Many stroke survivors face challenges with memory, speech, language, or attention. Engaging in cognitive exercises can help improve these skills by enhancing memory and thinking. The key to this improvement lies in the brain's incredible ability to adapt, known as neuroplasticity.
Neuroplasticity refers to the brain's capacity to form new neural connections, allowing it to recover and regain lost abilities. This process is activated through repeated and consistent practice, which is why therapists emphasize targeted exercises and frequent repetition.
The principle is straightforward: the more you practice, the more progress you make!
Your therapy team - including occupational therapists, neuropsychologists, or speech-language pathologists - plays a vital part in your recovery. These professionals are skilled in diagnosing specific problem areas and creating a personalized treatment plan with exercises tailored to your needs. They also guide you through therapy sessions designed to maximize your rehabilitation potential.
For optimal results, aim to work with your therapist at least once a week. Between sessions, continue practicing on your own at home to reinforce your progress and build on your achievements.
Exercise 1: That's unique
This exercise is designed to train your selective attention - the ability to focus on important stimuli while filtering out distractions. By honing this skill, you can improve your ability to concentrate and recognize critical details in everyday situations
Selective attention is vital because we are constantly surrounded by numerous stimuli. For instance, imagine walking down the street while listening to music and failing to notice a car approaching. Without selective attention, this situation would probably end badly. Fortunately, this skill can be actively controlled and strengthened through practice.
In this exercise, you’ll see various shapes in different colors and patterns. Take a close look at the various shapes in these pictures. Each shape appears more than once, except for one. Can you find it?
Exercise 2: Text-Color Match
This exercise focuses on improving your cognitive flexibility, which is your brain's ability to adapt thinking and behavior to changing conditions or unexpected situations. Cognitive flexibility helps you recognize when a certain approach isn’t working and adjust your actions to successfully resolve challenges.
In this exercise, you see a word displayed in different colors. Instead of reading the word itself, say the color of the text out loud. For example: If the word BLUE is written in red, you should say “RED”, and not “BLUE”. In a digital version of this exercise, like the ones you'll find in the nyra therapy app, confirm the correct answer.
By practicing this exercise, you’ll enhance your ability to manage conflicting information, improve focus, and adapt quickly to new or challenging scenarios.
Exercise 3: Trace the Pattern
This exercise is designed to train and improve your short-term memory, which is essential for holding and processing information temporarily. Short-term memory plays a crucial role in everyday tasks, such as holding a conversation, reading, or performing calculations..
In this exercise, you see a grid in front of you in which several colored tiles form a specific pattern. Study the grid carefully and try to memorize the positions of the colored tiles. Once you feel confident, the pattern will disappear. Your task is to recreate the pattern by coloring the correct tiles on a blank grid.
Short-term memory serves as a temporary "storage space" for information that is needed in the moment but not permanently. Since this storage has limited capacity, most information is quickly forgotten unless actively transferred to long-term memory. By practicing activities like this one, you can strengthen your short-term memory and its efficiency.
Exercise 4: Follow the Frog
This exercise focuses on improving your cognitive flexibility, which is your brain's ability to adapt to changing conditions and unexpected events. Cognitive flexibility helps you recognize when a strategy isn’t working and adjust your approach to successfully achieve your goals.
In this exercise, you see several lily pads displayed and a frog sitting on one of them. A set of directional arrows tell you how the frog will hop across the lily pads. Follow the arrows step by step to determine where the frog will land after completing all its hops. Your task is to mark the final lily pad the frog will land on.
By practicing this exercise, you’ll enhance your ability to process new information, adapt quickly, and solve problems effectively.
Exercise 5: Number Nudge
This exercise is designed to enhance your understanding of numbers, including their values and magnitudes. By practicing numerical reasoning, you also strengthen your working memory, a critical cognitive skill for storing and processing information in daily life.
In this exercise, you will see two numbers displayed side by side. Compare the two values and determine which one is larger.
Exercise 6: Odd Word Out
This exercise is designed to enhance your reading comprehension, semantic knowledge, and logical reasoning by focusing on understanding the meaning of words as well as their relationships and associations within a group. It helps sharpen your ability to recognize patterns, analyze and categorize information, and identify inconsistencies, improving both cognitive processing and language skills.
In this exercise, you see a group of words. All but one of the words share a common theme or connection. Identify the one word that does not fit with the others.
Exercise 7: Odd Object Out
This exercise is designed to enhance your semantic knowledge and logical reasoning. It helps sharpen your ability to recognize relationships between objects and contexts, and to detect commonalities and identify outliers.
In this exercise, you see several pictures. All but one of the pictures share a common characteristic or theme. Your task is to identify the one picture that does not fit with the rest.
Exercise 8: Complete the Phrase
This exercise is designed to enhance word retrieval. Word retrieval refers to the process of recalling and producing the correct word from memory when needed. It is a key component of language and communication, allowing us to express thoughts, ideas, and emotions accurately. In this exercise, you practice retrieving appropriate words from your mental lexicon based on contextual clues in a sentence or phrase.
In this exercise, you see an incomplete phrase or sentence and a set of potential words to choose from to fill the gap. Your task is to select the word that completes the phrase/sentence in a reasonable way.
Exercise 9: Action Planning
This exercise is designed to strengthen your executive function, the brain's "command center" responsible for controlling, monitoring, and executing tasks in an organized and focused manner. Executive function is essential for planning, problem-solving, and carrying out everyday activities (e.g., cooking or communicating with others) with precision.
In this exercise, you see a set of individual actions related to a specific task or activity (e.g., making a cup of coffee). Cut out or separate the actions if provided physically, or reorder them digitally if working on a screen. Analyze each action carefully and arrange them in the correct sequence to complete the task logically.
We hope this overview inspires and supports your stroke recovery journey. Explore these and similar exercises and access over 35,000 interactive tasks designed to improve speech, language, and cognitive abilities on the nyra therapy app. Available for download on iOS and Android tablets, nyra offers personalized therapy at your fingertips. Take the next steps in your recovery today!
The nyra health website does not provide medical or legal advice. nyra health blog articles are not scientific articles, but are intended for informational purposes only. Medical or health-related information on the nyra health website is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult a physician or health care provider with any questions regarding a medical condition.
