Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research

The brain works very much like a muscle - if it is exercised properly, it will be strengthened. When we challenge our brains by learning new things or engaging in certain mental exercises, brain networks become more efficient and effective. This is called neuroplasticity. When the brain is damaged or altered though injury, illness or neurodevelopmental delay. A cognitive intervention (a program of targeted mental exercises) can help the brain restore function to damaged networks and/or re-route networks to compensate for the damaged area. Thus, cognitive rehabilitation takes advantage of neuroplasticity to help improve abilities such as memory, attention and problem solving that have been affected by an injury, illness or developmental delay. We can measure neuroplasticity changes associated with cognitive rehabilitation using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This works much like regular MRI but instead of taking a picture of the brain’s structure, fMRI captures the brain’s activity during certain tasks, like math or problem solving. Then we can measure the changes in brain activity before and after the cognitive intervention program. This helps us to refine and improve the program.

We use a curriculum of game-like cognitive exercises accessed via a password protected website. These exercises were designed to improve abilities such as memory, attention, problem solving and math. The exercises become more difficult as the individual progresses in order to continue challenging the brain and hopefully making it more efficient. Having the exercises on a website makes the cognitive intervention program more practical since it can be done at home rather than at the therapists office.