Are thinking exercises and brain games useful for TBI recovery?

Looking at screens (for a period of time) creates fatigue for me so I went a different route. One of the many things my OT suggested was a book called Cranium Crunches Workbook - by Dr Rob Winninghan and Nancy Ewald. Tons of different exercises. The book also tells you what area of the brain is being exercised with the activity and what function that part of the brain does. I love it!

I’ve been doing origami because it uses more parts of the brain and the tips on the fingers stimulates brain cells. It’s like yoga for the brain. And it’s color therapy. I can only do the easy ones but I still enjoy it. Check out YouTube.

I like word search. In the beginning after TBI it took a week to do one page. I am now up to 3 pages in 45 minutes. My sight was severely affected in the beginning all the letters would melt down the page. I was so scared
I thought I would never read again. After a year I slowly gained some of my ability back. I am grateful for that.

I'm sure I would get better Lumosity scores if I began with the "How to Play" instructions, which I currently only do by accident. It's not because I'm a guy that I avoid the instructions, but because I believe that working it out for myself helps my cognitive capacity.
I'll try your way next time I do Lumosity, hevykevy . It's good to check out the approaches taken by others. That way I can be reasonably sure I'm not eliminating any ideas that might be better than my own before I try them.
I do like the idea of your drip feed garden project. Must look into that too.

That is terrific, @lanieg. Will you share a photo of the painting you sold? It looks like you intended to do so, but it's not yet posted.

I had one concussion from a fall on ice on a winter walk around 12-13 years ago. I cannot imagine going through four concussions. Among other symptoms, soon after my fall I found I could not match my grocery list to items on the shelf at the store. That was scary for me. It took me a month to recover and be able to take a lot of light, loud noises and screens.

How are you finding your brain function lately, lanieg?

Thanks for asking . I recently made my first professional sale of the following painting.

Hi @lisalucier, I'm still playing a mandolin and getting better (IMHO) and will never stop because there is no reason to stop. Moving forward is my key to recovery.

@ricj - wondering if you are still playing your mandolin? If so, how is it going?

@lanieg - the painting you posted looks amazing. Are you still painting? If you are painting more, are you selling your paintings now?

I bought a beginners mandolin to " make" myself to learn a instrument I never knew anything about. Really helped, and still helping, with my short-term memory. Learning to read notes, and then remembering what I just played. Takes hours and hours, days and days, to even begin playing the song without needing to read the sheet music. Maybe, because of how much I loved music before my injury, that instrument was, and still is, import aspect of my recover. Plus singing with the "band" when listening to albums I knew up listening to, before my injury, helps with my aphasia as well. In case you haven't figure this out, I think that music is one of the main keys of surviving a traumatic brain injury.

Problem solve? I wish but exercising s a good way. For me, I lift 40+ lbs for a hour and 3 times a week and stretch/lift my legs that is 50%;ny other lifting is the other %.