functions are used. For example, eye–hand coordination exercises may rehabilitate certain motor deficits, or well structured planning and organizing exercises might help rehabilitate executive functions, following a traumatic blow to the head.
Brain functions that are impaired because of traumatic brain injuries are often the most challenging and difficult to rehabilitate. Much work is being done in nerve regeneration for the most severely damaged neural pathways.
Neurocognitive techniques, such as cognitive rehabilitation therapy, provide assessment and treatment of cognitive impairments from a variety of brain diseases and insults that cause persistent disability for many individuals. Such disabilities result in a loss of independence, a disruption in normal childhood activities and social relationships, loss in school attendance, and educational and employment opportunities. Injuries or insults that may benefit from neurocognitive rehabilitation include traumatic and acquired brain injuries, cranial radiation, intrathecal chemotherapy and neurological disorders, such as ADHD.
The rehabilitation targets cognitive functions such as attention, memory, and executive function. Specific programs are tailored to develop and address an individual's challenges after a baseline assessment of abilities and challenges.

Concussion

Much research and focus has been given to concussion suffered frequently by athletes. While the severity of brain trauma has been standardized for immediate "sideline" assessment, much work needs to be done to understand how to rehabilitate or accelerate the rehabilitation of athletes' brain function following serious concussion—whether consciousness is lost or a dazed/confused feeling is experienced or not. Currently, rehabilitation of concussive brain injury is based on rest and gradual return to normal activities with as much involvement as can be tolerated.

Methods & Tools

; Standardized neuropsychological tests
; Brain scans
; Global Brain Project
; Electrophysiology
; Experimental tasks