Rehabilitation (neuropsychology)
Definition
Rehabilitation of sensory and cognitive function typically involves methods for retraining neural pathways or training new neural pathways to regain or improve neurocognitive functioning that has been diminished by disease or traumatic injury.
Brain functions that are impaired because of traumatic brain injuries are often the most challenging and difficult to rehabilitate. Much work is being done in nerve regenreation for the most severely damaged neural pathways.
However, many others argue that such symptom relief enables the sufferer and those around him or her to improve cognitive and motor functioning and controls through standard educational and social training that would otherwise be impossible.
The next most common rehabilitation approach for ADHD uses various and specific cognitive/behavioral methods to help establish new brain-behavior relationships or functioning that is impaired in sufferers of ADHD. Methods
Speech therapy, occupational therapy, and many other methods that "exercise" specific brain functions are used. For example eye-hand coordination exercises may rehabilitate certain motor deficits, or well structured planning and organizing exercises might help rehabilitate certain frontal lobe "executive functions" of the brain following a traumatic blow to the head.Common Examples
Two common neuropsychological problems treatable with rehabilitation are Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and concussion.ADHD
There are many therapists and interventions for rehabilitation of children and adults who suffer ADHD, many of whom are parents of children with this problem. The most frequently used treatment method involves drugs such as Ritalin, and many argue that drugs do not rehabilitate but only relieve ADHD sufferers (and those around them) from the social and behavioral disruptiveness caused by attention deficiencies and hyperactive behavior.
