Memory Exercises for People With Brain Injuries

After your loved one suffers damage due to a brain injury, the memory (along with motor skills) can be affected. Reorganizing how you plan your life and daily activities, along with mental exercises, can help you cope and function. Depending on the severity of the injury, you may require the help of family and friends, especially during those first days (or weeks). In time, however, memory exercises may help people with brain injuries.

Organize the Day

• One exercise to support memory is to organize the day. Fill it with routine as well as with memory jogs. By developing a daily routine, the memory will be strengthened through repetitive use. In the beginning, organize only as much as you feel capable of doing. Make a schedule of when you will eat your meals and take any medications. Create a time frame for doing work around the house. Plan a daily walk or other activity, most especially activities you used to do before the injury.

  Use calendars to mark appointments and events. Have these placed in areas you will see frequently, such as on the refrigerator. Post notes to yourself, reminding you to do particular activities. Seeing these references frequently will help stimulate your memory. When putting these together, get some help from family and friends who know you well enough they can remind you of things you may be forgetting.

Take Up New Activities

• Another exercise for stimulating the memory is to take up completely new activities, most especially those which will require you to remember something. New challenges stimulate the brain. Go new places, see new things and meet new people. You could join organizations and get involved. Sign up at a recreation center and start an exercise class. Tai chi is particularly useful as it requires memorizing a form. Start with something small. Whatever you add into your life, be sure to mark it on your calendar so you will remember to go.

Play Games

• Exercise your memory with games. Do crossword puzzles, word search puzzles or sudoku from the newspaper. Go online and play games designed to exercise your memory. Popular memory games include various matching games in which you must remember where you saw an item to match it later. You could also play electronic memory games, such as Simon.