I’m sure that if I was still in the kind of intense therapy I was given during the first few weeks immediately following my stroke, I’d be told that I am in denial, but nevertheless I would honestly challenge anyone in my same age group who had NOT suffered a stroke or any other type of brain trauma to outperform me on several of the Luminosity games that are especially difficult; mainly those that are designed to improve shifting between two tasks fairly quickly. The speed at which you’re exp[ected to discriminate between the two tasks is incredibly stressful, though the tasks themselves are not, so you must recognize what is expected of you AND do it within split seconds! Example: a group of simple leaves ae floating with the current of a stream or river. They are all identical in shape, but change the direction in which they’re moving AND the direction in which they are ppointing (which is usally not the same) as well as their color. If the leaves are green, you are to identify which way they are POINTING, if yellow, which direction they are MOVING. There is no discernible rhythm nor pattern to these changes, and they don’t happen simultaneously, either. Therefore, you must process their color almost immediately and the correct direction associated with that color of leaves AS SOON As you’re sure of their coor. Otherwise, they’re apt to have changed AGAIN, so that your original observations are no longer correct! I’m sure that I haven’t described how tricky it is to truly give you a true picture of how much information you must process in a matter of les than a second, but believe me when I tell you that it’s A GREAT DEAL—more, I think, than is required in any real-life task that involves multi-tasking. Yet, according to my percentile rank, I’m outperforming nearly 75% of my whole-brained peers! DRIVER’s TEST, here I come—once this nasty weather abates! When I began my Luminosity “journey, I was only in the 35th percentile, which might well have affected my first road test. The other deficit that I think cost me that time was my spatial awareness, which was only in the 15th percentile when it was first easured, and which likely contributed to my lane “drifting. That, too, has improved, not only on the Luminosity charts, but in my operation of a power wheelchair or scooter of the type many big retail stores provide. At first, my sisters didn’t want me to use those when I was with one of them, because of my tendency to sideswipe displays or aisle corners. Currently, I have very few such “accidents” when I’m driving one of those much-appreciated amenities. My biggest difficulty at present is knocking down a box or can when I’m required to reach one of the top shelves to get a specific item. Don’t mean to brag, and I’m aware that a computer exercise/game isn’t the same as the actual skill it’s trying to replicate, but this is just SO EXCITING for me! Lots more motivating to “keep on keeping on” when you can see some progress!
Posted on: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 04:30:50 +0000
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