Over the past ten years, the number of people being assessed for traumatic brain injury has risen sharply. From footballers to war veterans, thousands of suffers have spoken out about their battles with memory loss and overall cognitive ability as a result of previous brain trauma.

There are many ways in which traumatic brain injury can develop, and how it can affect a person’s day-to-day living. Brain trauma consists of a sudden, physical impact to the brain, either by the head hitting an object, or an object penetrating the skull and injuring the brain.

Car crashes and other accidents involving transportation are the most common causes of brain, however there are also many sports-related brain injuries. American football, rugby, and other highly physical games where the head is used throughout the match, have seen a rise in the cognitive decline of players over time.

Cognitive brain injury can also form in children, either from physical and mental abuse, or through genetic defects passed on by parents.

Traumatic Brain Injury

There are many ways in which traumatic brain injuries can affect a person. Whether it’s emotionally, physically or cognitively, there are many symptoms that can be traced back to a current or previous brain trauma.

If a person has a cognitive injury, their symptoms may include short term, long term memory loss, communication difficulties, special awareness difficulties and difficulty processing information. Many people decide to claim brain injury compensation to help with the daily cost of living and medical expenses.

If the brain has been physically damaged through injury, a person’s symptoms may include seizures, double vision, loss of balance, fatigue, double vision and the loss of smell and taste.

The Treatments

There are various treatments for all types of brain injury, some involving the reintegration of communication abilities, others physically training the body to overcome damage such as physiotherapy.

However cognitive rehabilitation is far more in-depth, and involves many techniques in order to retrain the brain.

When a person is a affected by a traumatic brain injury, many of the synapses they’ve build-up over the course of their life are destroyed, either by the injury itself, or from the after-affects over time.

Cognitive brain training helps the brain to make new connections, over-riding old and damaged ones. It also helps the brain to grow more synapses, so it can process more information and utilize more memory.

Most importantly, by building these new connections through cognitive therapy, the brain’s basic mental skills are strengthened, providing a foundation for further growth.

The Results

Although this type of training has produced a range of positive results over many thousands of people, its critics believe that it still isn’t being used enough. Furthermore, critics also state that there is not enough funding for further research available to place cognitive treatment at the forefront of medical practice.

Even though brain injury leaves many people with little chance of leading a normal life, cognitive therapy allows weak areas of the brain to be assessed, and redeveloped in order to make new connections.

These new connections, if strong enough, will be able to reduce the symptoms caused by trauma to the brain, and possibly reverse the damage too.