12 Aug

Posted at 00:00h in Article, friendship, Highlight, Neuroscience, Occupational Therapy, Social Cognition, TBI
Many survivors of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) often deal with feelings of anger and irritability after their injury. For some, these feelings of anger can range from mild to severe, and have been studied across different samples of people. Post-traumatic anger is different in each individual, and can be complicated to understand because they cause different changes in the brain. These changes can modify behavior and create cognitive deficits that can interfere with the ability to communicate and socialize with other people. Additionally, many individuals with brain injury have a challenging time grasping not being independently in charge of the financial and social factors in their lives.

20 Apr

Posted at 08:00h in Article, Children, Cognitive Therapy, Highlight, Patient engagement, Professions, research
With the advancements of technology, neuropsychological assessments have been adapted to be done on a computer. Neuropsychologists and other clinical providers are interested in the effects of using these computerized neuropsychological assessments and whether there are any age or sex differences in their performance of them. Children are of particular interest, as the detection of mental health, neurological disorders, and developmental disabilities are starting at younger ages. This blog post discusses the age group and sex differences in performance on a computerized neurocognitive battery in children ages 8-21.

25 Mar

Posted at 08:00h in Article, Medical Conditions
You may be reading a tweet and catch a typo that you want to correct, walk past a pond and see a goldfish from under the water, or do a double-take when something catches your eye from your peripheral vision. These actions are driven by visual attention, our ability to observe and take in visual information from the world around us. We use visual attention every day to detect abnormalities in our visual field or find things we need. In this blog post, we discuss what visual attention is.

04 Mar

Posted at 08:00h in Article, Cognitive Therapy, Health, Highlight
In everyday life, we experience changes in temperature and altitude. Depending on what jobs or hobbies we have, we may be exposed to extreme environmental conditions, such as high altitude. Depending on what environmental conditions we are exposed to, these conditions may impact our cognitive functioning. In this blog post, we discuss how different environmental conditions impact cognition.

28 Jan

Posted at 08:00h in Article, Health
We’ve all experienced a headache at some point in our lives. Other than experiencing headaches when we are sick, some people may have a medical condition that causes them to have chronic headaches. Headaches may also result from experiencing a stroke or brain injury as the brain recovers. Headaches can be disruptive: we may not be able to focus, move, or think because we are experiencing intense pain. Headaches may also disrupt cognitive functioning. In this blog post, we discuss the effects of headache on clinical measures of neurocognitive function.

03 Sep

Posted at 08:00h in Article, gender, Healthy Aging
Driving allows us to get to and from many places. As people age, they may experience cognitive decline, which can impact their ability to drive. Driving safety is of the utmost importance, as safe driving protects the driver themself but also other drivers on the road. Researchers are interested in better understanding factors that may influence risky driving behaviors, such as speeding. Three factors of interest are cognition, age, and gender. Studies have shown gender differences in risk-taking behavior, demonstrating that men are more likely than women to engage in risky behavior. Due to age-related brain changes, older adults may be more likely to experience cognitive problems, which can cause them to engage in risky driving behaviors like speeding. This blog post discusses the impact of cognition and gender on speeding behavior in older drivers with and without suspected mild cognitive impairment. 

28 Jul

Posted at 08:00h in Article, Patient engagement, Therapy Tips
Making better choices and improving decision-making abilities is a common goal of clients who are undergoing cognitive remediation therapy. Working on decision-making skills will help your client adhere to a budget, learn how to effectively prioritize tasks they need to accomplish and make better choices in regards to communicating with others during social engagements. HAPPYneuron Pro offers a multitude of activities that you can use with your clients to practice decision-making skills. Here are five of the top activities we suggest that you use to work with your client on their decision-making skills.