Ever imagine making hit music like Pharrell, painting like Georgia O’Keefe, or inventing like Blaise Pascal? For some people, artistic and creative worlds were opened to them after their brain injury. Extraordinary phenomena like these challenge our understanding of how the brain works―and has unexpected implications for the science and practice of rehabilitation.
Can a game of chess be used as a way to rehabilitate brain function for adults with traumatic brain injury? This article explores neuroscience research on chess and brain function. It shares insights into how this ancient two-person game has been used in neurorehabilitation to enhance memory, attention, and problem-solving in populations with and without cognitive disorders.
Introducing Issue 5 (Spring 2018) of rehabINK!
Eating is a necessary and meaningful part of life. Treatment for oral cancers, such as surgeries and radiation, leave many survivors with unique and severe eating deficits, and difficulty using regular utensils. Discover the innovative solutions a collaborative effort between speech-language pathology and industrial design can produce.
Hearing aids are notoriously poor at processing music, but McMaster University’s LIVELab, a research auditorium, aims to enhance hearing aid performance. This unique space was designed to measure audience and performer interactions during concerts and music listening. In this profile, learn how this facility also examines questions related to the rehabilitation sciences with a special focus on hearing disorders.
In this piece, Dr. Rena Helms-Park reflects on her journey from student to university professor. She ponders how her own experiences help her guide linguistics students interested in rehabilitation sciences.
Recent evidence suggests that hand and arm orthoses, also known as splints, may not provide the expected therapeutic benefits. Yet, rehabilitation professionals such as occupational therapists (OTs) still may use them in their practice. This brief report describes how a group of Canadian OTs decide when and why to use orthoses to manage spasticity in stroke survivors.
