“I’m going to get off the atenolol,” I told my GP, who promptly laughed at me. Well, I might, just might, have the last laugh. I was put on atenolol (a beta blocker) 7 years after I suffered from a closed head injury and began 7 years of 120+ heart rate, of yo-yoing blood pressure,…
Category: Brain Power
Musings on what makes for a powerful brain. This category also includes the sub-category Brain Health, which covers all things related to brain injury.
Reading: The Eyes and Brains of It, II
So now you’ve read about the whys of brain-injury created reading problems (and if you haven’t, have a gander at it first), you’re probably wondering: how do I fix it!?! As I mentioned before, going straight to the behavioural model after sustaining a brain injury is an exercise in frustration for the person with the…
Entraining the Brain the Audiovisual Way
My first encounter with audiovisual entrainment (AVE) was in a psychologist’s office. He handed me a pair of what looked like goggle-sized mirrored sunglasses (Omniscreen), but I couldn’t see through them. Instead, a translucent plastic screen covered the inside of the glasses, behind which lay LED lights, four to each lens. He then handed me…
Reading: The Eyes and Brains of It
Reading. Once you learn how to do it, the only thing you need worry about is what to read and when to find the time. Until a traumatic brain injury f* it up. As I have discovered over the past few years, reading is a complicated process, mediated by several parts of the brain. It…
Best Two iPad Apps For Organization
As I wrote previously, I bought the Apple iPad for two reasons: to compensate for brain injury-related issues and for my work as a writer. Today’s post is about the former. A huge problem people with brain injuries face is, IMHO, the inability to organize, initiate, and to get things done from start to finish.…
The Limiting Myth of Brain Injury Recovery
In the early days of my closed head injury (traumatic or acquired brain injury), I heard many times the mantra that you only heal or heal the most in the first two years — whatever healing happens in those years is it for the rest of your life. In the June 2010 issue of the…
iPad Thoughts
The iPad is a nifty device. Seemingly a toy before you buy, with its bright screen and magazine size, it quickly replaces one’s computer for regular chores like e-mailing, keeping up with Twitter, managing one’s schedule, surfing, reading. It’s more portable and lasts longer on battery power than a laptop. And unlike a computer, it…
Brain Injury Awareness Mashup Video
I went to the BIST Brain Injury Awareness Celebration at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto last Thursday, 17 June 2010, and it was a ton of fun, full of photographic opportunities, amazing artists to meet, clowns to laugh at and be interviewed by, a mesmerising aerial artist, and speakers who moved us. I felt inspired…
Alpha Waves, the Creating Waves of the Brain
I first heard about alpha waves during a sleep study I underwent many, many years ago. Back then, I didn’t know much about them other than they were intruding into my sleep. That sleep problem eventually resolved itself, and I thought no more of alpha waves until the day of my closed head injury. As…