How to Stimulate the Brain After a Stroke

According to the American Heart Association, stroke killed more than 143,000 people in 2005, making it the third largest cause of death, behind diseases of the heart and cancer. Nevertheless, roughly 6.5 million stroke survivors are alive today, according to the American Heart Association. For many of these people, stimulating the brain following a stroke is critical to improving the brain's ability to function.

Instructions

• 1

  Use computer technology. One way to stimulate your brain is by using software-based technology designed to improve your working memory. According to a 2005 study published in the June 2007 issue of the journal Brain Injury, 89 percent of stroke survivors who used a software-based program to train working memory experienced dramatic improvements in cognitive functioning. See Resources for a link to the manufacturers of the software program.

• 2

  Consider biofeedback therapy. According to Dr. Richard Harvey, medical director of the Stroke Rehabilitation Center at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, stroke survivors often move their arms or legs abnormally. According to Harvey, biofeedback can train the brain to move the body more naturally. Biofeedback involves attaching electrodes to the body. When the stroke survivor moves a muscle, an electrical signal is passed from the muscle to a monitor, which displays a particular image, thus giving the survivor reinforcement every time he moves correctly.

• 3

  Check out visuospatial therapy. According to Dr. Peii Chen, a research scientist at the Stroke Rehabilitation Research Laboratory, 90 percent of stroke survivors have visuospatial deficits, which contribute to poor rehabilitation outcomes, an increase in clinical morbidity, and impairments in competent driving, shopping, sports, computer use and other activities. Visuospatial training can help stroke patients improve these deficits. Visuospatial training includes a host of techniques, including computer exercises where individuals are forced to remember the position of objects that were presented briefly on a screen.

• 4

  Stay abreast of medical advances. Researchers at the Children's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts conducted a study using inosine, a substance that is produced naturally in low levels in the brain. Researchers supplied additional inosine into the brains of rats and found that the additional inosine stimulated healthy nerve cells and caused them to make connections in parts of the brain where nerve cells had been damaged. The process, referred to as "rewiring," could improve the cognitive abilities of stroke survivors. As of yet, this treatment method has not been clinically approved for humans.